Senate committee advances bipartisan bill to save kids from drowning

In a more unusual move, a Republican’s and a Democrat’s bills were merged together to create one beefed-up piece of legislation meant to save kids from drowning.

Both Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith’s SB 608 and Sen. Danny Burgess’s SB 658 adds new regulations for pools.

Smith’s targets licensed vacation rental properties Burgess’ bill is similar except that it is tailored at residential long-term rental homes.

The two bills — a “two-headed dragon,” the two senators joked — were combined into Burgess’ legislation and advanced with a 9-0 vote through the Senate Regulated Industries Committee. Committee Chair Sen. Jennifer Bradley urged them to work together under one bill.

The stronger bill must pass two more committee stops before reaching the full Senate floor.

Under the legislation, a landlord whose property is within 150 feet from a body of water that’s not a swimming pool would be required to choose between exit alarms on doors and windows with direct access to the water or a self-closing, self-latching, locking device on all doors by the water.

Those same landlords and vacation rental owners with swimming pools must have at least one pool safety feature out of the following choices: a pool cover, pool fence, flotation alarm, self-latching locks or exit alarms on the doors and windows by the pool.

The goal is to prevent children’s drownings which is  the No. 1 cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 in Florida.

In 2025, 119 children died in Florida, a place with beaches, hotel pools, thousands of lakes and a million backyard swimming pools, Smith said.

“Sadly, last year Florida not only led the nation for the number of fatal child drownings, we shattered our own previous record,” Smith said. “I believe 100% of these tragedies are preventable. And the solutions are right in front of us.”

Burgess added he believes their legislation will help save children with autism who can feel overwhelmed and go to water to escape, leading to tragic results. 

The Florida Swimming Pool Association supported the bill which carries some teeth for enforcement. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation could suspend or revoke a vacation rental license or issue fines while a landlord could get charged with a criminal second-degree misdemeanor.

Another one of Smith’s efforts about water safety is advancing this Legislative Session.

Smith also co-sponsored a bipartisan bill requiring the Department of Health to give practical child water safety information to parents. That bill, SB 606, cleared its first committee stop last week with a 11-0 vote.