Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On May 2, 2019, with amendment 970072, the Senate added language to a House building permits bill dealing with the effect of pre-suit notices under the statute of repose for construction defect claims. The amendment also made other changes to the building permits bill the House sent over. The…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House omnibus insurance bill (HB 301) was approved by the full House on April 11, 2019 by a vote of 114-0. On May 2, 2019, the Senate substituted the House bill for the Senate bill and rolled it to third reading and a final vote on May 3,…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 862, a tort reform bill dealing with the dangerous instrumentality doctrine, was sent to Governor DeSantis on April 30, 2019 when the House approved it by a vote of 83-32. The House vote was not a party line vote, although all of the “no” votes were cast by…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 862, a tort reform bill dealing with the dangerous instrumentality doctrine, will go to the Governor if the House approves it. We expect they will approve the bill on April 30, 2019. Procedurally, the bill passed the Senate on April 25, 2019 and was sent to the House…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 337 by Rep. Leek (R) increases the jurisdictional threshold for county court, along with other changes to the court system. It passed the House on April 24, 2019. The bill now goes to the Senate for approval. The Senate bill (SB 328) has cleared all its committees but…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate is set to vote on SB 862, a tort reform bill dealing with the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. The vote should occur on April 25, 2019. If approved, the bill will go to the House for approval. The House bill has some differences, one of which is…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 328 by Sen. Brandes (R) increases the jurisdictional threshold for county court, along with other changes to the court system. It passed its last Senate committee on April 18, 2019 with two amendments. Only one of the amendments related to the county court jurisdiction threshold. That amendment removed…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate omnibus insurance bill (SB 714) cleared its last committee on April 18, 2019 when the Senate Appropriations Committee approved it. Two amendments were adopted to the bill. One removed the bill’s provision that deregulated forms and rates for high value homes. The other amendment added a…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A tort reform bill dealing with the dangerous instrumentality doctrine moved out of its last Senate committee on April 17, 2019 with a strike all amendment (661740) increasing the required insurance. The House bill, HB 355, was set for a floor hearing on April 17, 2019, but was postponed.…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 759 and HB 761 revamp Florida’s trade secret protection laws. On April 17, 2019, they were heard for the first time on the House floor, rolled to third reading and passed by the full House. They were not amended. The bills will now be sent to the Senate…