We know nothing is ever dull with a Florida Legislative Session. With the Governor back home, it remains to be seen if priorities shift or new issues bubble up. Regardless, compared with the frantic pace and front-loading of many bills during last year's Session, this year has so far marked a return to the more usual deliberate pace. Here's where we are this week; unless noted, these bills are moving through their committees.

SB 258 -- Interstate Safety -- After several years of dying in committee, things look better for Senator Keith Perry’s efforts to prohibit drivers from camping out in the left-hand lane on roads, streets or highways of two or more lanes in the same direction and a speed limit of at least 66 mph. Drivers who violate could get fined and ticketed.  

HB 91 -- Transportation Facility Designations -- (or the "Jimmy Buffet Memorial Highway Bill”)

HB 781 -- Unsolicited Proposals for Public-Private Partnerships -- This bill is sponsored by Representative Chuck Clemons and sets to refine how Florida tackles infrastructure projects. It would ease or eliminate requirements for a competitive bidding process and gives public/private partnerships wider discretion in unsolicited proposals. 

SB 7000 -- Deregulation of Public Schools/Instructional, Administrative and Support Personnel

SB 7002 -- Deregulation of Public Schools/School District Finance and Budgets, Facilities and Administration and Oversight 

SB 7004 -- Deregulation of Public Schools/Assessment and Accountability, Instruction and Education Choice

SB 7004 has run into significant headwinds in the House, however, specifically the provision to remove the requirement to pass both the Algebra 1 end-of-course and 10th grade English Language Arts (ELA) exams for high school graduates.

SB 1084 -- Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services -- explicitly preempts regulation of EV charging stations and provides that “a local governmental entity may not enact or enforce an ordinance or regulation related to electric vehicle charging stations." 

SB 1624 / HB 1656 -- Energy Omnibus -- proposes multiple changes to the energy landscape in Florida. It contains several local pre-emptions on the use of natural gas and natural gas facilities. It includes a ban on the government's purchase of batteries made from “forced labor” (general thought: language targeting Chinese-made goods). It eliminates fuel efficiency considerations for statewide procurement of vehicles. The bill also will require purchasers of new electrical vehicles to pay a new “deposit” or fee of $500 to $1000 at the time of purchase.   

SB 1718 -- Wind Energy Facility Siting -- A bill prohibiting construction, operation or expansion of wind energy facilities and offshore wind energy facilities in this state. 

HB 1277 -- Municipal Utilities -- This bill would set limits on what a municipal-owned utility could transfer to general revenue from revenue generated by electricity, natural gas and waste water. The transfer would be: “equal to the amount derived by applying the average of the midpoints of the rates of return on equity approved by the Public Service Commission for each investor-owned electric utility in the state to the municipal electric utility's revenues.” It also further reduces the transfer amount depending upon how many customers of the utility are located outside the city limits.   

HB 1301 -- Department of Transportation -- This bill will ban the use of “ESG” planning criteria, like climate reductions and social justice, by Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and would prohibit local governments from “any marketing or public awareness campaigns . . . in support of any social, political or ideological interest,” including “the promotion of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) interests, [and] any campaign related to environmental or social justice causes.” 

SB 460 -- Career and Technical Education -- allows minors to work in specific conditions. Now has been amended to exclude 16- and 17-year-olds from working on commercial jobs or any scaffolding, roof or ladder above 6 feet.

CS/CS/HB 49 & SB 1596 -- Employment and Curfew of Minors -- This bill would revise age restrictions for 16- and 17- year-olds in the workforce, allowing them to work additional hours while attending school.  

HB 151 -- Cost-of-living Adjustment of Retirement Benefits -- State workers are on track to receive a 3% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) in their pensions. The COLA increases were eliminated during the recession; reinstating them is estimated to come with a cost of $2 billion dollars.   

SB 1276 -- Litigation Financing -- has advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This bill would regulate third party litigation financing (TPLF), a practice where investors fund litigation in exchange for a percentage of the settlement or judgement. The bill mandates disclosure of TPLFs involvement, and prohibits TPLF from influencing the outcome or seeking to increase the return of the litigation. The bill also prohibits TPLFs from receiving a larger percentage of the settlement or judgement than the plaintiff.

SB 248 -- Medical Negligence -- seeks to revise the limits on non-economic damages for personal injury or wrongful death arising from medical malpractice claims. The bill was amended significantly from its original form before being advanced from the Judicial Committee. The amended bill reinstates caps for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, that are paid above and beyond economic damages.

CS/HB 1 -- Social Media Use for Minors -- restricts many platforms from allowing anyone younger than 16 to create an account and requires using a third party to verify a new users age. It also requires the platforms to terminate accounts for anyone under the age of 16.

SB 1738 -- Trust Funds/Defending Freedom Fighters Trust Fund/Department of Financial Services -- and -- SB 1740 -- Grants for Victims of Political Discrimination -- attempted to move $5 million to a Fund that could give public money to qualified state candidates who are “subject to political discrimination to pay for legal fees.”

CS/SB 328 -- Affordable Housing -- As noted, this bill makes several significant changes to the law enacted last year. Some of the major changes: require counties and cities to post on their websites their procedures for administrative approval of Live Local projects; require fewer units in development that are located in the Florida Keys to be set aside for income-limited households, dropping that number from 70 units to 10; expand the FHFC’s ability to preclude developers from participating in its program for certain violations; and require local governments to weigh parking requirements for developments near transportation stops or hubs. 

HB 599 -- Gender Identity Employment Practices -- This bill bars government employees and contractors from using any pronouns that do match sex assigned at birth.

HB 1135 -- Lewd or Lascivious Grooming -- This bill creates a new felony of “lewd and lascivious grooming” as defined as “the process of preparing or encouraging a child to engage in sexual activity through overtly sexually themed communication with the child or in conduct with or observed by the child without permission from the child's parent or legal guardian.”   

SB 438 -- Term Limits/Term Limits for County Commissioners -- This bill sets a limit of 8 consecutive years for County Commissioners.  

HB 401 -- Tracking Devices and Applications -- This bill would prohibit the use of tracking devices like AirTags to track a person without their consent, making it a felony. The bill does contain some exceptions.   

HB 601 -- Complaints Against Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers -- This bill will pre-empt local governments and prohibit local police review boards. 

HB 759 -- Solicitation of Contributions Act -- This bill will prohibit panhandling in most cases, from 4 p.m. to 9 a.m. the next day, and makes the violation of the proposed panhandling law a felony.   

HB 1223 -- Minimum Age for Firearm Purchase or Transfer -- is a bill to lower the age to purchase a firearm from 21 to 18.