BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 446 (Taddeo) and HB 6047 (Smith, C.) repeal the preemption on political subdivisions' ability to establish a minimum wage other than the state or federal minimum wage. (Hughes)

HB 57 (Fine) and SB 242 (Gruters) prohibit municipalities, and other governmental entities, from including in any mandatory employee training "divisive concepts" as defined by the bills.

The bills also require that each municipality ensure that all diversity and inclusion efforts encourage employees not to judge each other on color, race, ethnicity, sex or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law. (Hughes)

CS/SB 1124 (Gruters) and CS/HB 943 (Harding) create the "Wage Mandate Preemption Act," which revise prohibitions relating to political subdivisions, including municipalities. The bills prohibit a political subdivision from enacting a wage mandate on an employer in an amount greater than the state minimum wage. The bills do not apply to employees of the political subdivision or if federal law requires the payment of a minimum wage to persons working on projects funded by federal funds. (Hughes)

CS/CS/HB 139 (Fabricio) and CS/SB 266 (Diaz) require an agency that employs law enforcement officers and allows those officers to operate an agency-owned vehicle outside the course and scope of the officer's employment or function to maintain motor vehicle insurance, including bodily injury, death and property damage liability coverage that covers the time an officer spends while going to or coming from work or any other agency assignment in an official law enforcement vehicle. The bills provide specific instances when the motor vehicle insurance would not have to provide coverage. (Hughes)

CS/HB 3 (Leek) provides multiple new and expanded benefits and training for first responders. Of note to municipalities, the bill creates the Florida Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Payment Program within the Department of Economic Opportunity. The program is a one-time, up to $5,000, bonus payment to newly employed officers within the state to aid in the recruitment of officers. Bonus payments are contingent upon legislative appropriations. CS/HB 3 passed the House (108-4) and is awaiting action by the Senate. (Hughes)

HB 645 (Gottlieb) and SB 992 (Book) require employers of full-time law enforcement, corrections and corrections probation officers to extend employer-paid health insurance benefits to the officer's surviving spouse and each dependent child if the officer dies in the line of duty as a result of exposure to a pandemic disease that is the subject of a public health emergency. These bills apply retroactively to March 1, 2020. (Hughes)

CS/HB 7 (Avila) and SB 148 (Diaz) make subjecting any individual, as a condition of employment, to specific concepts constitutes discrimination based on race, sex, color, sex or national origin and is an unlawful employment practice. (Hughes)

HB 5007 (Appropriations) and SB 7038 establish the contribution rates paid by employers participating in the Florida Retirement System beginning July 1, 2022. These rates are intended to fund the full normal cost and the amortization of the unfunded actuarial liability of the FRS. HB 5007 also modifies DROP to allow a member of the Special Risk Class who is a law enforcement officer to participate for up to 36 calendar months beyond the 60-month period if he or she enters DROP on or before June 30, 2028. (Hughes)

HB 31 (Busatta Cabrera) extends certain provisions of the Firefighters' Bill of Rights to questioning conducted under an informal inquiry. The bills specify that an informal inquiry does not include routine work-related discussions, such as safety sessions or normal operational fire debriefings. The bills require an informal inquiry of a firefighter to be of reasonable duration with permitted periods for rest and personnel necessities and not subject the firefighter to offensive language or offer any incentive as an inducement to answer any questions. During an informal inquiry or interrogation, a firefighter may not be threatened with a transfer, suspension, dismissal or other disciplinary action. HB 31 passed the House (118-0) and the Senate (39-0) and is awaiting action by the Governor. (Hughes)

CS/HB 557 (Salzman) and CS/SB 838 (Wright) expand the eligibility for certain cancer treatment benefits to include full-time, Florida-certified fire investigators. CS/SB 838 passed the Senate (37-0) and is awaiting action by the House. (Hughes)

