BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

CS/HB 433 (Esposito) and CS/SB 1492 (Trumbull) preempt the regulation of heat exposure requirements to the state. The bills prohibit local governments from providing preference for contractors on the basis of employment benefits offered by the contractor. The bills preempt to the state and remove any requirements a local government can place on a contractor in reference to the minimum wage. Lastly, the bills preempt the regulation of workplace terms and conditions to the state, not allowing a city to exceed or be in conflict with any state or federal workplace terms and conditions. CS/HB 433 preempts all regulation on the terms of employment to the state. CS/SB 1492 was amended to remove the provisions relating to wage and employment benefits by political subdivisions. (Wagoner)

CS/HB 179 (Bell) makes changes related to towing-storage operator practices, including allowable fees, payment, lien requirements, sale of unclaimed vehicles and record retention. Specifically, the bill does the following:

•Reduces the timeframe in which a towing-storage operator must send the notice of lien from seven to five business days, and reduce storage charges that may be charged if a lienor fails to provide this notice.

•Provides that a towing-storage operator may only charge certain fees.

•Requires towing-storage operators to accept specified forms of payment.

•Increases the timeframe an unclaimed vehicle or vessel three years of age or newer may be sold by a lienor from 50 days to 60 days from the storage date, and require the notice of lien must not be sent less than 60 days before the sale.

•Increases the timeframe for the public notice requirement related to sale on an unclaimed vehicle by a towing-storage operator from ten days to twenty days before the sale.

•Requires a towing-storage operator to make a towed vehicle available for inspection during normal business hours within 30 minutes after arrival at a storage facility.

•Requires a towing-storage operator to accept electronic titles as well as paper titles as evidence of a person’s interest in a vehicle or vessel. 

•Requires a towing-storage operator to retain records of all vehicles and vessels recovered, towed or stored; all notice publications and certified mailings; and fees for at least three years.

•Provides that foreclosing a storage lien on a vehicle or vessel must be through the process as opposed to the warehouse lien and landlord and tenant statutes. 

•Creates notice and bond requirements for foreclosure of storage liens on vehicles or vessels held by self-storage facilities. 

•Provides that counties must, and cities may, establish maximum rates for which can be charged for cleanup and disposal, and ensure that those rates are published on its website. In areas where no maximum rates have been established, the maximum rates established by the Division of Florida Highway will apply. (Wagoner)

CS/SB 774 (Perry) and SB 202 (Rodriguez) make changes related to towing-storage operator practices, including allowable fees, payment, lien requirements, sale of unclaimed vehicles and record retention. Specifically, the bills share the following provisions:

•Reduce the timeframe in which a towing-storage operator must send the notice of lien from seven to four business days, and reduce storage charges that may be charged if a lienor fails to provide this notice.

•Provide that a towing-storage operator may only charge certain fees.

•Require towing-storage operators to accept specified forms of payment.

•Increase the timeframe an unclaimed vehicle or vessel three years of age or newer may be sold by a lienor from 50 days to 65 days from the storage date, and require the notice of lien must not be sent less than 60 days before the sale.

•Increase the timeframe for the public notice requirement related to sale on an unclaimed vehicle by a towing-storage operator from ten days to twenty days before the sale.

•Require a towing-storage operator to make a towed vehicle available for inspection during normal business hours within 30 minutes after arrival at a storage facility.

•Require a towing-storage operator to accept electronic titles as well as paper titles as evidence of a person’s interest in a vehicle or vessel. 

•Require a towing-storage operator to retain records of all vehicles and vessels recovered, towed or stored; all notice publications and certified mailings; and fees for at least three years.

•Provide that foreclosing a storage lien on a vehicle or vessel must be through the process as opposed to the warehouse lien and landlord and tenant statutes. 

•Create notice and bond requirements for foreclosure of storage liens on vehicles or vessels held by self-storage facilities.

SB 774 prohibits the Florida Highway Patrol from excluding a wrecker operator from its wrecker operator system based solely on a prior felony conviction, unless such conviction is for a specified felony offense. 

