Sovereign Immunity Limits
Support Amendment to CS/CS/SB 974 Oppose CS/HB 985
Overview
CS/CS/SB 974 and CS/HB 985 revise the statutory limits on liability for tort claims against the state and its agencies and subdivisions (which include cities). Current law sets the statutory limits at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident.
Support Amendment to
CS/CS/SB 974
CS/CS/SB 974 (Gruters) will be considered by the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday, February 23 at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Senator Hutson has filed amendment barcode #801476 to CS/CS/SB 974 that would do the following:

  • Cities and counties with a population of less than 50,000 residents
  • No increase to statutory limits

  • Cities and counties with a population of between 50,001 and 250,000 residents
  • Statutory limits increase to $300,000 per person and $400,000 per occurrence

  • Cities and counties with a population of more than 250,001 residents
  • Statutory limits increase to $400,000 per person and $600,000 per occurrence

  • Any government entity responsible for a mass casualty event that results in 10 or more deaths - the cap is $3 million in economic damages.

Please contact members of the Senate Rules Committee (click here for contact info) and urge them to Support amendment barcode #801476 to CS/CS/SB 974.
Message to Senate Committee Members
Please support amendment barcode #801476 to CS/CS/SB 974. The amendment represents a reasonable increase to statutory limits that balance impacts to our cities.
Oppose CS/HB 985
CS/HB 985 (Beltran) will be considered by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, February 23 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

CS/HB 985 does the following:

  • Increases the limit per person from $200,000 to $1 million
  • Has no statutory limit on incidents, subjecting government entities to unlimited liability
  • Beginning July 1, 2023, the legislation would tie the $1 million per person limit to a consumer price index to automatically increase with inflation every year
  • Prohibits insurance policies from conditioning a payment of benefits on the passage of a claim bill
  • Reduces from six months to three months the general pre-suit statutory time period for a government entity to review and dispose of a claim.

Please contact members of the House Judiciary Committee (click here for contact info) and urge them to Oppose
CS/HB 985.
Message to House Committee Members
Please oppose CS/HB 985 that creates unreasonably high sovereign immunity limits - $1 million (per person)/no per incident cap.

These unreasonably high limits would create a financial hardship for cities like mine, while significantly increasing insurance premiums which would become an additional burden on taxpayers.

The ability to collect larger settlements or judgments against government entities will substantially increase liability exposure and incentivize litigation.

It would force cities to either pass the cost on to taxpayers or pay the claim and sacrifice funding for other important programs and services, potentially health and safety services.

Municipalities’ budgets are already stretched thin, and this increase could cause serious financial issues, particularly for our smaller cities.

The Florida League of Cities welcomes a discussion on what the appropriate caps for sovereign immunity should be while balancing the impacts to the state and its agencies and subdivisions.

Please contact David Cruz with any questions.
Keep Us Informed

Please email Allison Payne and let us know what communications you have with legislators on this issue.  

Thank you for your advocacy efforts!