DeSantis signs digital currency, housing measures into law; vetoes inmate trucking and naturopathy bills

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis acted on a diverse slate of legislation Monday, signing eight bills aimed at regulating digital currencies, expanding affordable housing strategies, and tightening search warrant guidelines, while vetoing two measures passed during the 2026 regular legislative session.

Among the high-profile approvals was a trio of cryptocurrency and financial technology bills. DeSantis signed HB 175, which establishes a formal state-level licensing and prudential framework for stablecoin issuers under the state’s Office of Financial Regulation to align with the federal GENIUS Act.

Alongside it, HB 505 brings virtual currency kiosks under state registration oversight, implementing consumer protections such as mandatory fraud disclosures and strict daily transaction limits to combat an estimated $33 million in Florida kiosk scams.

The governor also approved SB 1568, which creates a voluntary pilot program permitting the Department of Financial Services to accept certain designated, asset-backed payment stablecoins for state regulatory and licensing fees.

On the housing front, the governor signed two bills designed to broaden residential assistance. DeSantis approved HB 1389, which builds upon Florida’s signature Live Local Act by preventing municipal governments from using dimensional setbacks to circumvent height allowances, waiving state sovereign immunity for discriminatory land-use decisions, and opening land owned by local governments and religious institutions for affordable multifamily developments. 

Additionally, DeSantis signed SB 594, adjusting the state’s SHIP program to mandate that local governments integrate mobile home lot rental assistance strategies, allowing distributions to cover up to six months of lot rent for mobile home owners.

The remaining bills signed into law included measures affecting the environmental, law enforcement, and technology sectors:

• HB 359 (Search Warrants): Sets a standard 10-day window for law enforcement to return search warrants to the court, while carving out a 365-day deadline for digital forensic data extracted from seized electronic devices.
• HB 4039 (Solid Waste Disposal Facility in Broward County): Prohibits Broward County from approving applications or permits for the physical expansion of the Monarch Hill Landfill until it commissions a $700,000 independent third-party environmental and public health feasibility study and holds a localized public hearing.
• SB 1452 (Department of Financial Services): Implements broad, omnibus revisions to statutory regulations governing multiple divisions of the Department of Financial Services, including transition steps for the state’s upcoming PALM financial accounting system and restructuring the My Safe Florida Home and Condominium mitigation grant programs.

However, DeSantis drew a hard line on public safety and what he called “excessive regulations” with two vetoes.

The governor rejected HB 325, a workforce development measure that would have allowed nonviolent inmates within two years of release to enroll in commercial driver license, or CDL, training programs and drive state-owned vehicles on public or state-owned property under the supervision of a correctional officer.

In his veto letter, DeSantis warned that the program would place an unnecessary burden on state corrections staff and pose an unacceptable risk to drivers.

“It also creates significant public safety concerns by authorizing incarcerated individuals to operate commercial vehicles in public thoroughfares,” DeSantis wrote, adding that state inmate workforce initiatives can continue to be safely managed through current agency oversight “that do not put our roads at risk.”

DeSantis also withheld his approval from SB 688, a sweeping medical bill that sought to reestablish a state board to license and regulate naturopathic doctors in Florida.

The governor criticized the bill for attempting to create “additional bureaucratic hurdles,” noting that it would require prospective alternative medicine practionerss to obtain expensive post-graduate degrees from out-of-state institutions, given that no accredited naturopathic doctoral programs currently exist within Florida.

“Current law allows licensed practitioners such as physicians, doctors of osteopathy, acupuncturists, and dietitians to employ naturopathic methods and recommend natural remedies,” DeSantis stated in his objection letter.

“If enacted, this legislation may negatively impact Floridians who currently work in alternative medicine by mandating post-graduate education that cannot be obtained in Florida […] Florida leads the nation in advancing medical freedom and access to care.”