BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 495 (Antone) creates the Commission on Public Safety in Urban and Inner-City Communities within the Department of Law Enforcement. The purpose of the commission is to investigate system failures and the causes and reasons for high crime and gun violence incidents in urban and inner-city neighborhoods and communities and to develop recommendations for system improvements. Linked to HB 495, HB 497 (Antone) creates a public meeting exemption for the Commission on Public Safety in Urban and Inner-City Communities when exempt or confidential information is discussed. This provision is set to sunset in 2028. (Taggart)

HB 7007 (Ethics, Elections and Open Government Subcommittee) removes the scheduled repeal date of the public record and public meeting exemptions for security or fire safety system plans under sections 119.071(3)(a) and 286.0113(1), Florida Statutes. The bill repeals section 281.301, Florida Statutes, because the information and meetings protected under this section were deemed duplicative of the exemptions in sections 119.071(3)(a) and 286.0113(1). 

Effective date: October 1, 2023. (Taggart)

SB 7006 (Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee) renews the exemption from public records requirements for information held by an agency relating to the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network. 

Effective date: October 1, 2023. (Taggart)

SB 7008 (Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee) renews the exemption from public records requirements for building plans, blueprints, schematic drawings and diagrams that depict the internal layout or structural elements of an attractions and recreation facility, entertainment or resort complex, industrial complex, retail and service development, office development, health care facility, or hotel or motel development. The bill also removes language in current law relating to how an agency may disclose the exempt information.

Effective date: October 1, 2023. (Taggart)

HB 279 (Jacques) and SB 310 (Collins) would require federal law enforcement agencies that are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act and have a physical office in Florida to comply with the state's public records requirements. (Taggart)

SB 1264 (Rouson) requires an agency to provide an electronic option for the payment of any fee associated with a request to inspect or copy public records. (Taggart)

SB 1516 (Pizzo) and HB 1527 (Joseph) require governmental agencies to provide members of the Legislature and the Florida cabinet any requested documents within seven days after receiving the request. The governmental entity may not redact the records and must waive all fees associated with the request. The legislative member or the cabinet member requesting the records is responsible for keeping the records confidential and may only share the records with another member of the Legislature. The requestee must submit a form to the agency releasing the records acknowledging this obligation. (Taggart)

SB 918 (DiCeglie) directs the Office of Supplier Diversity of the Department of Management Services to establish a Small Business Certification Program. The bill requires local governments to accept this small business certification regardless of any additional local certification process. (Taggart)

CS/CS/SB 264 (Collins) restricts the issuance of government contracts or economic development incentives to foreign entities that are owned by, controlled by or organized under the laws of a foreign country of concern (i.e., the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba, the Venezuelan Regime of Nicolas Maduro, or the Syrian Arab Republic, including any agency of or other entity within significant control of such foreign country of concern). The bill further prohibits a foreign principal, as defined in the bill, from owning or acquiring agricultural land or other interests in real property on or within 10 miles of a military installation or critical infrastructure facility. A foreign principal that owns agricultural land acquired before July 1, 2023, may continue to hold such land and must register with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) by January 1, 2024, on a form prescribed by DACS. If the property owned or acquired before July 1, 2023, is on or within 10 miles of a military installation or critical infrastructure facility, the foreign principal must similarly register with the Department of Economic Opportunity by December 31, 2023. The bill prohibits the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party, its officials and members, other political party official or members, other legal entities or subsidiaries organized under the laws of, or having a principal place of business in, China or its political subdivisions, or other persons domiciled in China, who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States, from purchasing or acquiring an interest in, real property in Florida. However, a natural person may purchase one residential real property not exceeding 2 acres in size and not on or within 5 miles of a military installation if certain conditions are met. The bill also allows the purchase of real property for diplomatic purposes recognized, acknowledged and allowed by the federal government. The bill also amends the Florida Electronic Health Records Act to require the physical storage of personal medical information in the continental U.S., U.S. territories or Canada. The bill amends the Health Care Licensing Procedures Act to require that licensees sign an affidavit attesting that all patient information is physically stored in the continental U.S., U.S. territories or Canada. Finally, the bill amends section 836.05, Florida Statutes, relating to criminal threats and extortion, to provide that a person who violates the statute while acting as a foreign agent for the purpose of benefitting a foreign country of concern, commits a first degree felony.   

