These Florida laws go into effect July 1

• Here are five laws set to take effect July 1.

⚓️ Boater freedom: Law enforcement must have probable cause to pull over boaters. Officers can no longer initiate stops solely for safety and marine sanitation violations, which are now regarded as secondary offenses.

• Local governments cannot restrict the use or sale of boats based on their power source, such as favoring electric boats over gas-powered watercraft.

🌊 Rebranding the Gulf: Calling it the "Gulf of Mexico" might soon date you. Courtesy of HB 549, Florida will require the term "Gulf of America" to be used in all state agency materials and school textbooks.

🪙 Gold and silver, legal again: Gold and silver coins that meet specific criteria will now be recognized as legal tender in Florida and can be used for payment. Some coins will also be exempt from sales tax.

⚖️ Animal cruelty crackdown: The state will create a public registry of convicted animal abusers, giving shelters and pet sellers a tool to screen potential adopters and keep animals out of the wrong hands.

• The legislation, dubbed Dexter's Law, also strengthens penalties for aggravated animal cruelty.

🏞️ Protecting state parks: The bipartisan State Parks Preservation Act — which bans the construction of golf courses, hotels, and pickleball courts in state parks — takes effect July 1.

• The law re-orients the management of parks toward "conservation-based recreational uses" to provide the "greatest combination of benefits to the public and to the land's natural resources."