Concealed carry, immigration, bathrooms: 8 controversial Florida laws go into effect July 1 (2024)

As of Saturday, July 1, hundreds of new regulations and statutes go into effect in Florida and it will become tougher for some to drive a golf cart, enter a bathroom where they feel comfortable or use TikTok, but easier to buy a firearm, fly a U.S. flag outside your home, or let your teen sleep in.

The 2023 session of the Florida Legislature produced 235 bills with a July 1 start date that were sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his approval.Here are some of the most controversial changes coming Saturday that may affect you.

1. You can carry a concealed weapon without a permit

If you are legally permitted to own a firearm, you can carry it concealed in Florida. You still must be a resident 21 or older to buy a weapon, unless you are a law enforcement or corrections officer or are in military service, and there still are restrictions on gun ownership for peopleconvicted of a felony, dishonorably discharged, adjudicated mentally defective or involuntarily committed to treatment, convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor or other conditions recognized by the state.

But the Public Safety law (HB 543) removes the requirement for a concealed weapons license and its mandatory background check and firearms training course before you could carry hidden weapons or firearms on your person or in a vehicle in Florida.

The bill also adds private schools to the list of educational facilities that can ask the local sheriff for help establishing a guardian program and requires various agencies and offices to develop threat management policies.

2. If you're an undocumented immigrant, it will be harder for you to find employment in Florida and criminal for anyone to transport you in or out of the state

As of Saturday, Florida will enact some of the harshest anti-immigration laws in the country.

CS/CS/SB 1718 - Immigration makes the following changes:

• Transporting a minor or more than five undocumented people into the state carries a second-degree felony penalty.
• Companies with 25 or more employees will have to use the federal E-Verify system when hiring workers. Penalties for employers who don’t verify their employees’ status could face suspension of their licenses to operate.
• Local governments will be banned from contributing money to organizations creating ID cards for undocumented immigrants, and driver’s licenses issued to non-citizens will be barred from use in Florida. Illegal migrants also could face felony charges by displaying a false ID to obtain employment.
• Hospitals receiving state and federal Medicaid reimbursem*nts will be required to track how much money is spent on undocumented immigrants in emergency rooms and must ask if a patient is in the country legally.
• A 2014 law that allowed undocumented immigrants to be admitted to practice law in Florida will be repealed.
• The Division of Emergency Management’s Unauthorized Alien Transport Program get $12 million to continue the migrant-relocation program of transporting asylum-seekers to different places around the country.

'It's definitely chaos': How immigration law impacts Florida restaurants, construction

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3. If you use a public bathroom in Florida, you are required to use the ones that line up with your sex assigned at birth

Trans people are now barred from entering certain bathrooms that do not match their gender.

CS/HB 1521 - Facility Requirements Based on Sex applies to bathrooms at facilities such as public schools, colleges, universities, state and local government buildings, prisons and jails.

Under the law, people who enter bathrooms designated for the “opposite sex” could face trespassing charges. The bill includes exceptions for situations involving bathroom use by children under age 12, seniors and people with developmental disabilities.

The Florida law also defines a female as a “person belonging, at birth, to the biological sex which has the specific reproductive role of producing eggs.” It defines a male as “a person belonging, at birth, to the biological sex which has the specific reproductive role of producing sperm.”

4. Schools in Florida will be starting later

As of Saturday, July 1, middle schools may not begin the “instructional day” earlier than 8 a.m., and high schools will be barred from starting the school day before 8:30 a.m. according to the newly passed Middle School and High School Start Times bill (CS/HB 733).

Don't turn off your alarms yet. School districts have until the 2026-2027 school year to make the change.

5. Healthcare providers in Florida can deny you service based on their moral, ethical, or religious beliefs

According to the Protections of Medical Conscience bill (CS/SB 1580), "any healthcare provider or facility licensed under a dozen different statutes, including doctors, nurses, pharmacies, hospitals, mental health providers, medical transport services, clinical lab personnel, nursing homes, and more" may refuse services if they have a "conscience-based objection" based on "a sincerely held religious, moral, or ethical belief." The bill also adds the following protections:

• Healthcare payors such as employers, health insurers, and health plans may refuse payment.
• Healthcare providers and payors are protected from liability for providing ‘conscience-based’ health care.
• Medical boards and the Department of Health are prohibited from taking disciplinary action or denying licenses to such healthcare providers if they have publicly spoken or written about a healthcare service or policy. This includes but is not limited to social media, according to the bill.

6. If you're a teenager, you can't drive a golf cart in Florida without a permit or driver's license

Starting Saturday, if you're under 18 you have to be at least 15 with a learner's permit to drive a golf cart, or 16 with a driver's license. If you're 18 and older, you have to have valid government-issued identification.

CS/CS/HB 949: Operation of a Golf Cart changes Florida law from the previous age limit — 14 — and defines a golf cart as “a motor vehicle that is designed and manufactured for operation on a golf course for sporting or recreational purposes and that is not capable of exceeding speeds of 20 miles per hour.”

7. You can't use TikTok on campus Wi-Fi or on a school- or government-issued device

Universities around the state already were banning TikTok on school equipment due to personal security risks. CS/HB 379 -Technology in K-12 Public Schools makes it official, and Prohibited Applications on Government-issued Devices (CS/CS/SB 258) adds the app to the list of applications created and maintained by a “foreign country of concern” that are banned from city, county, and state-issued phones and devices.

8. You can fly some flags and park your boat in back whether your HOA likes it or not

If you've been battling your local homeowners' association over the flag outside your house, you may see an end in sight.

Starting Saturday morning, homeowners may fly portable, removable, official flags no larger than 4 1/2 feet by 6 feet, "regardless of any HOA covenants, restrictions, bylaws, rules, or requirements to the contrary," according to CS/CS/HB 437: Property Owners' Right to Install, Display, and Store Items. You may fly up to two of the following:

• The United States flag
• The official flag of the State of Florida
• A flag representing the United States Army, Navy, 51 Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, or Coast Guard
• A POW-MIA flag
• A flag honoring first responders including law enforcement, firefighters, certain medical personnel, correctional officers, 911 operators, etc.

You're also allowed to put up a freestanding flagpole no more than 20 feet high anywhere on your property as long as it doesn't obstruct sightlines at intersections and isn't on an easem*nt. You can put up to two flags on it, providing one of them (the top one) is the U.S. flag.

The bill also blocks HOAs from restricting homeowners or their tenants from putting anything in their yards which aren't visible from the front or from an adjacent parcel, "including, but not limited to, artificial turf, boats, flags, and recreational vehicles."

James Call of the Tallahassee Democrat contributed to this article.