CS/HB 301 (Roach) and CS/CS/SB 510 (Brodeur) require all municipal elected officials and all municipal managers to file an annual full disclosure of financial interests (Form 6) with the Florida Commission on Ethics. These individuals are currently required to file only a Limited Disclosure of Financial Interests (Form 1). In addition, CS/CS/SB 510 requires members of the Florida Elections Commission and the Florida Commission on Ethics to file full financial disclosures annually. CS/CS/SB 510 also removes current law provisions which give the Ethics Commission discretion to dismiss complaints concerning financial disclosures involving de minimus or inadvertent errors and authorizes the commission to dismiss proceedings involving executive branch lobbyist disclosures if it determines the public interest would not be served by proceeding further. CS/CS/SB 510 passed the Senate (30-7) and is awaiting action by the House. (Hughes)

SB 262 (Rodriguez) and HB 6011 (Roach) – Damages Recoverable by Parents of an Adult Child in Medical Negligence Actions

HB 295 (Fernandez-Barquin) – Workers' Compensation Coverage by Employee Leasing Companies

HB 335 (Fabricio)  HB 353 (Fabricio)– Satisfaction of Mortgages

HB 383 and HB 385 (Maney) – Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsels

HB 431 (Barnaby) and SB 1680 (Gruters) – Office of Financial Regulation

HB 465 (Sirois) and SB 438 (Burgess) – Unites States Armed Forces

HB 471 (Roth) – Town of Lake Clarke Shores, Palm Beach County

SB 468 (Perry) and HB 503 (Gregory) – Insurance 

SB 560 (Rodriguez) and HB 6039 (Hinson)– Recovery for Wrongful Death

SB 596 and SB 598 (Baxley) – Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsels

SB 610 (Brandes) and SB 7014 (Judiciary)– COVID-19 Related Claims Against Health Care Providers

HB 695 (Stevenson) and SB 1058 (Hutson) – Property Insurer Reimbursements

HB 829 (Bryd) and SB 1342 (Diaz) – Civil Actions for Deprivation of Rights, Privileges, or Immunities

HB 1123 (Maney) and SB 1274 (Broxson) – Ratification of Rules of the Department of Financial Services

HB 6111 (Learned) – Establishment of Recreational Customary Use

HB 1185 (Plakon) and SB 1276 (Diaz) – Legislative Review of Proposed Regulation on Unregulated Functions

SB 1548 (Perry) – Occupational Licensing 

HB 7013 (Fabricio) and SB 7018 (Banking & Insurance) – OGSR/Workers' Compensation/Department of Financial Services

HB 2239 (Smith, D.) – UCF-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Clinic for Florida Veterans and First Responders

HB 429 (Goff-Marcil) and SB 532 (Stewart) – Private Schools

HB 619 (Rodriguez) and SB 1336 (Boyd) - United States-produced Iron and Steel in Public Works Projects

HB 631 (Grall) and SB 780 (Hutson) - Airports 

HB 719 (Smith) and SB 1044 (Hooper) – Swim-up Bars

SB 812 (Baxley) and HB 815 (Killebrew) – Digital License Plate Pilot Program

HB 894 (Farmer) – Strategic Fuel Reserve Plan

SB 1524 (Boyd) – Recreation Districts

SB 178 (Pizzo) and HB 285 (Benjamin) – Visiting County and Municipal Detention Facilities

SB 162, SB 164, & SB 326 (Brandes), HB 333 (Williamson) and HB 1585 (Williams)– Physicians Certifications for the Medical Use of Marijuana

HB 467 (Hinson), HB 549 (Omphroy), HB 551 (Omphroy), SB 776 (Brandes) and SB 1884 (Powell)  – Legalization of Recreational Marijuana

SB 556 (Cruz) – Medical Marijuana Identification Cards for Service-disabled Veterans

