Sen. DiCeglie highlights bills on AI political ads, vacation rentals, cybersecurity
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg, highlighted bills he sponsored during what he called a “great” 2024 Legislative Session and called it an “honor of a lifetime” to serve in the state.
“I think that, you know, like every legislative session, we identify problems that need to be solved,” DiCeglie told Florida’s Voice.
“We do that in a very conservative, limited government approach, which I think is important, especially for folks like myself, and the fact that we have a supermajority, you know, we’re able to advance that legislation,” he continued.
DiCeglie pointed to the number of people moving to Florida and said the reason people are flocking here is because of “the policies that this legislature has advanced” over the past few years, which he said has had a “significant impact on people’s quality of life.”
“It’s easy on the pocketbook with a low tax environment, pro-business environment, corporations have the opportunity, you know, to grow, to create those jobs,” DiCeglie said. “And at the end of the day, for me, it’s always been a priority of mine to get government out of the way and I think that this legislative session was very consistent with all of that.”
Vacation rentals
DiCeglie said vacation rentals have been “an issue” in the state since about 2011 and since he has been in the legislature since 2018, he said they have seen a bill “every single year to try to address it.”
DiCeglie is the champion of SB 280, which is heading to the governor and addresses vacation rentals in Florida.
The senator said this is his second consecutive year trying to address the issue.
“The bill is very simple,” DiCeglie said. “We want to lay out a regulatory framework for local governments and a local registration program.”
Under the bill, local governments can create a rental registry program, charge a registration fee, and fine rental operators for violating registration requirements up to $500.
DiCeglie said the bill will deal with occupancy limits, violations of local ordinances, and what suspension may look like and how long they will be.
The bill will also coordinate that with the Department of Business and Professional regulations, requiring them to have a full database implemented by 2026.
“This way, every single vacation rental property has its own unique identifier number, it’s going to help local governments keep track of that,” DiCeglie said. “Many jurisdictions don’t know which of their properties in that jurisdiction is operating as a vacation rental. We want to make sure that they have that data, so they can better regulate the issue.”
Rep. Phillip Griffits, R-Panama City Beach, sponsored the House version, HB 1537.
Cybersecurity liability
The senator pointed to SB 658, which provides cybersecurity liability for local governments.
DiCeglie said the bill essentially states that if corporations and local governments follow specific guidelines and standards to ensure that the data they are utilizing is protected and following protocols, then they cannot be sued if hacked by, for example, China, or “any other type of breach of that data.”
The bill also provides that any other political subdivision that substantially complies with the Local Government Cybersecurity Act on a voluntary basis is not liable in connection with a cybersecurity incident, according to the bill analysis.
Rep. Mike Giallombardo, R-Cape Coral, and Rep. Kevin Steele, R-Hudson sponsored the House version of the bill, which is heading to the governor for final approval.
Residential building permits
DiCeglie said his bill, SB 684, which he ran along with Rep. Tiffany Esposito’s, R-Fort Myers, bill, HB 267, aims to “tighten the timelines that it was taking local governments to approve residential building.”
“We had these timelines, they were 60, 90 days out in many cases, they were extensions, unilaterally decided by local governments,” DiCeglie said. “We wanted to tighten that up, we wanted to make sure that there was a level of communication going on that if there’s any delay in this permitting process that both parties would have to agree to that.”
He said “everybody gave a little bit” when crafting the bill and called it a “really great piece of legislation.”
The bill is heading to the governor’s desk for final approval.
Medical care for first responders
DiCeglie sponsored SB 808, which he said would give first responders an option to go out of network to receive medical care that they may need.
The senator pointed to firefighters as an example and said in the environment that they are in, with smoke and different toxins, it may lead to some “out of the norm” issues due to “very unique and dangerous situations.”
DiCeglie said if a firefighter needs to go to a specialty doctor, “many times they have to go out of network,” and their insurance “simply won’t cover it.”
He said the bill will expand the ability for these first responders to go out of their network and get the care they need in a “very timely and effective manner.”
“It’s going to obviously be huge for the first responders and their families and the treatment that they certainly deserve,” DiCeglie said. “But it also is going to save money in the long run for the insurance companies and local governments that are managing those specific plans.”
Rep. Brad Yeager, R-New Port Richey, sponsored the House version of the bill, which is headed to the governor for final approval.
Artificial intelligence political disclaimer
Another bill sponsored by DiCeglie, SB 850, that the senator is “really proud” of would regulate political advertisements created with generative artificial intelligence, or AI.
“Our bill simply says that if you use AI, you use it for political messaging, and that messaging is geared to injure an opposing candidate or any candidate for that matter, that there simply has to be a disclaimer on that political advertisement,” DiCeglie said.
Rep. Alex Rizo, R-Hialeah, sponsored the House version, HB 919, which is headed to the governor for final approval.
DiCeglie said he and Rizo wanted to “make sure that the First Amendment rights are protected” with this bill.
My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program
DiCeglie also sponsored SB 1366, which would expand the My Safe Florida Home Program to condominiums.
DiCeglie said the program has been “highly successful.”
The program allows a single family homeowner to be reimbursed for parts of an expense to mitigate storm damage in their home for parts of the expense.
The bill would create a pilot program to expand it to condominiums.
“It’s a pilot program because I think the nuances are much more complex with condominiums just due to the size of them, due to the many floors that they consist of,” DiCeglie said. “Obviously, the prices are certainly a major factor.”
DiCeglie said about $30 million went toward this program.
“It’s my anticipation that as we see how things go, you know, we’re going to be able to expand that and really kind of hone in on exactly what we want that plan to ultimately look like,” he said. “And that’s why we started that with the pilot program.”
Reps. Johanna Lopez, D-Orlando, and Christine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, sponsored the House version of the bill, which is heading to the governor for final approval.
DiCeglie said it is an “incredible privilege and honor” to push bills with the hopes of improving the lives of Florida residents.
He said following the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the legislature were “able to create an environment” in the state that is “based on freedom.”
“Our fundamental rights as Americans to have that freedom,” DiCeglie said. “We have the Bill of Rights there for a reason, we were able to protect that, we were able to enhance that here in the state of Florida.”
He pointed to other parts of the country enforcing mask mandates and requiring workers to receive a vaccine and said that to him is “not the Republic that we all love called the United States of America.”
“To have the ability to play a significant role in that in the Florida Legislature, to me it’s an honor of a lifetime,” DiCeglie said.
The senator pointed to how President Joe Biden administration’s policies have done “nothing but create a dangerous open border” and “dangerous communities.”
He said “not only Floridians,” but Americans across the country have “really shown” what conservative policy looks like and how it impacts the average American.
“Us leading the way here in the state of Florida has been something I’m incredibly proud of,” DiCeglie said.