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (Taggart)

CS/CS/SB 284 (Brodeur) revises vehicle procurement requirements for the state purchasing plan. It requires vehicles of a given use class to be selected for procurement based on the lowest lifetime ownership costs rather than on the greatest fuel efficiency available. Emergency response vehicles are exempt from this requirement. The bill requires, when available, the use of ethanol and biodiesel blended fuels and natural gas fuel when a state agency purchases an internal combustion engine vehicle. It requires the Department of Management Services to make recommendations to state agencies and local governments before July 1, 2024, regarding the procurement of electric vehicles, natural gas fuel vehicles and vehicles powered by renewable energy.

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (Branch)

CS/CS/HB 1123 (Casello/Gossett-Seidman) revises legislation enacted in 2020 relating to commercial service airport transparency and accountability. As passed, the bill:

•Defines the term “consent agenda;” 

•Revises the website location on which a commercial service airport must provide a link to its airport master plan; 

•Amends the requirement for posting a contract to the airport’s website to provide that any contract or contract amendment in excess of $325,000 (increased from $65,000) must be posted on the airport’s website and expressly limits the requirement to contracts for the purchase of commodities or contractual services; 

•Requires that commercial service airports use competitive solicitation processes for purchases of commodities and contractual services that exceed the threshold amount of $325,000 (increased from $65,000); and

•Specifies that governing bodies of certain categories of commercial service airports must approve, award or ratify any contract for commodities or contractual services, depending on the airport size and contract amount, as a separate line item on the governing body’s agenda with a reasonable opportunity for public comment, and prohibits approval, award or ratification of such contracts as part of a consent agenda.

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (Taggart)

SB 830 (Hooper) clarifies that a public works project for the purposes of repair or maintenance also includes projects that utilize a consortium or cooperative purchasing agreement. (Taggart)

HB 239 (Bussatta Cabrera) and SB 224 (Hooper) – Special Risk Class Retirement Date

HB 291 (Holcomb) and SB 436 (Rodriguez) – 911 Public Safety Telecommunicators

HB 1121 (Bartleman) and SB 1156 (Burton) – Florida Retirement System 

SB 632 (Powell) and HB 687 (Daniels) – Veteran's Preference for Promotion

SB 576 (Book) and HB 663 (Cassel) – Employment Protections

SB 972 (Polsky) and HB 1065 (Nixon) – Protections for Public Employees Who Use Medical Marijuana as Qualified Patients

SB 1026 (Stewart) – Discrimination in Labor and Employment

HB 1109 (Barnaby) and SB 1310 (DiCeglie) – Expanding Public Sector Career Opportunities

HB 1445 (Black) and SB 256 (Ingoglia) – Employee Organizations Representing Public Employees

HB 1311 (Porras) and SB 1452 (Rodriguez) – Survivor Benefits

SB 7024 (Government Oversight and Accountability) – Retirement

CS/HB 95 (Duggan) amends section 112.532, Florida Statutes, to prohibit a law enforcement or correctional officer’s employing agency from discharging, suspending, demoting or otherwise disciplining an officer solely as a result of a prosecuting agency determining the officer withheld exculpatory evidence or because their name was included in a Brady identification system. It does not prevent the employing agency from taking disciplinary action based on the underlying actions of the officer. The bill creates section 112.536, Florida Statutes, which requires a prosecuting agency that maintains a Brady identification system to adopt policies outlining protections for officers, which must include the right of an officer to receive written notice that a prosecuting agency has included the officer in a Brady identification system and the right of an officer to request reconsideration of the prosecuting agency’s decision to include the officer in a Brady identification system and their right to submit evidence in support of the request for reconsideration. If the prosecuting agency determines the officer should not be included in the Brady identification system, the agency must remove the officer’s name and send notice to the officer’s employing agency confirming the removal. If an officer’s name was previously included in a Brady identification system and their name was disclosed in a pending criminal case, the prosecuting agency must notify all parties to the pending case of the officer’s removal from the system. An officer may petition the court for a writ of mandamus to compel the prosecuting agency to comply with the bill’s requirements.  