Only SB 202 preempts counties and cities from imposing any regulations upon a towing-storage operator more stringent than those within this legislation. (Wagoner)

CS/CS/HB 7013 (Persons-Mulicka) and CS/SB 1058 (Hutson) are comprehensive bills dealing with special districts. Of interest to cities, the bills do the following:

•Establish a term limit of 12 years for members of an elected body governing an independent special district, unless the district’s charter provides for more restrictive terms of office. Any term of office that commenced before November 5, 2024, does not count toward the limitation created by the bill. This provision does not apply to the governing body of a community development district or any independent special district created by a special act.

•Add additional criteria for declaring a special district inactive, including Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRA’s).

•Authorize districts that have been declared inactive to expend funds as necessary to service outstanding debt.

•Reduce the maximum ad valorem millage rate that may be levied by a mosquito control district from 10 mills to 1 mill.

•Require all special districts to adopt goals and objectives, as well as performance measures and standards to determine if those goals and objectives are being achieved. 

•Repeal a provision that allows a special district to convert into a municipality without legislative approval.

•Require each petition to create a community development district to contain a sworn affidavit concerning planned development. 

•Provides that the boundaries of most types of independent special districts may only be changed by an act of the Legislature.

•Require independent special fire control districts to report certain information to the Division of State Fire Marshal. 

•Prohibit the creation of new neighborhood improvement districts (NIDs) after July 1, 2024. (Branch)

SJR 582 (Ingoglia) proposes a constitutional amendment to the State Constitution to prohibit the state, a county, a municipality or any other political subdivision from paying reparations to an individual who is a descendant of an enslaved individual who lived in the United States before December 6, 1865. (Cruz)

HB 421 (Gossett-Seidman) and SB 572 (Rodriguez) require local governments and other entities to make best efforts to provide advance notice to the entity or person who installed a traffic-related roadside memorial commemorating a deceased person before altering, dismantling, destroying or removing it. (Wagoner)

SB 166 (Polsky) creates the Medical Marijuana Public Employee Protection Act. The bill would prohibit a public employer from taking adverse personnel actions against an employee or job applicant who is a qualified patient for their use of medical marijuana unless that use is impairing the employee's ability to perform their job duties or responsibilities. (Chapman)

CS/HB 395 (Black) and CS/SB 1122 (Martin) prohibit a local government from removing historical monuments and memorials. A local government may only relocate a historical monument in certain circumstances. The bills provide that any person or entity that damages, defaces, destroys or removes an existing monument or memorial will be civilly liable for the costs to return, repair or replace the monument or memorial unless the person was authorized, or the entity was the owner. The bills limit the effects of the bill to monuments and memorials located on public property that have been displayed for at least 25 years and applied the provisions on a prospective basis. CS/SB 1122 was amended to add a severability clause that provides that if a court finds a portion of the underlying law is ruled unconstitutional, the overall law will remain intact. CS/SB 1122 also moves back the date of application to protect a monument that was removed to July 1, 2018. (Wagoner)

CS/SB 888 (Perry) provides residential property owners an alternative remedy to remove unauthorized persons, such as a squatter, from a residential dwelling. The residential property owners may request the sheriff immediately remove unlawful occupants under specific circumstances. (Cruz)

CS/CS/HB 271 (Lopez, V.) and CS/SB 388 (Garcia) make several changes to the regulation of private parking lot operations. Of interest to cities, the bills require owners or operators of private property used for parking to place signage where it is clearly visible to people entering the parking lot. The bills provide that the signage may be regulated by the local government where the property is located. (Branch)

CS/SB 496 (Perry) and CS/HB 535 (Snyder) expand the criteria for the installation of low-voltage electric fences in areas not considered to be zoned exclusively for single-family or multifamily residential use if the area is within more than one zoning category. Of concern to local government, the bills prohibit the regulation of low-voltage alarms in any manner that is more restrictive than state law. (Branch)

