BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 918 (DiCeglie) directs the Office of Supplier Diversity of the Department of Management Services to establish a Small Business Certification Program. The bill requires local governments to accept this small business certification regardless of any additional local certification process. (Taggart)

SB 830 (Hooper) clarifies that a public works project for the purposes of repair or maintenance also includes projects that utilize a consortium or cooperative purchasing agreement. (Taggart)

SB 284 (Brodeur) revises the vehicle procurement requirements for the state purchasing plan. Specifically, the bills require vehicles of a given use class to be selected for procurement based on the lowest lifetime ownership costs rather than the greatest fuel efficiency. Before July 1, 2024, the Department of Management Services (DMS) shall make recommendations regarding the procurement of electric vehicles and best practices for integrating such vehicles into existing fleets. The bill directs DMS to rank vehicles based on the lowest cost of ownership over five years. Any vehicle purchased under the state’s purchasing plan must be ranked in the top five of the Department’s rankings. Law enforcement vehicles are exempt from this requirement. (Branch)

HB 239 (Bussatta Cabrera) and SB 224 (Hooper) – Special Risk Class Retirement Date

HB 291 (Holcomb) and SB 436 (Rodriguez) – 911 Public Safety Telecommunicators

SB 632 (Powell) and HB 687 (Daniels) – Veteran's Preference for Promotion

SB 972 (Polsky) – Protections for Public Employees Who Use Medical Marijuana as Qualified Patients

SB 1026 (Stewart) – Discrimination in Labor and Employment

HB 95 (Duggan) and SB 618 (Yarborough) will amend the "law enforcement officer bill of rights" to prohibit a law enforcement officer or correctional officer from being discharged, suspended, demoted or otherwise disciplined solely as a result of that officer being included on the Brady Giglio list. The Brady Giglio list is a database that contains information about police misconduct, public complaints, use-of-force reports, etc. (Cruz)

HB 927 (Alvarez) requires an agency to provide notice to a law enforcement or correctional officer within 180 days after an alleged misconduct before any disciplinary action, suspension, demotion or dismissal can be taken. (Chapman)

SB 696 (Ingoglia) and HB 729 (Holcomb) prohibit a municipality from renewing, extending or renegotiating employment contracts with the Chief Executive Officer of a municipality or a municipal attorney within 12 months before an August primary election for the municipality’s Mayor or for members of the governing body. (Chapman)

HB 181 (Lopez) specifies the minimum factor used to calculate the cost-of-living adjustment for certain retirees and beneficiaries of the Florida Retirement System. (Cruz)

HB 27 (Benjamin) – Judgement Liens

SB 46 (Wright) – Health Insurance Cost Sharing

HB 477 (Rizo) – Term Limits for School District School Board Members

HJR 129 (Roth) – Requiring Broader Public Support for Constitutional Amendments or Revisions

HJR 131 (Rudman) and HB 209 (Rudman) – Recall of County Commissioners

HB 137 (Nixon) – Department of Labor

HB 237 (Altman) and SB 286 (Powell) – Legal Instruments

HB 331 (Overdorf) and SB 624 (Grall) – Liens and Bonds

HB 743 (Fabricio) and SB 708 (Burgess) – Estoppel Letters

HB 751 (Stark) – Mobile and Manufactured Homes

SB 304 (Boyd) – United States-produced Iron and Steel in Public Works Projects

HB 529 (Mooney) and SB 322 (Gruters) – Natural Gas Fuel Taxes

HB 665 (Roth) – Workforce Housing Communities

HB 49 (Driskell) and SB 430 (Driskell) – Abandoned and Historical Cemeteries

HB 275 (Daley) – Pari-mutual Wagering

HB 269 (Caruso) – Public Nuisances

HB 493 (Antone) and SB 548 (Davis)– Applicants for Licensure as a medical Marijuana Treatment Center