Effective date:  July 1, 2023. (Cruz)

HB 927 (Alvarez) and SB 1086 (Gruters) require an agency to provide notice to a law enforcement or correctional officer within 180 days after an alleged misconduct before any disciplinary action, suspension, demotion, or dismissal can be taken.  (Chapman)

CS/SB 696 (Ingoglia) and HB 729 (Holcomb) prohibit a municipality from renewing, extending, or renegotiating employments contracts with the Chief Executive Officer of a municipality or a municipal attorney within 12 months before an August primary election for the municipality’s mayor or for members of the governing body. CS/SB 696 amended the original bill to now prohibit a municipality from renewing or extending, employments contracts with the Chief Executive Officer of a municipality or the city’s general counsel within 8 months before a general election for the municipality’s mayor or for members of the governing body.  (Chapman)

HB 181 (Lopez) and SB 1354 (Stewart) specify the minimum factor used to calculate the cost-of-living adjustment for certain retirees and beneficiaries of the Florida Retirement System. (Cruz)

HJR 129 (Roth) and SB 1410 (Gruters) – Requiring Broader Public Support for Constitutional Amendments or Revisions

HJR 131 (Rudman), HB 209 (Rudman) and SB 1066 (Collins) – Recall of County Commissioners

HB 137 (Nixon) and SB 1598 (Torres) – Department of Labor

HB 237 (Altman) and SB 286 (Powell) – Legal Instruments

HB 331 (Overdorf) and SB 624 (Grall) – Liens and Bonds

HB 655 (Trabulsy), SB 468 (Garcia) and SB 914 (Garcia) – Suicide Prevention

HB 743 (Fabricio) and SB 708 (Burgess) – Estoppel Letters

HB 751 (Stark) – Mobile and Manufactured Homes

HB 991 (Beltran) and SB 1220 (Brodeur) – Defamation, False Light, and Unauthorized 

Publication of Name or Likenesses

HB 1141 (Gottlieb) and SB 1174 (Polsky) – Resolution of Disputed Property Insurance Claims

HB 1129 (Plasencia) and SB 1458 (Yarborough) – Roller Skating Rink Safety

HB 1299 (Daley) and SB 1344 (Bradley) – Payments for Health Care Providers and Surgical Procedures Under Workers' Compensation

HB 1347 (Truenow) and SB 1400 (Martin) – County Constitutional Offices

HB 1373 (Fernandez-Barquin) and SB 1490 (Garcia) – County Constitutional Officers

HB 1551 (Berfield) and SB 1370 (Ingoglia) – Wind-borne Debris Region

HB 1529 (Roth) and SB 1678 (Calatayud) – Agricultural Property Classification

HB 1617 (Michael) and SB 1718 (Ingoglia) – Unlawful Immigration

SB 1704 (DiCeglie) – Commercial Motor Vehicle Insurance

SB 1686 (Wright) and HB 1489 (Altman) – Designation of Brevard Barrier Island Area of Critical State Concern

SB 2504 (Appropriations) – State Employees

SB 304 (Boyd) and HB 1239 (Griffitts) – United States-produced Iron and Steel in Public Works Projects

HB 529 (Mooney) and SB 322 (Gruters) – Natural Gas Fuel Taxes

HB 665 (Roth) – Workforce Housing Communities

HB 597 (Lopez) – Operation of Electric Bicycles and Motorized Scooters

HB 941 (Busatta Cabrera) and SB 942 (Calatayud) – Authorization of Restriction Concerning Dogs

HB 1397 (McClure) and SB 1532 (Burgess) – Regional Transportation Planning

HB 49 (Driskell) and SB 430 (Driskell) – Abandoned and Historical Cemeteries

HB 275 (Daley) – Pari-mutual Wagering

HB 269 (Caruso) and SB 994 (Calatayud) – Public Nuisances

HB 493 (Antone) and SB 548 (Davis) – Applicants for Licensure as a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center

