A Florida lawmaker has proposed legislation to impose pool safety requirements on short-term rental properties after a Scripps News investigation revealed dozens of child drownings at vacation homes.
State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat, introduced Senate Bill 608 last week.
The bill would require those seeking a new short-term rental license or a license renewal to have at least one pool safety feature in place if the property has a pool. It would also authorize the state to suspend or revoke a license if the vacation rental is not in compliance.
Options for the required safety feature include: an exit alarm on doors and windows leading to the pool, a safety pool cover, a swimming pool water alarm, a self-latching device on doors leading to the pool, and a barrier fence that surrounds a swimming pool.
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Currently, the state residential pool safety law requiring at least one pool safety feature only applies to properties built after the year 2000, when the law was enacted. But Smith’s bill would expand those requirements to vacation rental properties seeking short-term rental licenses, regardless of when the property was built.
Smith said this summer he planned to introduce the bill after seeing a series of Scripps News investigations focused on child drownings in backyard pools in vacation homes.
“That was an issue that we knew was a problem, but we didn't realize the extent of the problem until we saw some of this reporting that has been put together by Scripps News,” Smith said in September.
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In its ongoing investigation, Scripps News has obtained records from fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents at vacation home rental pools in Florida involving at least 50 children since 2021.
The vacation home bill is one of three bills proposed by Smith this month aimed at improving water safety. He also proposed a drowning prevention education bill, and reintroduced a proposal to require properties built before 2000 to adopt pool safety features when they are transferred or sold. That proposal failed in last year’s legislative session.
If the vacation rental pool safety bill passes, it is written to take effect next July.
The 2026 Florida legislative session is set to begin in January.