HB 575 (McClain) and SB 1216 (Hutson) – Vacation and Timeshare Plans

HB 679 (Learned) and SB 1268 (Gruters) – Cannabis Regulation

HB 693 (Drake) and SB 768 (Rodriguez) – Department of Health

SB 704 (Harrell) and HB 479 (Caruso) – Substance Abuse Service Providers

SB 944 (Baxley) and HB 1227 (Toledo) – Online Marketplace Transparency  

SB 990 (Diaz) and HB 867 (Rizo) – Towing Vehicles

HB 1061 (Chaney) and SB 1750 (Wright)  – Sale of Cats and Dogs

SB 1144 (Brodeur) and HB 1321 (Melo) – Advanced Life Support Nontransport Services and Medical Countermeasures

HB 1471 (Smith) – Availability of Marijuana for Adult Use

SB 1624 and SB 1696 (Farmer) – Fees/Marijuana Establishments

SB 1906 (Rouson) – Hemp Extract Products

CS/HB 689 (Giallombardo) and CS/SB 1066 (Burgess) 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. CS/HB 689 was amended to expand workers' compensation coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for first responders to also include correctional officers. (Cruz)

HB 1075 (Slosberg-King) and SB 1508 (Taddeo) create the “Penny Bautista Act.” The bills prohibit a person from tethering a domestic dog or domestic cat unless the person is physically present with and attending to the dog or cat and the dog or cat remains visible to the person at all times while tethered. (Taggart)

HB 253 (Killebrew) prohibits a for-profit business from selling domestic cats and dogs. The bill does not prohibit a city or county from adopting an ordinance on the sale of animals that is more stringent than the bill. (Taggart)

SB 1022 (Ausley) and HB 6081 (Hunschofsky) repeal the state preemption on the regulation of tobacco and nicotine products. Current law preempts local governments from regulating the marketing, sale or delivery of tobacco products. (Taggart)

CS/HB 425 (Fischer) and CS/CS/SB 664 (Bradley) expand workers' compensation coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for first responders to also include correctional officers, part-time correctional officers, part-time law enforcement officers and auxiliary law enforcement officers. PTSD is an occupational disease compensable by workers' compensation benefits. In order to receive benefits under this bill, post-traumatic stress disorder must be demonstrated by clear and convincing medical evidence. (Cruz)

CS/SB 994 (Diaz) and HB 849 (Fernandez-Barquin) create a statewide regulatory scheme for the licensure, regulation and inspection of retail pet stores by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The bills specify that local governments may adopt ordinances that regulate but do not prohibit the operation of retail pet stores or the breeding, purchase, or sale of household pets, provided that the ordinance is not in conflict with the statewide regulations specified in the bills. The bills clarify that ordinances adopted prior to June 1, 2021, are “grandfathered” in addition to ordinances adopted prior to June 1, 2022, which impose a moratorium on new pet stores or are solely regulatory in nature. Additionally, the bills impose new requirements on animal shelters, including disclosing bite history prior to the animal’s adoption and a prohibition on intentional breeding of animals for sale. The bills also preempt local governments from regulating a person who offers for sale, directly to the public, certain types of dogs for sporting or agricultural purposes. 

CS/SB 996 (Diaz) sets the initial and renewal fee for a retail pet store license by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation at $25 per licensed location. (Taggart)

SB 1142 (Hutson) and HB 827 (Barnaby) prohibit the drawings of districts from favoring or disfavoring an incumbent county commissioner, municipal official or school board member. The bills require municipalities to fix the boundaries of their districts in only odd-numbered years to keep them as nearly equal in proportion to the population as possible. (Branch)

CS/HB 7049 (Judiciary Committee) gives a governmental agency the option to publish legal notices on a publicly accessible website of a county instead of a print newspaper. If a government chooses to make this change, they must show it results in a cost savings. Notices must be published in a searchable format and indicate the date it was first published. Also, they must run at least annually in a newspaper of general circulation or another publication that is mailed or delivered to all residents and property owners within the government’s jurisdiction with a notice indicating that those individuals may elect to receive public notices from the governmental agency by first-class mail or email upon registering their information with the agency. The agency must also maintain a list of the individuals who opt to directly receive notices. The bill was amended to require governmental agencies with a population under 160,000 to first hold a public hearing and determine that there is sufficient internet access in the area before public notice changes can be made. (Taggart)