BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

CS/CS/HB 1121 (Brannan) and CS/CS/SB 1614 (Harrell) revise an exemption from public records requirements for written reports of crashes. Crash reports held by an agency may now be made available to any private person or entity acting on behalf of a federal, state or local governmental agency in carrying out its functions. (Taggart)

CS/SB 1420 (Burgess) and HB 1213 (Arrington) create a public records exemption for the personal identifying and location information of current and former county and city attorneys and assistant county and city attorneys, as well as information regarding the spouses and children of those attorneys. (Taggart)

HB 307 (Hawkins) and SB 716 (Bradley) provide a public records exemption for the personal information of individuals who adopt an animal from an animal shelter or animal control agency operated by a local government. (Taggart)

SB 1472 (Stewart) requires agencies to respond to a public records request within five business days by: a) making the records available, b) denying the request or c) providing a statement of how long the request will take and the reason for the delay. (Taggart)

SB 674 (Cruz) suspends the physical quorum requirement for local governmental bodies during a declared state of emergency. The bill would allow meetings of any board or commission to be held via telephone, real-time videoconferencing or similar real-time electronic or video communication for no more than six months from the start of the declared state of emergency, unless extended by the governor by executive order. (Taggart)

SB 7006 (Education) saves from repeal the public records exemption relating to any portion of a campus emergency response held by a public postsecondary institution, a state or local law enforcement agency, a county or municipal emergency management agency, the Executive Office of the Governor, the Department of Education, the Board of Governors of the State University System, or the Division of Emergency Management, as well as that portion of a public meeting which would reveal information related to a campus emergency response. (Taggart)

CS/HB 1057 (Andrade) and CS/CS/SB 1952 (Albritton) state that agencies who require vendors to demonstrate financial stability during the competitive solicitation process must accept any of the following as evidence of such stability: audited financial statements, documentation of an investment-grade rating from a credit rating agency, or for vendors with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion, a letter issued by the chief financial officer or controller of that vendor. CS/CS/SB 1952 was amended to lower the revenue threshold to $10 million. (Taggart)

CS/CS/SB 954 (Brodeur) and CS/HB 1139 (Drake) revise 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, 2023, 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 bills were amended to direct 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. (Taggart)

HB 6091 (Gregory) and SB 1520 (Gruters) remove a provision in the Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act (CCNA) that requires a municipality to consider an equitable distribution of contracts among all qualified firms during the competitive selection process. (Taggart)

HB 293 (Thompson) and SB 322 (Stewart) – Discrimination in Labor and Employment 

SB 376 (Book) and HB 291 (Woodson) – Employment Protections

SB 382 (Brandes) – Minimum Wage Training

SB 550 (Cruz) and HB 853 (Daley) – Unlawful Employment Practices

SB 720 (Ausley) – The Florida Retirement System 

SB 688 (Cruz), SB 629 (Nixon) and HB 627 (Nixon) – Employment Practices for Family Medical Leave

SB 656 (Cruz) and HB 629 (Nixon) – Family and Medical Leave Insurance Benefits Fund 

HB 949 (Chambliss) – Employment Accommodations for Family or Household Members of Homicide Victims

HB 1197 (Byrd) and SB 1458 (Baxley) – Employee Organization Representing Public Employees

HB 1247 (Grieco) and SB 1606 (Polsky) – Medical Marijuana Public Employee Protection

HB 1253 (Brown) and SB 1608 (Bracy) – Prhibited Discrimination Based on Hairstyle

HB 1551 (Tomkow) and SB 1810 (Perry) – Florida Retirement System

HB 1191 (Altman) and SB 1618 (Broxson) – Restrictions on Employment

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)

CS/SB 266 (Diaz) revises the definition of "law enforcement officer" to specify that time spent on certain activities, such as portal-portal travel in an agency-issued vehicle, is a part of service as a law enforcement officer. (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/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. (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)

SB 264 (Hooper) and HB 31 (Busatta Cabrera) extend 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. (Hughes)