2006 REGULAR SESSION July 1, 2006 Regular News LEGISLATION OF INTEREST TO THE LEGAL PROFESSION Legislation of interest to the legal profession Included in this report is a brief summary, by subject, of bills that passed the House and Senate during the 2006 Regular Session (March 7 – May 5, 2006) that may be of interest to Florida Bar members. During the 2006 Regular Session 2,480 bills were introduced. Of that total, 386 bills or approximately 16 percent of all bills passed. The Senate filed 1,429 bills, of which 118 passed both chambers. The House filed 1,051 bills, of which 268 passed both chambers.This compilation reflects pending and final action by the governor, and references 2006 Laws of Florida as of June 1, 2006. Information for these summaries was extracted from those bills and from House and Senate “End of Session Reports.” w ww.flsenate.gov/cgi-bin/View_Page.pl? File=index.html&Directory= Publications/2006/Senate/reports/summaries/&Tab =committees&Submenu= 2Again, these are partial summaries of selected bills. Lawyers looking for information in addition to that provided in this report may wish to contact the Florida Legislature’s information service, toll-free, at (800) 342-1827.Complete bill text — as filed and in final form, plus legislative history and other information — can be found through Online Sunshine via the Internet at the URL location www.leg.state.fl.us/. You may also call The Florida Bar’s Governmental Affairs Office at (850) 561-5662, or access bill text and other legislative information through links on The Florida Bar’s Web site floridabar.org. The Department of State will also have the new 2006 laws available online the day after they have been acted on by the governor. The laws can be found in the “general laws” section of the Department of State’s Internet homepage, accessed via the URL location http://election.dos.state.fl.us/laws/. Members desiring a copy of particular legislation in its final form may additionally contact: Session Law Chapter Numbers: Department of State, Elliott Building, 401 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee 32399-0250, (850) 488-8427. Senate Bills: Senate Documents, Room 303, The Capitol, Tallahassee 32399-1100, (850) 487-5285, House Bills: House Documents, Room 325, The Capitol, Tallahassee 32399-1300, (850) 488-7475. The Florida BarAlan B. Bookman President 2005-2006Henry M. Coxe III President 2006-2007Francisco R. Angones President 2007-2008John F. Harkness, Jr. Executive Director Legislation Committee 2005-2006 Francisco R. Angones ChairWarren W. Lindsey Chair-elect Kimberly Bald Ervin A. Gonzalez Sharon Langer Harold G. Melville A. Lawrence Ringer Clifford W. Sanborn Lawrence E. Sellers Chief Legislative Counsel Stephen W. Metz Tallahassee Government Affairs StaffPaul F. Hill General CounselDana M. Watson Legislative Assistant Administration Law CS/CS/SB 262 — Administrative Procedures This bill amends statutory provisions relating to publication of the Florida Administrative Weekly, and revises and creates various duties of the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee. The bill revises some duties of the Department of State and the Administration Commission, and revises duties with respect to rulemaking for agencies. The bill revises provisions relating to the timing and substance of petitions for administrative review of agency actions. The bill also expands eligibility under the Florida Equal Access to Justice Act, through which small business parties may receive attorney’s fees and costs when they prevail in certain adjudicatory or administrative proceedings, to include certain individuals whose net worth did not exceed $2 million at the time of the state agency action. It clarifies an agency’s duty to report on changes made to proposed rules after a final public hearing; requires the Division of Administrative Hearings and agencies to recommend types of cases or disputes suitable for a statutory summary hearing process; and requires an agency’s final order in certain cases involving disputed issues of material fact to explicitly rule on the exceptions that parties raise to the recommended order. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-82 LOF.Admiralty Law HB 201 — Nonjudicial Sale of Vessels Current law provides a marina has a possessory lien against any vessel in the marina for storage fees, dockage fees, repairs, improvements, or other work related storage charges, and for expenses necessary for preservation of the vessel or expenses reasonably incurred in the sale or other disposition of the vessel. Current law also provides a mechanism for nonjudicial sale of a vessel when the owner does not pay the charges due. This bill adds a vessel abandoned at the marina may be subject to the possessory lien; suspends application of the lien provisions for 60 days when a vessel is damaged in a named storm; revises the notice requirements a marina with a lien must follow before the sale of a vessel; reduces the number of days, from 120 days to 60 days, which a vessel’s owner has to pay the fees and costs owed to a marina before the marina may sell the vessel; gives the marina the option, in certain circumstances, of removing the vessel at the owner’s expense instead of selling it; revises provisions relating to priority over other liens. Approved by the governor and take effect July 1. Chapter 2006-5, L.O.F. HB 7175 — Vessels The bill amends §206.606 to direct funding for local projects regarding uniform waterway markers, boat ramps, boat lifts and hoists, marine railways, public boat launching facilities and derelict vessel removal. The bill amends §327.59 and authorizes marina personnel to take reasonable actions to further secure any vessel within the marina to minimize damage to the vessel, the marina property, private property and the environment, if the vessel is not removed once a tropical storm or hurricane watch has been issued. The marinas may charge reasonable fees for securing the vessel and will be held harmless for any damage occurring as a result of securing the vessel or from any damage incurred to a vessel from such storms or hurricanes. The bill provides no immunity