The 60 day legislative session kicked off on Tuesday with its normal pomp and circumstance with opening day speeches, Governor DeSantis’ annual State of the State and the public allowed back in the Capitol after largely being offsite during last year’s session. 

In opening day speeches, the Governor, Senate President, and House Speaker highlighted their priorities for the 2022 Legislative Session. Governor Ron DeSantis in his State of the State highlighted Florida as the “freest state” in the nation and how this freedom has created a significant budget surplus and allowed him to recommend putting $15 billion in reserves. The Governor is calling for a $1 billion gas tax holiday to alleviate rising prices at the gas pump as his main tax priority for this legislative session. The Governor also called for the end of the Florida Standards Assessment exam in schools to be replaced by progress monitoring, teacher and law enforcement bonuses, continuing to protect our natural resources and borders, and asked the legislature to pass data privacy legislation.  

Senate President Simpson’s priorities include investing in our ports and infrastructure, investing in water storage north of the Everglades, and increased wages for state workers and law enforcement. President Simpson also spoke on opening day about two bills the Florida Chamber supports that discourage local governments from passing burdensome or onerous regulations on businesses. SB 620, by Senator Travis Hutson, allows businesses to recoup their losses if a government passes a regulation that leads to a 15 percent decrease in profitability. SB 280, also by Senator Hutson, requires local governments to create a Business Impact Statement that analyzes the impact of local ordinances before the ordinance is passed and delays enforcement of regulations once a lawsuit is filed. In a sign that President Simpson plans to fast track these bills, SB 620 and SB 280 both had a committee reference removed and only have one committee hearing remaining. The House took up the companion measures this week as well to prevent “local governments gone wild”, HB 569 (Rep. Lawrence McClure) and HB 403 (Rep. Mike Giallombardo).

The House Speaker asked his members in his opening day remarks to ask themselves, “What are you willing to risk?” He asked the House to see the entire horizon when looking at an issue and not take a myopic view because of advocates and lobbyists. Specifically, the Speaker mentioned his desire to mitigate the risk portfolio of the state, including cybersecurity and the threat of hurricanes as his priorities for this session. He also released a list of five priority bills addressing affordable housing, law enforcement recruitment, abortion, critical race theory and data privacy.

In addition to the local government regulation bills that moved this week, the House and Senate both heard bills that would extend the COVID-19 liability protections for healthcare facilities and their workers. These protections, unlike the business protections put in place that continue in perpetuity, will expire at the end of March without further action. The Senate plans to pass their version of the bill, SB 7014, that extends protections through June 1, 2023, off the Senate Floor as early as next week.

In advance of the bill filing deadline, data privacy legislation was filed once again and unfortunately, the House version, HB 9 by Representative Fiona McFarland, contains a private right of action as a means of enforcement. The Florida Chamber is requesting your feedback on SB 1864 by Senator Jennifer Bradley and HB 9 by Fiona McFarland so we can best represent your interests as these bills move through the legislative process. You can provide your feedback by contacting Carolyn Johnson at cjohnson@flchamber.com or calling 850-521-1200.

Finally, yesterday the US Supreme Court issued a stay on the Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA) “vaccinate or test” Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). This means that enforcement of the ETS is paused until the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rules on the pending case before them on whether OSHA exceeded its authority in issuing the rule. The US Supreme Court also issued a ruling yesterday that allows the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to enforce its rule requiring vaccination of employees at facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding. The CMS rule was already in effect in Florida but had been stayed in half of the states by federal courts in those jurisdictions.

Are you in compliance with the OSHA recordkeeping requirements? OSHA is requiring businesses to post their 300A summaries by Tuesday, February 1, 2022. The Florida Chamber Safety Council is offering this free informational webinar with Advisory Board member Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., to make sure Florida's businesses are properly prepared. Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., is the only attorney in the country confirmed by the U.S. Senate to run the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Join the movement to create a culture of safety in Florida as we set the national example for safety, health and sustainability. The 2022 conference at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando will bring together safety, health, and sustainability leaders from Florida and the Southeast. Attendees will gain valuable expertise and knowledge as well as have professional networking opportunities, understand current data and trends, hear from leaders in EHS, and learn best practices that will be brought back to leading employers to move the needle on safety, health and sustainability. The conference will include professional development opportunities (with CEUs), national keynotes including Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs” fame, networking and more.