BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 496 (Taddeo) and HB 6049 (Daley) repeal the current statutory preemption prohibiting cities and counties from regulating firearms and ammunition. (Taggart)

HB 189 (Duran), SB 410 (Rodriguez) and HB 797 (Overdorf) authorize a county or municipality to contract with a vendor to install cameras in school speed zones to enforce speed limits. Within the first 30 days after such a camera or cameras are installed in a school speed zone, a motor vehicle operator found to have violated the speed limit will be issued a warning and will not be liable for the civil penalty. (Branch)

SB 370 (Hooper) and HB 351 (Duggan) add service as a firefighter as grounds for increased criminal penalties for certain criminal offenses. (Taggart)

HB 11 (Rizo) prohibits a person from approaching a law enforcement officer after receiving a warning with intent to impede, provoke or harass. (Taggart)

SB 652 (Cruz) requires the employer of each athletic venue, entertainment venue and convention center capable of accommodating 5,000 persons or more to display a human trafficking public awareness sign. (Taggart)

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)

SB 544 (Boyd) and 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)

SB 226 (Powell) and 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)

HB 493 (Botana) and 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. (Taggart)

SB 614 (Garcia) and 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)

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

HB 773 (Willhite) and 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)

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 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)

HB 6091 (Gregory) removes 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 689 (Giallombardo) and 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. (Cruz)

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)