BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 831 (Yarkosky) and SB 1586 (Collins) state that a facility that is licensed as an enhanced firearms training facility is exempt from any local government planning and zoning or public works restrictions if the facility is zoned for agricultural use or its equivalent. The bills provide licensing renewal requirements and allow the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt rules to implement the bills. (Wagoner)

CS/CS/HB 49 (Chaney) and SB 1596 (Burgess) make changes to the employment restrictions for minors. Under CS/HB 49, minors 16 and 17 years of age will now be permitted to work the same number of hours as a person 18 years of age or older. Under SB 1596, these ages are set at 15. The bills would also prohibit local governments from adopting or enforcing curfews on minors that are more stringent than those listed within the bill. (Wagoner)

HB 601 (Duggan) and SB 576 (Ingoglia) make it unlawful for municipalities or citizen oversight boards to pass or enforce any ordinance relating to the receipt, processing or investigation of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement officers and correctional officers. The bills also prohibit the creation of any laws in relation to civilian oversight of a law enforcement agency in relation to the investigation of complaints. (Wagoner)

SB 350 (Osgood) and HB 837 (Benjamin) address cold case murders by establishing a process for reviewing and reinvestigating such cases. The bills mandate that law enforcement agencies review cold cases upon receiving a written application from a designated person and outlines the criteria for conducting a full reinvestigation, including the identification of new probative leads or a likely perpetrator. The bills require law enforcement agencies to develop a written application for cold case reviews and mandate training for employees on the procedures and requirements outlined in the bill. 

The bills also require law enforcement agencies to report quarterly all relevant data to the Global Forensic and Justice Center at Florida International University. The bills direct the Center to establish a case tracking system and searchable public website. The bills also allow medical examiners to issue death certificates with nonspecific causes of death and manner of murder under certain conditions. (Wagoner)

HB 191 (Brackett) – Town of Orchid, Indian River County

SB 528 (Pizzo), SB 526 (Pizzo) and HB 299 (Woodson) – Public Records/Property Appraiser

HB 289 (Woodson) and HB 243 (Woodson)– Public Records/Property Appraiser

HB 1237 (Dunkley) and SB 1272 (Yarborough) – Public Records/Medical Examiners

HB 1461 (McFarland). Rec./Investigations by the Department of Legal Affairs

SB 1682 (Bradley) – Pub Public Records/Artificial Intelligence Transparency Violations

SB 290 (Wright) requires that certain public agency contracts include a requirement that service providers comply with public records laws. The bill defines a services provider as an individual, a partnership, a corporation or a business entity that enters into a contract for services with a public agency and is not acting on behalf of the public agency. Linked to SB 290, SB 292 (Wright) creates a public records exemption for contractors' and service providers' records related to audit or claims resolution, which are provided to a public agency pursuant to contract requirements. (Wagoner)

SB 1494 (Pizzo) provides that a public agency that has custody of a public record may not charge a fee once an agency has received a request to produce records. The bill provides that any person who violates this chapter (Chapter 119, Florida Statutes) may be punished by a $5,000 fine and if the custodian knowingly deters a public records request, they commit a first degree misdemeanor. Lastly, the bill requires courts to set priority for public records cases over other pending hearings. (Wagoner)

CS/HB 103 (Arrington) and SB 712 (Powell) create a public records exemption for the personal identifying and location information of current county and city attorneys and assistant/deputy county and city attorneys, as well as information regarding the spouses and children of those attorneys. (Wagoner)

SB 811 (Gottlieb) and HB 862 (Jones) create a public records exemption for the personal identifying and location information of current county administrators and assistant/deputy county and city managers, as well as information regarding the names and locations of schools and day care facilities attended by the children of current administrators, deputy and assistant county managers, city managers, deputy city managers and assistant city managers. (Wagoner)

HB 157 (Caruso) and SB 894 (Bradley) allow local governments to meet and conduct official business via teleconferencing or other technological means, no more than two times per calendar year, as long as the meetings meet all of the requirements for public notice, public access and public participation. The bills do specify that meetings that include formal action on ordinances or are quasi-judicial hearings may not be conducted via teleconferencing or other technological means. (Wagoner)

CS/SB 224 (Wright) and HB 413 (Altman) authorize citizen volunteer advisory committees that are comprised of representatives from four or more counties to conduct virtual public meetings and workshops using communications media technology. HB 413 specifies that there must also be a 100-mile distance between the two most distant counties. The public notice must specify whether the meeting or workshop will be held in person or virtually and how members of the public can participate. (Wagoner)

