NEWS

Gov. Scott signs bill making growlers legal

news-press.com

Gov. Rick Scott signed 27 bills Thursday, including one allowing the sale of 64-ounce growlers.

Growlers are available for those who want to take some of their favorite beer home.

Current law allows 32- and 128-ounce growlers, but not the size in the middle.

The legislation ended a long war between craft brewers and big beverage distributors over regulation of beer sales, in which the growler became a pawn.

"We are thrilled with the passage and signature of SB 186 legalizing sales of growlers in our breweries," said Mike Halker, president of the Florida Brewers Guild. "Growlers will give our customers more choices, increase our sales, and directly benefit Florida and its taxpayers. We would like to thank the legislature and the Governor for their work on this great bill."

Other bills side by the governor, include:

  • SB 94 Closing the Gap Grant Program - This bill expands the list of priority health areas under the "Closing the Gap" grant program to include sickle cell disease.
  • SB 132 Disabled Parking Permits – This bill authorizes veterans to use alternative documentation for renewal or replacement of a disabled parking permit.
  • SB 200 Public Records/E-mail Addresses/Tax Notices – This bill provides an exemption from public records requirements for e-mail addresses used in official business between tax collectors and taxpayers.
  • SB 222 Electronic Commerce - The bill creates a civil cause of action for businesses that are victims of hacking to supplement the existing criminal and limited civil penalties.
  • SB 264 Traffic Enforcement Agencies and Traffic Citations – This bill prohibits a county or municipality from establishing traffic citation quotas.
  • SB 332 Nursing Home Facility Pneumococcal Vaccination Requirements - This bill changes the requirements for the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • SB 342 No Contact Orders – This bill increases protection of victims by making no contact orders that are part of pretrial release effective immediately and specifies prohibited acts in the order.
  • SB 420 Animal Control - This bill provides alternatives to auction provisions for stray livestock, including adoptions, and allows cruelty violations to be pursued through code enforcement boards in lieu of the court system.
  • HB 441 Regulation of Health Care Facilities and Services - This bill revises requirements relating to home health agencies and other providers.
  • SB 446 Florida College System Boards of Trustees – This bill requires all Florida College System board of trustee members to serve staggered, four-year terms.
  • SB 456 Labor Pools – This bill authorizes certain employers to use a debit card as compensation.
  • SB 520 Long-Term Care Insurance - This bill allows an insurer to offer a non-forfeiture provision in a long term care insurance policy that returns a premium if the insured dies or the policy is completely surrendered or cancelled.
  • SB 522 Division of Bond Finance – This bill deletes the requirement that the Division of Bond Finance publishes a hard copy newsletter that is available online.
  • SB 526 Notaries Public – This bill revises the methods available to notaries for verifying documents including the use of reliable electronic means.
  • SB 538 Disclosure of Sexually Explicit Images - This bill provides criminal penalties for publishing sexually explicit images of a person with personal identification information on the internet without the person's consent with the intent to cause emotional distress.
  • HB 593 City of Panacea - The bill creates the City of Panacea in Wakulla County if approved by voters in a referendum.
  • SB 682 Transitional Living Facilities - This bill revises and streamlines regulations for transitional living facilities.
  • SB 766 Surveillance by a Drone - This bill prohibits the use of drones to record an image of private property or conduct surveillance without consent.
  • SB 872 Estates – This bill updates Florida law to comply with federal law concerning the apportionment between eligible heirs for federal estate tax purposes.
  • HB 897 Controlled Substances - This bill adds five dangerous synthetic cannabinoids to Florida's drug crime laws.
  • SB 984 Exemption from Legislative Lobbying Requirements - This bill allows the use of public property made available by a governmental entity to a legislator for a public purpose.
  • SB 1010 False Personation - This bill makes it illegal to impersonate firefighters and fire or arson investigators.
  • SB 1216 Community Development – This bill revises several growth management laws as well as the geographic boundaries of regional planning councils.
  • HB 7009 Corporate Income Tax – This bill updates Florida's corporate income tax law with the majority of 2014 Congressional law changes.
  • SB 7018 State Ombudsman Program - This bill revises requirements of citizen and state ombudsmen and the state Long -Term Care Ombudsman program.
  • SB 7040 Public Records/E-mail Addresses/Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles – This bill provides an exemption from public records requirements for certain e-mail addresses collected by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.