SB 648 (DiCeglie) and HB 377 (Borrero) allow a person who holds a valid vehicle-for-hire license or permit from any city or county the ability to operate a vehicle for hire in another city or county without being subject to additional licensing or permitting requirements. This preemption would not apply to transportation services to and from an airport. (Branch)

SB 1094 (Martin) specifies that beginning July 1, 2024, the Department of Health must get approval from the Legislature before adding any new vaccines for school attendance. The bill also prohibits the department, state agencies, local governments and political subdivisions from participating in or employing any digital health identification registry or similar mechanism for tracking the health data of residents without prior approval from the Legislature. The bill also introduces a way for people to claim an exemption from vaccination if an FDA-approved vaccine is not available, allowing individuals to make this claim for themselves or their dependents without facing additional conditions from employers or other entities. The bill prohibits certain mandatory vaccination policies during public health emergencies without legislative approval. (Branch)

SB 1174 (Ingoglia) and HB 1451 (Michael) prohibit a local government from accepting as identification any identification card or document that is issued by any person, entity or organization that knowingly issues the identification cards or documents to individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States. This prohibition does not extend to any documentation that is issued by or on behalf of the Federal Government. (Wagoner)

HB 189 (Salzman) and SB 1046 (Martin) are comprehensive bills dealing with gaming. Of concern to cities, the bills preempt local governments from enacting or enforcing ordinances or local rules relating to gaming, gambling, lotteries or any activities described in Section 546.10 or Chapter 849, Florida Statutes. (Wagoner)

CS/HB 1099 (Melo) and CS/SB 676 (Bradley) are comprehensive food delivery platform bills. Of concern to cities, the bills expressly preempt the regulation of the food delivery platforms to the state. A food delivery platform is defined in the bills as a third-party company that picks up food from restaurants to deliver to consumers. (Branch)

CS/CS/SB 996 (Burgess) makes several changes to Florida’s K-12 public schools and postsecondary institutions. Of concern to cities, the bill was amended to enable private schools to establish new campuses in existing facilities like churches or theaters, bypassing local zoning regulations and traffic management requirements. The bill seeks to prevent cities and counties from holding public meetings to approve rezoning these facilities for educational use and from requiring private schools to mitigate traffic impacts. As a consequence, residents near these new schools would lack the opportunity to voice concerns or influence the location of new private schools. The House companion, CS/HB 1285 (Canady), does not contain these provisions. (Branch)

HB 1419 (Tuck) and CS/SB 1420 (Burgess) are comprehensive bills that amend requirements for comprehensive plan amendments and revise the roles of the Florida Department of Commerce (formerly Department of Economic Opportunity). The bills mandate that local governments hold a second public hearing to decide whether to adopt comprehensive plan amendments within 180 days after receiving agency comments. Failure to hold this hearing and adopt the amendments within this timeframe will result in the amendments being deemed withdrawn, unless an extension is agreed upon with the state land planning agency and any affected person who provided comments. The bills require local governments to transmit all adopted amendments, along with supporting data and analysis, to the state land planning agency and any other agency or local government that provided timely comments within 10 working days after the final adoption hearing. If the local government does not meet this 10-working-day deadline, the amendments will be deemed withdrawn. CS/SB 1420 was amended to extend the repayment period of the Local Government Emergency Revolving Bridge Loan Program, and any existing loans executed before February 1, 2024, from five to 10 years. (Cruz)

HB 459 (Rudman) and SB 402 (Yarborough) revise the criteria of the State Health Officer extending a statewide public health emergency to require approval by a two-thirds majority vote of the Legislature. HB 459 prohibits the State Health Officer from issuing a blanket closure on government buildings and services, churches and altering election procedures and protocols. However, any action that will affect an entire group must be authorized on a case-by-case basis, with each case being afforded all rights of due process. (Branch)

SB 506 (Wright) adds code enforcement officers to the list of covered professionals under Section 784.07, Florida Statutes, which provides penalties for assault, battery, aggravated assault, and aggravated battery when the offense is knowingly committed against a law enforcement officer or other specified professionals who are engaged in the lawful performance of his or her duties. (Wagoner)