HB 1089 (Shoaf) and SB 560 (Bradley) – Special Risk Class

HB 161 (Daley) and SB 362 (Bradley) – Medical Treatment Under the Workers’ Compensation Law

HB 1415 (Chamberlin) and SB 1712 (Bradley) – Peer Support for First Responders

HB 839 (Benjamin) – Employment Leave for Crime Victims and Witnesses

HB 945 (Gottlieb) and SB 762 (Rouson) – Heat Illness Prevention

HB 505 (Truenow) and SB 958 (Martin) – Local Government Employees 

HB 599 (Chamberlin) and SB 1382 (Martin) – Gender Identity Employment Practices

SB 400 (Burgess) and HB 853 (McClure) specify that retired law enforcement officers can be reemployed in a position that qualifies for the Special Risk Class by an employer that participates in the Florida Retirement System. The bills reduce the timeframe from 12 months to 6 months during which a former employee is prohibited from receiving both a reemployment salary and retirement benefits. (Chapman)

SB 628 (Simon) requires certain contractors who contract with governmental entities to provide an affidavit attesting the contractor does not use coercion for labor or services. (Cruz)

HB 195 (Chambliss) requires the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission to consult with a national organization with expertise in mental health crisis intervention to establish minimum standards for basic skills and continued education training for law enforcement officers by July 1, 2025. (Cruz)

HB 765 (Daley) and SB 818 (Avila) provide that certain public officials and employees are entitled to their full pay for a leave of absence in which they are performing federal military service that is 90 days or more. (Cruz)

SB 710 (Ingoglia) and HB 443 (Alvarez) make several changes to the "The Police Officers' Bill of Rights." The Police Officers Bill of Rights is designed to ensure certain protections for law enforcement and correctional officers are provided to officers throughout the process of investigating complaints against an officer if the investigation can lead to disciplinary action, demotion or dismissal of the officer. The bills delete provisions from current law relating to complaint review boards. The bills authorize an officer to file a civil suit if he or she is subject to disciplinary action in violation of the Officer Bill of Rights. The bills grant officers certain increased protections for alleged violations of the process required in the Officer Bill of Rights. Lastly, the bills authorize an officer to address and remedy any violation in a court of competent jurisdiction and provide for the reversal of any disciplinary action requiring the employing agency to pay for an officer’s monetary damages, attorney fees and costs for any intentional violation of the Officer Bill of Rights. (Cruz)

HB 993 (Holcomb) and SB 1490 (Burgess) expand the conditions in which first responders and certain personnel may receive posttraumatic stress benefits. The bills redefine the term “first responder” to include any full-time, part-time or volunteer law enforcement officer, firefighter, correctional officer, 911 public safety telecommunicator or federal law enforcement officer. The bills create a statutory framework for crime scene investigators to receive a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) evaluation and receive a diagnosis as a compensable occupational disease under specific circumstances. The bills also specify correctional officer PTSD evaluations may be conducted in person or through telehealth. The bills require an employing agency of a crime scene investigator to provide educational training related to mental health. (Cruz)

CS/HB 637 (Yeager) and CS/SB 808 (DiCeglie) authorize a firefighter, a law enforcement officer, a correctional officer or a correctional probation officer requiring medical treatment for tuberculosis, heart disease or hypertension resulting in a total or partial disability to be treated by a medical specialist of their choosing. The treatment by a medical specialist must be reasonable, necessary, and related to tuberculosis, heart disease or hypertension and reimbursed at no more than 200% of the Medicare rate. The bills were amended to require written notice to the firefighter's or officer's workers’ compensation carrier, self-insured employer, or third-party administrator, and the carrier, self-insured employer, or third-party administrator must authorize the selected specialist or authorize an alternative specialist meeting the same or greater qualifications. The carrier, self-insured employer, or third-party administrator must, within five business days of the receipt of the notice, authorize treatment and schedule an appointment to be held within 30 days of the receipt of the notice with the selected specialist or the alternative specialist. If the carrier, self-insured employer, or third-party administrator fails to provide an alternative specialist within the five business days of receipt of the notice, the specialist selected by the employee shall be automatically authorized. (Cruz)

HB 151 (Busatta Cabrera) and SB 242 (Hooper) create an unfunded mandate for government entities that provide retirement benefits through the Florida Retirement System (FRS). Beginning on July 1, 2024, the cost-of-living benefit of each retiree and annuitant shall be adjusted without a requirement for the Legislature enacting sufficient funding. (Chapman)