5 new Fla. laws you should know, from cable TV to beer

Florida's record-setting $78.2 billion budget goes into effect on Wednesday, along with 130 other new laws that were produced by the Florida Legislature this year in the regular and special sessions and signed by Gov. Rick Scott.

Here are five new laws that you should know about:

Tax cuts on cable, cell phone bills

The wide-ranging tax-cut package House Bill 33A came in lower than what the Florida House and Gov. Rick Scott wanted, but still clocks in at $372.4 million in the new budget fiscal year.

For many Floridians, the most noticeable item will be a reduction in the communications-services tax on cell-phone and cable-TV bills. The savings are projected at $20 a year for people paying $100 a month for the services.

The overall statewide savings to Floridians will be $226.1 million, according to Scott,

Joe Durkin, senior director of corporate communications for Bright House Network, a major provider of cable-TV services on the Space Coast, said his company supports the measure.

"Anything that lowers the taxes, and puts money in consumers' pockets is a good thing," Durkin said.

Among other, more specialized categories of tax cuts in the bill are ones affecting the cost of gun club memberships, luxury boat repairs, certain agricultural supplies and services, school extracurricular fundraisers, aviation fuel at select flight-training academies and motor vehicles purchased overseas by internationally deployed service members from Florida.

No sales tax on college textbooks

House Bill 33B also has a provision eliminating the sales tax on college textbooks for a year, which Scott said would save Florida's students $43.7 million.

"That would be awesome," said Eastern Florida State College student Stephanie Nadeau of Melbourne, who was picking up an anatomy textbook at the college's Melbourne campus bookstore on Tuesday.

Nadeau estimates she spends about $1,000 a year on textbooks. So not having to pay a 6.5 percent sales tax during that time would save her $65.

"Every penny counts," Nadeau said.

"It's certainly a good thing," said EFSC student Matt LaFrance of Satellite Beach, who paid $12.54 in sales tax Tuesday on a $192.85 calculus textbook at the bookstore on Tuesday. "It's helpful" to not have to pay the sales tax for the coming year.

John Glisch, Eastern Florida's associate vice president for communications, said the sales tax exemption on textbooks "is another good way to help students save money and keep college affordable."

Curbs on speed traps

Senate Bill 264 makes it clear that local law-enforcement agencies cannot use ticket quotas.

Also, the law requires individual local governments to submit reports to the Florida Legislature if traffic-ticket revenues cover more than 33 percent of the costs of operating their police departments.

The proposal is a reaction to the speed trap that was nestled along U.S. 301 in the small North Florida city of Waldo.

Palm Bay Police Chief Mark Renkens said that, while "the Palm Bay Police Department is very concerned about traffic safety," the ticket quota measure does not concern his agency.

"While we expect our officers to conduct traffic enforcement, we do not have ticket quotas," Renkins said. "In fact, the majority of officers are sympathetic to the cost of a citation, and tend to give 'verbal warnings' much more often than those who actually receive citations."

New military license plates

House Bill 329 creates Woman Veteran, World War II Veteran, Navy Submariner, Combat Action Ribbon, Air Force Combat Action Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross license plates.

Robert Doyle, operations director of the Brevard Veterans Council Veterans Memorial Center on Merritt Island, said it is a good thing that Florida is recognizing veterans in this way, and he hopes states that don't have such specialized license plates follow suit.

"There's a lot of demand for it," Doyle said. "This is a way of veterans telling their stories. To me, it's about time."

Growlers OK'd for beer sales

Senate Bill 186 ends the state's prohibition on brewers being able to fill 64-ounce beer containers known as "growlers" for off-site consumption.

The law limits cup sizes to 3.5 ounces for beer-tastings and caps the number of vendor licenses that can be issued to a brewer.

Ron Raike, brewmaster at Playalinda Brewing Co., said he will begin selling four his 21 varieties of beer on tap in 64-ounce growler bottles at his downtown Titusville outlet.

Raike said many beer aficionados like the idea of the growlers because they know they are getting "a fresher beer" that is "packaged straight from the brewery."

The 64-ounce size is a standard in the industry, and Florida lagged behind other states in allowing such types of sales, Raike said.

Jim Turner of the News Service of Florida contributed to this report.

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 and dberman@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByDaveBerman and on Facebook at facebook.com/dave.berman.54.