BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 562 (Bracy) revises the circumstances under which a law enforcement officer is authorized to use objectively reasonable force. The bill prohibits the use of deadly force against a person based on the danger that person poses to the law enforcement officer, if an objectively reasonable law enforcement officer would believe that the person does not pose an imminent threat of death or serious physical harm to the law enforcement officer or others. (Cook)

HB 273 (Sabatini) removes a requirement that a license is needed to carry a concealed weapon or firearm. (Cook)

SB 428 (Braynon) adds performing arts centers or legitimate theaters to the list of places where weapons or firearms are prohibited. (Cook)

CS/HB 183 (Ponder) and SB 1524 (Gainer) authorize city and county commissioners who are appropriately licensed to carry concealed weapons or firearms to a meeting of the governing body of which he or she is a member. (Cook)

SB 242 (Braynon) and HB 25 (Jones) reduce criminal penalties for possession of 20 grams or less of cannabis and products containing less than 600 milligrams of THC and specify that first-time juvenile violators are eligible for civil citation or other prearrest diversion programs. (Cook)

CS/CS/CS/SB 140 (Hutson) and CS/CS/CS/HB 65 (Rodriguez, A.M.) create an exemption allowing for the use of fireworks on three days: New Year’s Day (January 1), Independence Day (July 4) and New Year’s Eve (December 31). The bills were amended with language clarifying that any local government regulations relating to the use of fireworks are still in effect. CS/CS/CS/HB 65 was amended to add that a person must be at least 18 years of age to purchase fireworks. (Cook)

HB 249 (Slosberg) prohibits a person from operating a motor vehicle while holding or touching a wireless communication device. 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 520 (Gruters) and HB 1433 (Yarborough) allow police and fire departments to use drones to manage crowd control and traffic as well as gather evidence at a crime or traffic crash scene. The bills also permit a state agency or political subdivision to operate drones for assessing damage after a natural disaster. (Branch)

SB 134 (Taddeo) and HB 6009 (Daley) repeal the current statutory preemption prohibiting cities from regulating firearms and ammunition. (Cook)

HB 1405 (Greico) requires public swimming pools to have a telephone available for all public swimming pool users in case of an emergency. (Cook)

SB 1472 (Book) authorizes the governor to mandate certain improvements to a local government’s public safety communications system if the Department of Management Services finds that the system is inadequate. A system can be found “inadequate” if the system is unable to support the public safety needs of a community based on the age of the system, the number of towers available within the community or the ability of the system as a whole to withstand high volumes of radio and cellular traffic during a specific timeframe. The bill requires local governments to reimburse the state for improvements made to inadequate community communication systems. (Cook)

HB 6083 (Rodriguez, Anthony) preempts cities, counties and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles from installing, maintaining, or utilizing red light cameras effective July 1, 2023. (Branch)

HB 799 (Gregory), SB 1534 (Baxley) and HB 801 (Gregory) – Pub. Rec./Trade Secrets

SB 966 (Gainer) – Public Records/Disaster Recovery Assistance

HB 1035 (Raschein) – Pub. Rec./Records and Information Provided to Specified Entities for Disaster Recovery Assistance

HB 755 (Dubose) and SB 1060 (Thurston) – Pub. Rec. and Meetings/911 and E911 Communication Systems

HB 1007 (Valdes) and SB 1030 (Stargel) – Public Records

SB 1862 (Brandes) – Public Records/Criminal History Records and Related Information

SB 196 (Taddeo) requires cities to provide an electronic payment option for the payment of fees associated with a public record request. (Cook)

CS/SB 162 (Perry) and HB 195 (Rodrigues) are two bills relating to public record requests. The bills

prohibit a city, after receiving a public record request, from filing an action for declaratory judgement against the individual or entity making the request. These bills would prevent cities from seeking clarification from the courts as to whether a record is exempt or exempt and confidential. (Cook)

CS/SB 506 (Perry) and CS/CS/HB 441 (DiCeglie) amend current law to increase the maximum dollar amount for continuing contracts for public construction projects from $2 million to $4 million. The bills also increase the cap for study activity associated with public construction projects from $200,000 to $500,000. (Cook)

HB 257 (Antone) and SB 1518 (Gruters) amend the Consultants’ Competitive Negotiation Act to clarify that cooperative purchasing between governmental agencies is allowed if certain conditions are met. (Cook)

HB 453 (Duggan) and SB 884 (Hooper) – Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers

SB 456 (Rodriguez) and HB 691 (Jacquet) – Minimum Wage 

HB 161 (Toledo) and SB 206 (Rouson) – Prohibited Discrimination

SB 90 (Stewart) and HB 739 (Thompson) – Discrimination in Labor and Employment

HB 589 (Duggan) and SB 1142 (Hooper) – Offenses against Firefighters

HB 635 (Watson) and HB 863 (Watson) – Unlawful Discrimination

SB 644 (Braynon) – Florida Civil Rights Act

HB 795 (Joseph) – Pregnant Employees

HB 889 (Davis) and SB 1194 (Cruz) – Employee Practices

SB 1168 (Braynon) – Public Records/Complaints Related to Discrimination Based on Height or Weight

HB 3297 (Aloupis) – Firefighter Cancer Initiative

SB 760 (Brandes) and HB 1331 (Roach) – Intergovernmental Programs

SB 1734 (Taddeo) – Reemployment After Retirement of Instructional Personnel

SB 1586 (Perry) – First Responders Suicide Deterrence Task Force

SB 992 (Brandes) makes several changes related to employer and employee contributions, as well as account allocations, under the Florida Retirement System Investment Plan. SB 992 clarifies that if an employee defaults into the investment plan retroactively to the date of employment, the employee and employer begin paying employee and employer contributions at the applicable rate for investment plan members only after the default has occurred and not retroactively to the date of hire. The bill would also allow FRS investment plan members to make voluntary, after-tax employee contributions to their investment plan accounts, up to the maximum allowed by IRS rules. Employee contribution rates to the investment plan are currently 3% of gross compensation. Beginning July 1, 2021, SB 992 would increase member contribution rates for investment plan members initially enrolled before July 1, 2020, until the rate of all membership classes under the investment plan is 5%. The bill incrementally increases allocations to investment plan accounts. In order to fund the increased allocations to investment plan member accounts under SB 992, required employer contribution rates would be increased by an amount that has yet to be determined by the Legislature. Finally, the bill requires the State Board of Administration to prepare a report that examines the adequacy and use of current annuity options available to members of the investment plan. (Hughes)

SB 7044 (Government Oversight and Accountability) and HB 5007 (Appropriations Committee) revise the required employer retirement contribution rates for each membership class and subclass of the Florida Retirement System. The aggregate employer contributions anticipated to be paid into the Florida Retirement System Trust Fund in Fiscal Year 2020-2021 will increase by approximately $404.5 million when compared to the employer contributions paid in Fiscal Year 2019-2020. (Hughes)