Illinois Signs Annual Audits Into Its AI Safety Law; Florida's Tax Package, Data Center Tariff Rule and Restaurant Fee Notices Take Effect

The bottom line today

Illinois added paperwork for AI developers last week, and Florida took some tax off the table. Gov. Pritzker signed SB 315, the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act, on Monday, July 6, joining California and New York in setting safety rules for the biggest AI model builders [1, 3]. Its reach is narrow, and its drafters got several things right. The annual outside audit is where Illinois parts company with the other two states, and that is the provision to watch [3]. In Florida, a tax package, a data center grid-cost law and a restaurant fee disclosure rule all took effect July 1 [6, 8, 10]. Two are plainly good for business; the third is cheaper than it looks.

IL Illinois SB 315: annual audits for the largest AI developers

What it does. SB 315 started life as a technical change to the short title of the Predatory Loan Prevention Act. Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 replaced everything after the enacting clause with the AI act [1]. The sponsors are Sen. Mary Edly-Allen and Rep. Daniel Didech [1, 3].

The law covers “frontier models,” foundation models trained with more than 10^26 integer or floating-point operations, and puts its heaviest duties on “large frontier developers,” those whose revenue together with affiliates exceeded $500 million in the preceding calendar year [2]. Beginning January 1, 2028, a large frontier developer must write, follow and publish a frontier AI framework explaining how it assesses and mitigates catastrophic risk: a risk that a model materially contributes to the death or serious injury of more than 50 people, or more than $1 billion in property damage, from a single incident [2]. From that date, or 90 days after a developer first qualifies, it must hire an independent auditor every year [2].

Any frontier developer must report a critical safety incident to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security and to the Attorney General within 72 hours, and within 24 hours to an appropriate authority when an incident poses an imminent risk of death or serious injury [2]. Starting January 1, 2027, a large frontier developer may not develop, deploy or operate a frontier model in Illinois without a current disclosure statement on file and its pro rata share of the agency’s administrative costs paid. Missing the filing costs $1,000 a day [2]. Other violations carry civil penalties up to $1 million for a first offense and $3 million for each later one, in suits brought only by the Attorney General [2].

Where it stands. The Senate passed it 52-5 on May 21 and the House 110-0 on May 27. Pritzker signed it July 6 as Public Act 104-0538 [1].

Pratt’s read. Start with the credit. There is no private right of action [2]. Regulating frontier models is declared an exclusive state power, so Chicago and other home-rule units cannot write their own versions [2]. A developer may comply through a designated federal standard if one is substantially equivalent [2]. And the duties stop at the developers: an Illinois hospital, bank or manufacturer that licenses a model owes nothing under this Act.

The cost sits in the audit. Capitol News Illinois reports that the yearly outside audit is a first in the nation, and that New York requires a single independent audit when a developer first qualifies [3]. TechNet told a committee on May 20 that Illinois would “effectively be requiring private actors to make highly subjective determinations requiring AI safety compliance without established national standards, certifications, or clear regulatory guardrails” [3].

Didech said at the signing, “We have already seen the first AI-inspired mass shooting,” and both Anthropic and OpenAI supported the bill [3]. Lawmakers estimate the three states hold about 40% of the U.S. AI market, which is the argument for a de facto national standard [3]. A national standard only works if the states match. The interoperability clause recognizes federal rules, not California’s or New York’s [2], so a developer subject to all three keeps three sets of books. Few companies clear both thresholds today. The precedent of a state-mandated annual audit is what will travel.

FL Florida SB 484: 50-megawatt customers pay their own grid costs

What it does. CS/CS/SB 484, by Sen. Avila, creates section 366.043 of the Florida Statutes. Public electric utility tariffs must include minimum terms for “large load customers,” meaning any customer with an anticipated monthly peak load of 50 megawatts or more at one location, colocated customers included [4]. Those terms must reasonably ensure each such customer bears its full cost of service, including connection, incremental transmission and generation, and operations and maintenance, and that the risk of nonpayment does not fall on the general body of ratepayers [4]. The Public Service Commission may approve contributions in aid of construction, minimum demand charges, financial guarantees, take-or-pay provisions and early termination fees [4].