HB 745 (McFarland) – Emergency Communications

HB 701 (Bell) and SB 760 (Perry) – Wreckers and Towing-Storage Operators

HB 67 (Gottlieb) and SB 174 (Polsky) – Obscene or Harassing Telephone calls 

HB 865 (Valdes) – Public Food Service Establishments 

SB 932 (Book) and HB 381 (Waldron) – Animal Welfare

HB 337 (McFarland) and SB 352 (Burgess) provide that 911 public safety telecommunicators and crime scene investigators are eligible for workers' compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder, which is currently provided only to first responders. The bills specify that the time for notice of an injury or death in a compensable post-traumatic stress disorder claim must be properly noticed within 52 weeks after the qualifying event or the diagnosis of the disorder, whichever is later. (Cruz)

HB 645 (Brackett) removes the requirement on local governments to apply to the Federal Aviation Administration in order to restrict or limit the operations of drones in close proximity to infrastructure or facilities owned or operated by the local government. (Branch)

SB 438 (Rodriguez) clarifies current law to ensure that law enforcement agencies may tow a motor vehicle from the scene of the tow to their storage facility in lieu of the wrecker operator’s storage facility. Current law prohibits a law enforcement agency from placing a hold on a motor vehicle within a wrecker operator’s storage facility for more than five business days If a law enforcement agency does tow a vehicle to their own facility, the agency may not release the vehicle to the owner or lienholder until proof of payment of the towing and storage charges incurred by the wrecker operator are presented to the agency. If the agency releases the vehicle without proof of payment, they are liable for the charges. The bill also preempts to the state the regulation of claiming a lien for the recovery, removal, towing or storage of a vehicle or vessel, including the notification of fees. (Taggart)

HB 415 (Porras) defines a temporary commercial kitchen as a food preparation and cooking

facility set up for the preparation of takeout or delivery-only meals housed in portable structures that are movable from place to place. The bill authorizes the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to adopt operational requirements for temporary commercial kitchens. (Taggart)

HB 107 (Edmonds) would create the summer youth learning program within the Department of Economic Opportunity. This program would match students from low-moderate income families who have outstanding academic records or trade skills with appropriate summer employment opportunities with state agencies, school districts, local governments and participating private businesses in order to prepare such students to enter the workforce as adults. Participation in the program would be optional for local governments and funded by the Department of Economic Opportunity. (Taggart)

HB 295 (Caruso) and CS/SB 210 (Harrell) close a loophole in current law. The bills require day or night community housing addiction treatment centers to be certified by the Florida Association of Recovery Residences. The bills also prohibit the use of marijuana on the premises of the residences in order to obtain licensure. The bills also clarify that anyone discharged from a recovery residence who refuses to leave may be charged with trespassing in lieu of an eviction proceeding. (Taggart)

SB 704 (Boyd) and HB 783 (Caruso) create the Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement for the purpose of coordinating state and local efforts. Members of the council must review how settlement monies recovered from the opioid litigation brought by the state and political subdivisions have been spent and the results that have been achieved from such expenditures. The Florida League of Cities would have two appointments to the council. (Taggart)

SB 740 (Brodeur) creates the Statewide Blue Ribbon Task Force on County Realignment within the Department of Economic Opportunity. The task force will study and evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and value of realigning county boundaries in the state. This task force will be comprised of key stakeholders, including one representative from the Florida League of Cities. (Cruz)

HB 849 (Killebrew) and SB 800 (Wright) would prohibit for-profit businesses from selling domestic cats and dogs. The bills do not prohibit a city or county from adopting an ordinance on the sale of animals that is more stringent than the bill. (Taggart)

HB 317 (McFarland) and SB 388 (Bradley), of concern to municipalities, would preempt the regulation of sales or resale of tickets to the state. (Taggart)

HB 397 (Tuck) allows local governments to meet in private with legal counsel, during the 90-day notice period, to discuss claims concerning the Bert Harris Act and private property rights. Transcripts of these private meetings will be made a part of the public record upon settlement of a claim or when the statute of limitation has expired if there is no litigation or settlement. (Cruz)