New florida specialty license plate bill on governor's desk- michael towner

​A final batch of bills approved this year by the Legislature, many scheduled to become law on October 1, have finally been requested by Governor Ron DeSantis.
The 26 remaining measures, ranging from a revamp of the state’s specialty license-plate system to putting additional teeth into the fight against shark finning and trying to curb e-cigarette use by teens, have been sitting in the House and Senate since the legislative session ended on March 19.
More than 3,500 bills, memorials and resolutions were filed for the session, which began in January. DeSantis has signed 177 bills into law from the session, including the $92.2 billion budget (HB 5001), and vetoed three measures: SB 410 (Growth Management, Senator Keith Perry, R-Gainesville) SB 1292 (Public Records/Nonjudicial Arrest Record of a Minor, Senator Keith Perry, R-Gainesville) and HB 1049 (Office of Judges of Compensation Claims, Reps Charlie Stone, Cord Byrd, Jennifer Webb and Ardian Zika). Most of the bills, including the budget, went into effect with the July 1 start of the fiscal year.

​The Governor vetoed $1 billion from the budget, the largest budget veto made by a Governor in the state's history. He also vetoed $264 million worth of legislative “member” projects, which generally are earmarks for lawmakers’ districts - amounting to 518 of the 829 member projects. 
The vetoes included $134 million for aid to local governments, $28 million for Infectious disease Drug Treatment, $20 million for FSU School of Business, $5 million for FSU Florida Institute for Child Welfare, $15 million for Universities of Distinction, $5 million for UCF, $3.5 million for Nova Southeastern University - Veterans Access Clinic, $2.9 million for the City of Hialeah Educational Academy, $2 million for Gulf Coast State College, $1.5 million for Mote Marine Laboratory STEM Education, $1.5 million for Bay of Pigs - Brigade 2506 Museum, $1 million for Heart Gallery of Florida - Child Welfare Services, $1 million for Italian Club of Tampa, $650,000 for the First Tee Champ, $530,115 for Tallahassee Jewish Community Inc., $500,000 for Blind Babies Successful Transition Program, $400,000 for FAMU, $75,000 for the Bethune Cookman University - Small, Women and Minority Owned Businesses, $350,000 for Best Buddies International, $750,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters, $750,000 for Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, $375,000 for AMIkids, $164,701 for Black Male Explorers, $255,000 Feeding Tampa Bay, $193,669 for Invicta Institute of Intelligence, $625,000 for Mental Health Assistance Allocation for Florida Virtual Schools, $500,000 for Kiwanis Club of Little Havana, $250,000 for St Augustine Lighthouse Tower Preservation, and $25,000 for ACEing Autism Florida Adaptive Tennis Project.
The budget retained $322 million for Everglades restoration, $50 million for springs and $40 million for alternative water supplies.
A planned state workers' pay raise was saved from the vetoes intended to make up for more than $2 billion in lost revenue from the coronavirus pandemic's effect on the state's economy. The Legislature had approved a 3% pay raise, worth $249 million, for all 90,000 state workers. The state also agreed to cover the cost of a 7% increase in health insurance premiums.
The changes to the specialty license-plate program (HB 1135) sponsored by Rep James "J.W." Grant, is set to take effect Oct. 1, and would allow new plates to get on the road if supporters can meet higher sales thresholds, while bumping some low sellers from the road. It would allow plates for the University of Alabama, the University of Georgia and Auburn University.