New Year To Bring New Florida Laws
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) - As you recover from that New-Year's hangover, you can think about some of the new state laws that take effect with the new year. Everything from how much some people make, to the unemployment people get, and even to the tattoos they might consider are covered by new state laws.
For the first time, the state is cracking down on regulation of tattoo artists. As of January 1st, any tattoo parlor or business that applies permanent makeup must be registered by the state. Also, for the first time, those businesses must be under the supervision of a medical doctor to be within the law. Parlors must have a biomedical waste permit, because the tattoo process can create bloody waste.
The state has new regulations for how much you're paid, and how much you can get if those paychecks stop. Minimum wage workers will be getting a raise of about 30 cents an hour January 1, continue Florida's practice of supplying a minimum wage higher than the national wage.
If those paychecks stop, Florida is cutting the length of time you can collect Unemployment, Currently 26 weeks, after January 1 that drops to between 12 and 23 weeks, depending on the unemployment rate. If the rate drops to 5% or lower, the unemployed would get 12 weeks, or about 3 months of benefits. If the rate is higher than 10.5%, the state would pay up to 23 weeks of benefits. Benefits would be adjusted for anything in-between.
But no matter what the rate, if you don't get a job quickly the state will be quicker in untying your lifeline benefits.
In other law changes:
--Businesses will pay less in corporate taxes. If a business makes less than $25 thousand a year, they will owe no corporate tax. For businesses that make more, they will be eligible for a $25 thousand deduction.
--County Clerks must be prepared to remove many types of personal data from official records, a process known as 'redacting'. Among the information that must be removed before anyone can view a court record is Social Security numbers as well as bank and credit card information.
--The state is taking control of school lunch programs, previously administered by the federal government. The state said this will allow schools to put more Florida-grown fresh fruit and vegetables on school menus.
