---
type: "Bill"
title: "Preemption of Local Occupational Licensing"
description: "Preemption of Local Occupational Licensing; Preempts licensing of occupations to state; prohibits local governments from imposing or modifying licensing requirements; specifies certain local licensing may not be enforced; specifies certain specialty contractors are not required to register with Construction Industry Licensing Board; prohibits local governments from requiring certain specialty contractors to obtain license; specifies job scopes for which local government may not require license; authorizes counties & municipalities to issue journeyman licenses."
jurisdiction: "us/states/fl"
legislature: "Florida Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 735"
citation: "Florida HB 735 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
chapter_law: "2021-214"
primary_sponsors: ["Harding"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 37
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2021-02-03"
last_action: "2021-07-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/26a127fc-9a91-4c62-9d41-c8f28409e708"
source_url: "https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/735/ByCategory"
source_hash: "022521dde52345eaa587bbc44e2f0067b49c588657ebfc29fdba359e058cf5a0"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-fl"]
---

# Florida HB 735 (2021) — Preemption of Local Occupational Licensing

Preemption of Local Occupational Licensing; Preempts licensing of occupations to state; prohibits local governments from imposing or modifying licensing requirements; specifies certain local licensing may not be enforced; specifies certain specialty contractors are not required to register with Construction Industry Licensing Board; prohibits local governments from requiring certain specialty contractors to obtain license; specifies job scopes for which local government may not require license; authorizes counties & municipalities to issue journeyman licenses.

**Enacted** — Laws of Florida, Chapter 2021-214.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **H 735 Filed** (filed) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/735/BillText/Filed/PDF)
2. **H 735 er** (enrolled) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/735/BillText/er/PDF)

## Votes

- A - 359408, Amendment, Second Reading — **18–21** (fail) · upper
- Favorable (Regulatory Reform Subcommittee) — **13–4** (pass) · lower
- Passage, Third Reading — **82–32** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **22–18** (pass) · upper
- Favorable (Commerce Committee) — **19–5** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Harding — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-02-03** Filed `filing`
- **2021-02-18** Referred to Regulatory Reform Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-18** Referred to Commerce Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-18** Now in Regulatory Reform Subcommittee
- **2021-02-26** Added to Regulatory Reform Subcommittee agenda
- **2021-03-02** Favorable by Regulatory Reform Subcommittee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-02** Reported out of Regulatory Reform Subcommittee
- **2021-03-02** Now in Commerce Committee
- **2021-03-02** 1st Reading (Original Filed Version)
- **2021-03-12** Added to Commerce Committee agenda
- **2021-03-16** Favorable by Commerce Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-16** Reported out of Commerce Committee
- **2021-03-16** Bill released to House Calendar
- **2021-03-16** Added to Second Reading Calendar
- **2021-03-25** Bill added to Special Order Calendar (3/31/2021)
- **2021-03-31** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2021-03-31** Placed on 3rd reading
- **2021-03-31** Added to Third Reading Calendar
- **2021-04-01** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2021-04-01** Passed; YEAS 82, NAYS 32 `passage`
- **2021-04-07** In Messages
- **2021-04-07** Message sent to senate
- **2021-04-08** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-08** Received
- **2021-04-26** Withdrawn from Rules `withdrawal`
- **2021-04-26** Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading
- **2021-04-26** Substituted for CS/SB 268
- **2021-04-26** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2021-04-26** Amendment(s) failed (305262, 359408, 706494, 934014)
- **2021-04-26** Placed on 3rd reading
- **2021-04-27** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2021-04-27** Passed; YEAS 22 NAYS 18 `passage`
- **2021-04-27** In Messages
- **2021-04-27** Ordered enrolled
- **2021-06-28** Signed by Officers and presented to Governor
- **2021-06-29** Approved by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-07-06** Chapter No. 2021-214

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/26a127fc-9a91-4c62-9d41-c8f28409e708`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Florida legislature records).