SB 554 (Gruters) – Medical Treatment of Animals

HB 745 (McFarland) and SB 1418 (Bradley) – Emergency Communications

HB 701 (Bell) and SB 760 (Perry) – Wreckers and Towing-Storage Operators

HB 67 (Gottlieb) and SB 174 (Polsky) – Obscene or Harassing Telephone calls 

HB 865 (Valdes) and SB 1722 (Rouson) – Public Food Service Establishments 

SB 932 (Book) and HB 381 (Waldron) – Animal Welfare

SB 1576 (Torres) – Legalization of Medical Marijuana

HB 27 (Benjamin) and SB 1574 (Rouson) – Judgement Liens

SB 46 (Wright) – Health Insurance Cost Sharing

HB 477 (Rizo) and SB 1110 (Ingoglia) – Term Limits for School District School Board Members

HB 1491 (Altman) and SB 1666 (Wright) – Marine Encroachment on Spaceflight and Military Operations

CS/HB 337 (McFarland) and SB 352 (Burgess) provide that 911 public safety telecommunicators and crime scene investigators are eligible for workers' compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder, which is currently provided only to first responders. The bills 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)

CS/CS/HB 645 (Brackett) amends Florida’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act to add the following items to the state’s definition of “critical infrastructure facility”:

•A water intake structure, water treatment facility, wastewater treatment plant or pump stations; 

•A refinery; 

•A gas processing plant, including a plant used in the processing, treatment or fractionation of natural gas; 

•A seaport listed in section 311.09(1), Florida Statutes, which need not be completely enclosed by a fence or other physical barrier or be marked with a sign or signs indicating that entry is forbidden; 

•An inland port or other facility or group of facilities serving as a point of intermodal transfer of freight in a specific area physically separated from a seaport; 

•An airport as defined in section 330.27, Florida Statutes; 

•A spaceport territory as defined in section 331.303(18), Florida Statutes; 

•A military installation as defined in 10 United States Constitution section 2801(c)(4); 

•An armory as defined in section 250.01, Florida Statutes; and 

•A dam as defined in section 373.403(1), Florida Statutes, or other structures, such as locks, floodgates or dikes, which are designed to maintain or control the level of navigable waters. 

The bill also modifies existing items under the definition to include any liquid natural gas or propane gas terminal or storage facility, regardless of size, and any power generation or transmission facility, station or electrical control center. Except for the specified deepwater ports, the revised and added structures and facilities must be completely enclosed by a fence or other physical barrier or be clearly marked with a sign or signs indicating that entry is forbidden, which must be posted on the property in a manner reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders. Any person who knowingly and willfully operates a drone over the specified additional facilities and structures is subject to a definite term of imprisonment not exceeding 60 days, plus a possible additional $500 fine, except for those actions committed by the identified entities, agencies or persons to which these provisions do not apply. In addition, the bill removes the current provision mirroring federal law, requiring a person or governmental entity seeking to restrict or limit the operation of drones in close proximity to infrastructure or facilities that the person or governmental entity owns or operates to apply to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the designation pursuant to section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016. The bill also strikes the provision making the definition of “critical infrastructure facility” inapplicable to a drone operating in transit for commercial purposes in compliance with FAA regulations, authorizations or exemptions. Operation of these drones would be restricted as provided in state law unless the state law conflicts with a federal definition of what constitutes a “fixed-site facility” or with any other federal law, regulation or authorization. 

The bill provides that effective on the same date that CS/CS/SB 264 takes effect (that date being July 1, 2023), the definition of “critical infrastructure facility,” if the facility employs measures such as fences, barriers or guard posts that are designed to exclude unauthorized persons, will also include: 

•A chemical manufacturing facility; 

•An electrical power plant as defined in section 403.031(20), Florida Statutes; 

•A liquid natural gas terminal; 

•A telecommunications central switching office; 

•A seaport list in section 311.09, Florida Statutes; and 

•An airport as defined in section 333.01, Florida Statutes.

Effective date: July 1, 2023, except as otherwise provided. (Branch)