Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Bills regulating electric bikes (e-bikes) and essentially treating them like bikes that are pedaled passed committees in the House and Senate on February 3, 2020 despite concerns about bikes going up to 28 mph being used on pedestrian walkways. The House bill, HB 971, was not amended. The Senate…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A bill to revamp the construction defect process cleared its first House committee on January 29, 2020 on a party line 9-4 vote with Republicans voting “yes” and Democrats voting “no.” The bill has two committees left. The Senate companion has not been heard in committee. A strike all…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel This week, the House moved a tort reform bill to the floor when the asbestos trust claim bill passed its last committee. HB 741 passed the House Judiciary Committee with a vote of 12-6. The bill was not amended. It will be heard on the House floor when scheduled…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel An omnibus insurance bill containing primarily clean up or noncontroversial insurance provisions passed its first House committee this week. A committee bill was adopted to replace the original bill, HB 895. The bill has two committees left. The Senate companion, SB 1606, will be heard in its first committee…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Bills to regulate peer to peer car sharing, and which includes insurance requirements, started moving this week in the Senate and House. When it heard the bill on January 27, 2020, the Senate Innovation, Industry, and Technology Committee adopted a strike all amendment (380208) to bring the Senate bill…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Bills protecting vulnerable investors from financial exploitation moved in the House and Senate this week. Similar bills were filed in prior Sessions, but never passed. The Senate moved SB 1672 out of its first committee without amendment. The House bill, HB 813, moved out of its second committee and…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 799 and HB 801 revamp Florida’s trade secret protection laws. On January 30, 2020, they passed the Commerce Committee. The bills have one committee left. HB 801 repeals most of the public records exemptions for trade secret protection in current law. The repeals include the exemptions that protect…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Bills specifying the evidence juries hear for the value of past, present, or future medical expenses used to set damages in personal injury lawsuits were approved by their first committees of reference in the House and Senate this week. The House bill was significantly amended to bring it…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House Judiciary Committee adopted a committee bill (PCB JDC 20-03) on contingency risk multipliers during its meeting on January 30, 2020. The original committee bill proposed was an outright ban on the use of contingency risk multipliers in all cases. However, the committee adopted a strike all amendment…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 30, 2020, the House Judiciary Committee approved a committee bill (PCB JDC 20-05) to make appeals of most county court cases go directly to the District Court of Appeal, rather than the circuit court. The bill is consistent with recommendations recently made by the Judicial Management Council’s…