2022 Florida Legislative Review

The Florida Legislature’s annual 60-day legislative session wrapped up last week in Tallahassee. Here’s a look at how our local representatives fared this year.

Senator Jim Boyd failed to get his most highly-prioritized piece of legislation passed this session, an effort to help reform the state’s deeply-troubled property insurance market. SB 1728 passed the Senate but died in the House. As a result, homeowner rates will likely continue to rise by double-digit increases annually, as companies continue to pull out of the Florida market, limit the policies offered in the state, and, in some cases, go bankrupt.

Boyd did manage to get four pieces of legislation passed. SB 544 revises "the purpose of specified provisions relating to the prescribing, ordering, and dispensing of emergency opioid antagonists to certain persons by authorized health care practitioners; providing certain authorized persons immunity from civil or criminal liability for administering emergency opioid antagonists under certain circumstances; revising requirements for a certain health awareness campaign; requiring hospital emergency departments and urgent care centers to report incidents involving a suspected or actual overdose to the Department of Health under certain circumstancesɓ

SB 1190 "Requires the authority having jurisdiction to determine certain minimum radio signal strength requirements for all new and existing buildings; authorizing the use of two-way radio communication enhancement systems to comply with certain radio signal strength requirements in the Florida Fire Prevention Code; specifying that such systems or equivalent systems are not required in certain apartment buildings; requiring that owners of such apartment buildings provide certain documentation to the applicable authority É“

SB 1526 provides "an exemption from public records requirements for personal identifying information and annuity contract numbers of a payee of a structured settlement and the names of family members, dependents, and beneficiaries of such payee contained in the court records for a proceeding for the approval of the transfer of structured settlement payment rights; limiting such exemption to a specified period; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.“

SB 1534 addresses retail theft rings, providing for increased penalties for those convicted of committing multiple acts of retail theft of a minimum threshold within a prescribed period of time.

Gregory, whose district includes parts of east Manatee and Sarasota counties, had a relatively uneventful session, although he managed to get a few pieces of minor, locally-oriented legislation passed, as well as a slightly more significant bill related to state courts.

HB 1049 follows a November 2021 referendum to abolish the Trailer Estates Fire Control District, authorizing the voter-approved abolishment, and transferring its assets to a new entity. It is linked to HB 1047, which expands the boundaries of the Cedar Hammock Fire Control District in Manatee County to include Trailer Estates. This too, however, will have to be approved in an upcoming referendum.

HB 1103 revises the boundaries of the North River Ranch Improvement Stewardship District in east Manatee County, to expand its size to include some other adjacent properties.

HB 7027creates a sixth appellate district while revising provisions related to the Florida Gaming Control Commission, the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, county court judges; district court of appeal judges; Office of Judges of Compensation Claims; reallocation of judges; and the judicial nominating commission.

Robinson managed to get two pieces of legislation passed this session, one of which was the most significant of our local legislators' accomplishments this year.

HB 1161 creates a new Northlake Stewardship District in Manatee County, though it will be subject to a local referendum in order to collect ad valorem taxes.

Much more significantly, however, Robinson managed to get HB 777 passed, which makes positive changes to the way referendums are conducted in Florida. In the past, local governments (including our local county commission and school board) have notoriously gamed the system by scheduling expensive special elections (during which, turnout is much lower) when asking citizens to approve special taxes.

The fewer people who participate, the easier it is to successfully influence the results through dark-money PACs that often mislead voters with spurious arguments. This not only hurts citizens via a manipulated outcome that too often benefits special interests, but also forces them to pay for the cost of the expensive special elections. Meanwhile, referendums can be held during regularly scheduled elections at no additional cost to the taxpayer.

HB 777 "requires referenda elections related to tourist development taxes, tourist impact taxes, children's services & independent special district property taxes, increases in county & municipal ad valorem tax millages, ninth-cent fuel tax, local option fuel taxes, & certain school district millage elections to be held on the day of general elections."