A customer may not split a load into smaller connections to avoid the label. Utilities may not knowingly serve a large load customer that is a foreign entity tied to a foreign country of concern, and no contract may block curtailment needed for grid stability [4]. Large data centers also need a hearing for water permits, and local land-use authority is preserved [4].

Where it stands. The House passed it 92-16 and the Senate gave final approval 31-6 on March 13; it is Chapter 2026-65, and the tariff section took effect July 1 [6]. Every public utility must file a compliant tariff by October 1, 2026 [4].

Pratt’s read. Mostly credit. Cost causation is the right rule, and the businesses that lose under any other rule are the grocery chain, the hospital and the plant paying the general commercial rate for transmission built for someone else. The Senate’s staff analysis says large load customers will most likely see changes in rates and fees, with the size indeterminate until the commission acts, and that data centers seeking water permits may face higher application costs [5].

Two cautions. The 50-megawatt definition is not limited to data centers, so a large factory or industrial gas plant on a single site falls under the same minimum terms [4]. And take-or-pay contracts and minimum demand charges, set too high, become a reason to build in another state.

FL Florida HB 7031-E: a tax package with room for agriculture

What it does. HB 7031-E, by Rep. Duggan, is the 2026 tax package. According to the conference report, it cuts the cardroom gross receipts tax from 8% to 5% and the slot machine revenue tax from 35% to 34% [7]. It requires certain fruit and vegetable packinghouses on or next to agriculturally classified land to be counted in the average yield per acre rather than separately assessed, and adds certain farm-derived compost to the uses that qualify for agricultural classification [7]. It starts interest on a completed refund application after 90 days, and extends the documentary stamp exemption for alarm system contracts of $3,500 or less through June 30, 2028 [7]. Qualifying mobile home parks get a 3% annual assessment cap from January 1, 2027, and online listing platforms must show estimated property taxes on residential listings [7].

Where it stands. Final votes were 88-11 in the House and 29-6 in the Senate on May 29. The governor approved it June 29, it became Chapter 2026-239, and most of it took effect July 1 [8]. DeSantis signed it alongside the budget among 11 bills that day, WKMG reported [9].

Pratt’s read. Good news, and the packinghouse change is the part agriculture will feel. A refund that earns interest after 90 days gives the Department of Revenue a reason to finish the file. The one new duty falls on listing platforms, which must display a Department of Revenue estimate [7]. The real objection is fiscal: the conference report says the Revenue Estimating Conference had not met, and staff expect significant negative, indeterminate, recurring effects on state and local revenue [7]. Part of that loss lands on cities and counties, which is the price of relief worth having.

FL Florida SB 606: restaurant fees go on the menu

What it does. SB 606, by Sen. Leek, is a 2025 law, Chapter 2025-113, with a delayed section that took effect July 1, 2026 [10, 11]. An “operations charge” is any automatic fee other than a government tax that a customer must pay on top of the food and drink, including service charges, automatic gratuities, credit card surcharges and delivery fees [10]. A restaurant that charges one must state its amount or percentage and purpose on the menu, written contract and ordering website or app, in type at least as large as the menu item descriptions, or on a sign by the register if it has no menus [10]. The bill must carry a notice, and receipts need separate lines for gratuity, the operations charge and sales tax [10]. Fixed-price packages disclosed in advance are exempt [10].

Pratt’s read. The case for it is simple: the customer sees the charge before ordering. It is a mandate, but a cheap one, and the reason is section 509.214(5): no private cause of action [10]. That keeps demand letters out of it. The statute specifies the type size. The reprinting is the cost.

On the calendar

Florida’s public utilities must file large-load tariffs with the Public Service Commission by October 1 [4]. Illinois’s disclosure statements and fees start January 1, 2027, the same day Florida’s mobile home park cap begins [2, 7]. Illinois’s frameworks and first annual audits follow on January 1, 2028 [2].