It's July 1 and several new laws are hitting the books today in Florida. 

The topics range from education to transportation to taxes. 

  • News laws take effect July 1 in Florida 
  • New laws range from education to tax cuts to transportation
  • Some of the bills still require local voter approval and won't be enacted until Oct. 1 
  • My Florida.com
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Florida legislators passed 279 bills during this year’s session three months ago, and 78 take affect today, including school choice, rape kit testing, tax cuts and many more aspects of life in the Sunshine State.

The bills became law with Gov. Rick Scott's signature of an $82.3 billion budget dubbed by the governor's office as the "Fighting for Florida's Future" budget. Scott said the plan's priorities are tax cuts for families and businesses, jobs and education. 

The package outlines funding for state agencies as well as numerous individual local projects. 

Here's a closer look at some of the bills taking effect: 

BUDGET: The $82.3 billion budget was passed by a combined vote of 159-1. It includes more than $700 million for school construction and $203.8 million for Everglades restoration.

TAX CUTS: Two will benefit most Floridians. Property taxes should drop along with a reduction in in local millage rates, and a three-day sales tax holiday Aug. 5-7 should help back-to-school shoppers. Other highlights include a permanent sales tax exemption for manufacturing equipment and machinery, beverage tax-reductions on pear cider, and a drop in the tax rate on aviation fuel.

BULLYING: School districts must review their anti-bullying and harassment policies every three years, and integrate rules on dating violence and abuse into discipline policies.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: Persons convicted of aggravated assault or attempted aggravated assault are no longer subject to “10-20-Life” mandatory minimum sentences.

CHLOE'S LAW: "Chloe's law" is named after a UCF student that died last summer when she crashed into a retention pond and drowned in Orlando. “Chloe’s law” requires FDOT to look into every body of water where a fatal accident has occurred and evaluate if a barrier needs to be installed to separate drivers from ponds, lakes and canals.

DIGITAL ASSETS: Guardians or trustees of estates gain legal authority to manage digital assets and electronic communications as they would tangible assets and financial accounts. Digital companies are provided legal authority to interact with these representatives, revealing such things as passwords to accounts.

FESTIVALS: Any food contests or cook-offs lasting no more than three days and hosted by a school, church, religious organization or nonprofit will not be defined as “public food service establishments.” That means they don’t have to pay licensing fees or are subject to an inspection by the Division of Hotels and Restaurants.

JURY DUTY: Individuals permanently incapable of caring for themselves may request a permanent exemption from jury duty by submitting a written statement from a doctor verifying the disability.

MARRIAGE: Clergy with religious objections don’t have to marry same-sex couples.

NEEDLE EXCHANGE: The Miami-Dade Infectious Disease Elimination Act (IDEA) provides for the University of Miami and affiliates to establish a pilot needle exchange program to prevent the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV, AIDS, or viral hepatitis in the county, which has the nation’s highest rate of new HIV cases.

OUTDOORS: Fines for illegally killing, taking or selling game or fur-bearing animals while committing burglary or trespass increase from $250 to $500. It becomes a third-degree felony to knowingly possess marine turtles or their eggs or nests.

PUBLIC RECORDS: Recorded matches regulated by the Florida Boxing Commission may be kept private until they are aired in an exemption requested by Ultimate Fighting Championship for its “Ultimate Fighter” reality show when it is taped in South Florida.

RAPE KITS: Law enforcement agencies must submit rape kits within 30 days of the start of their investigations to a state crime lab, which must test them within 120 days.

SAFETY: Elevators installed in private residences must have clearing requirements and be equipped with a sensor device that prevents their operation if certain objects are detected.

SCHOOL CHOICE: Children can transfer to any state school with available space, and student athletes are immediately eligible to play if they haven’t joined practices in the same sport at their previous school. Children of military parents or those who transfer due to economic or legal reasons are immediately eligible in season if they haven’t been suspended or expelled from their prior school.

GABBY'S LAW FOR STUDENT SAFETY: HB 41, known as "Gabby's Law for Student Safety," revises how "hazardous walking conditions" are identified and handled. The law allows school district superintendents to make formal requests to the government agencies with jurisdiction over roads to correct the hazards. The government agencies would have to include the work in their next annual five-year capital improvements programs or declare why the corrections aren't being planned.

POLICE TICKET QUOTAS: SB 264, makes it clear local law-enforcement agencies cannot use ticket quotas. Also, the law requires individual local governments to submit reports to the 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.

GROWLERS: SB 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. The law ends the use of the tourism exemption for on-site alcohol sales that brewers have been operating under since 1963.