Francine Frazier, Senior Digital Producer
Gray Rohrer, News Service of Florida
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Updated:
Francine Frazier, Senior Digital Producer
Gray Rohrer, News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed three bills late Thursday, including highly anticipated new rules for riding electric bicycles (SB 382). All three vetoed bills passed the Florida Legislature unanimously.
During a news conference on Friday, DeSantis called the e-bike legislation “a little bit of an overreach” and said his concern about the regulations was the potential for “more surveillance of people by law enforcement.”
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“They did a bill on e-bike regulation, and I don’t know these things, maybe there’s problems,” DeSantis said. “But do we really want to have policing of e-bikes?”
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But supporters of the regulations argued during the legislative session that clearer statewide standards are needed as e-bike use increases and as reports of serious crashes involving minors draw attention in communities across Florida.
According to data provided by Wolfson Children’s Hospital, 19 cases in January alone involved children injured while riding e-bikes. News4JAX has reported on deadly e-bike crashes involving children in Clay and St. Johns counties.
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In his veto message on the electric bicycle bill, DeSantis expressed concern about its provision banning riders from going more than 10 mph within 50 feet of a pedestrian.
“The bill establishes a standard that would certainly be difficult for a bicyclist to measure when safely operating an e-bike,” DeSantis wrote in his letter about the veto.
A violation would be punished the same as a nonmoving violation of a vehicle, with fines of more than $100.
RELATED: Gov. DeSantis signs 15 more bills as July 1 looms. Here’s the full list
Also, such a violation “would inevitably be enforced with speed detection and surveillance devices,” DeSantis’ letter stated.
“What it will lead to is more surveillance of people by law enforcement, and we don’t need that, and so I think that there was problems with it,” DeSantis said of the legislation. “I thought it potentially would have some unintended consequences.”
DeSantis was also leery of the task force the bill set up to study and make recommendations for further electric bicycle regulations.
“They also set up an e-bike commission, but it’s like, ‘OK, you’re already substantively legislating, why are you doing a commission? If you want to do commission, then the commission can come and do that thing,’” DeSantis said in Friday’s news conference. “Certainly, I don’t want to anything that’s going to lead to more surveillance.
In his first rejection of legislation passed this year, DeSantis also quashed a bill that would have allowed high school students to assist poll workers and get community service credits for graduation (HB 461).
His third veto was for HB 4075, which would have created an exemption to federal and state regulations on signs near interstate roads in Davie.
VETO LETTERS: SB 382 | HB 461 | HB 4075
All three vetoed bills passed the Legislature unanimously.
For the bill to ensure high school students can get credit for volunteering as assistant poll workers, DeSantis lauded the intention of the bill but suspected it could be used by liberal groups and he cited the Southern Poverty Law Center’s backing of the measure.
“While the House and Senate sponsors had a noble intent in filing the bill, the application of the bill may result in an avenue for polls to be staffed with volunteers that may not be subject to Florida’s prohibition on single party registered poll workers for general elections,” DeSantis wrote in his veto message. “Given the bill received support in committee by representatives of the Southern Poverty Law Center, this may indeed be the consequence of the legislation.”
Attorney General James Uthmeier issued subpoenas to the SPLC in May, saying the group “appears to be running a deceptive organization that pays informants to manufacture racism on its behalf.”
The third bill would have allowed Davie, a town in Broward County, an exemption from state and federal advertising laws for lands near I-75 to put up a sign promoting the “agricultural heritage” of the area. DeSantis vetoed the bill because he was concerned it would lead to cuts in federal transportation funds issued to the state.
©2026 The News Service of Florida and WJXT. All rights reserved
A Jacksonville native and proud University of North Florida alum, Francine Frazier has been with News4Jax since 2014 after spending nine years at The Florida Times-Union.
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