BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 788 (Hooper) creates the Florida Hometown Hero Housing Program to assist frontline emergency workers, certain medical and health care personnel and educators in purchasing a home as their primary residence. (Branch)

HB 127 (Slosberg) prohibits the use of handheld wireless devices while operating a motor vehicle where first responders are actively working. This bill does provide several exceptions, such as first responders performing in their official capacity or drivers accessing safety-related information, including emergency, traffic or weather alerts. (Branch)

CS/SB 544 (Boyd) and CS/HB 731 (Caruso) require EMS providers to electronically report suspected or actual controlled substance overdoses using the Emergency Medical Service Tracking and Reporting System or other program as identified by department rule. Current law allows for optional reporting. (Taggart)

HB 1435 (Leek) and CS/SB 1954 (Wright) authorize the Sheriff or Chief Administrative Officer of a municipality to designate a special event zone in response to a special event that takes place or is reasonably anticipated to take place on a roadway, street or highway within their jurisdiction. HB 1435 defines "special event" as an unpermitted temporary activity or event organized or promoted via social media that is attended by 50 or more people and substantially increases or disrupts the normal flow of traffic on those roadways. CS/SB 1954 was amended to increase the number of people in attendance from 50 to 200 and specifies a special event zone will not remain in effect if attendance falls below 100 people. The bills require the Sheriff or Chief Administrative Officer to enforce the special event zone in a manner that causes the least inconvenience to the public. Special event zones must also: be designated with a warning sign at each point of ingress or egress, remain in effect as long as reasonably necessary to protect the public but not after the special event has dissipated. The bills authorize law enforcement to enforce occupancy limits on private or public property in a special event zone. Finally, the Sheriff or Chief Administrative Officer may recover all fees and costs associated with designating and enforcing the special event zone from the event promoter or organizer. (Taggart)

SB 226 (Powell) and CS/CS/HB 25 (Killebrew) create the Care for Retired Law Enforcement Dog Program within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). The bills require that the FDLE contract with a nonprofit corporation to administer and manage the program. (Taggart)

CS/HB 493 (Botana) and CS/SB 606 (Garcia) create additional safety provisions and requirements for boat liveries or privately owned boat rental companies. Of importance to local governments, the bills require livery owners to notify local law enforcement if a vessel is unnecessarily overdue more than one hour after the contracted time. Additionally, the bills appropriate funding for the creation of an Illegal Boating Strike Team for the purposes of increasing intergovernmental coordination while addressing illegal boating activity. CS/HB 493 was amended to remove these provisions. (Taggart)

SB 614 (Garcia) and CS/HB 721 (Buchanan) authorize certain housing authorities to adopt ordinances, rules or policies relating to dangerous dogs. The bills remove an exemption for local ordinances adopted before a specified date that pertain to dogs that have bitten or attacked persons or domestic animals. (Branch)

SB 1672 (Berman) and HB 1271 (Morales) provide for the development and implementation of an active shooter alert system by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). The bills allow for FDLE to partner with local governments to assist in the development and implementation of the alert system. Once created and upon request by a local law enforcement agency, FDLE may activate the alert system to assist the local agency when responding to an active shooter event. (Taggart)

HB 699 (McFarland) and SB 934 (Gruters) – Pub. Rec./Homelessness Counts and Databases

HB 983 (Stevenson) – Pub. Rec./Voters and Voter Registration

SB 1042 (Brodeur) and HB 735 (Plasencia) – Public Records/Special Persons Registry

SB 1282 (Diaz) – Public Records/Investigation of a Murder

SB 1920 (Gruters) – Public Records/Election Workers

HB 1547 (Overdorf) and SB 1848 (Gruters) prohibit public agencies from requiring an individual to provide personal information. The bills also prohibit agencies from releasing, publishing or otherwise publicly disclosing personal information. "Personal information" is defined as any compilation of data that directly or indirectly identifies a person as a member, supporter, volunteer or donor of a financial or nonfinancial support to any nonprofit entity. The bills specify how an impacted party may file a lawsuit, set fees for each violation and allow for a judge to award attorneys fees to the complaint bringing the action. (Taggart)

CS/CS/HB 773 (Willhite) and CS/SB 1046 (Hooper) exempt from public records requirements law enforcement officers and law enforcement vehicle geolocation information. The bills specify that the exemption would be applied retroactively. (Taggart)

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/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. (Taggart)

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)