is granted to the marina for any intentional acts or negligence causing damage to the vessel during the removal or storage under this act. The bill provides noticing criteria in the contractual agreement which may be utilized by the marina and the vessel owner relating to the removal of the vessel once a tropical storm or hurricane watch has been issued and provides for a time frame to be established for such vessel removal. The bill amends §327.60(2) to allow local regulation of anchoring within mooring fields. The bill amends §328.72(15) which provides for the distribution of vessel registration fees to counties. The bill provides for the distribution of such moneys to be returned to the counties for the express purposes of providing recreational channel marking and other uniform waterway markers, public boat ramps, lifts and hoists, marine railways, and other public boat launching facilities, derelict vessel removal and removal of vessels and floating structures deemed a hazard to public safety and health for failure to comply with marine sanitation. The bill amends §376.11 to allow derelict vessel removal grants to be awarded to all local governments as opposed to just coastal local governments. The bill amends §376.15 pertaining to derelict and abandoned vessels to conform the definition of derelict vessel in §823.11. The bill allows all law enforcement officers charged with enforcement of Florida’s boating laws under §327.70 to enforce the provisions pertaining to derelict and abandoned vessels and allows their agencies to recover the costs associated with removing these vessels. The bill amends the definition of derelict vessel in §823.11 to mean any vessel, as defined in §327.02 left, stored, or abandoned: (a) In a wrecked, junked, or substantially dismantled condition upon any public waters of this state; or (b) At any port in this state without the consent of the agency having jurisdiction thereof; or (c) Docked or grounded at or beached upon the property of another without the consent of the owner of the property. The bill provides it is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to store, leave, or abandon any derelict vessel within this state. The bill specifies which officers may remove such vessels and provides for funding of such removal by certain grants. The bill directs FWCC to implement a plan to seek federal disaster funds relating to the removal of derelict vessels. The bill deletes a provision authorizing the FWCC to delegate authority for derelict vessel removal to local governments. The bill provides when a derelict vessel is docked or grounded at or beached upon the private property of another without the consent of the owner of the property, the owner of the property may remove the vessel at the vessel owner’s expense 60 days after compliance with certain notice requirements. The bill specifies any person, firm, or corporation violating this act commits a misdemeanor of the first degree and shall be punished as provided by law. The court having jurisdiction over the criminal offense is authorized to impose civil penalties in addition to any sentence imposed for the criminal offense. The bill amends §403.813(2)(s) to provide the exemption for floating vessel platforms includes those associated with a permitted dock with no defined boat slip or are attached to a bulkhead on a parcel of land where there is no other docking structure and which do not exceed a combined total of 500 square feet or 200 square feet in Outstanding Florida Water. The bill requires all floating vessel platforms to be located where sea grasses adjacent to the dock or bulkhead are least dense. The bill provides exempted floating vessel platforms are not subject to any permitting requirement, registration requirement, or other more stringent regulation by any local government. The bill allows local government’s authority to require either permitting or one-time registration of floating vessel platforms as necessary to ensure compliance with the exemption criteria or general permit, to ensure compliance with local ordinances, codes, or regulations relating to building or zoning, which are no more stringent than the exemption criteria or general permit; and to ensure proper, installation, and maintenance of a floating vessel platform or floating boat lift proposed to be attached to a bulkhead or parcel of land where there is no other docking structure. The bill amends §705.101(3) to provide for a conforming amendment relating to the definition of derelict vessel as defined in §823.11(1). The bill amends §705.103(4) to provide a conforming amendment relating to vessels. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1.Business Law HB 37 — Consumer Report Information This bill creates §501.005 to allow a consumer to place a “security freeze” on his or her credit report by making a request in writing by certified mail to a consumer credit reporting agency. The security freeze prohibits the consumer credit reporting agency from releasing the consumer’s credit report or any information contained within the report without the authorized consent of the consumer. This bill allows a consumer credit reporting agency to charge a fee, not to exceed $10, when a consumer elects to temporarily lift or remove a security freeze on his or her credit report. However, a consumer reporting agency is prohibited from charging a fee to a consumer age 65 or older or to a victim of identity theft for the placement or removal of a security freeze. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-124 LOF. HB 7107 — Trademarks This bill makes several changes to Florida’s trademark law, Ch. 495 which was originally drafted in accordance with the International Trademark Association’s 1964 Model State Trademark Bill (MSTB), as amended over time. The changes in this bill conforms Florida’s law to current federal law regarding trademarks, known as the Lanham Act, and the revised MSTB, where appropriate. The bill provides a popular name for the trademark chapter; revises the definitions to make them consistent with federal law; revises which marks may be registered to be generally consistent with federal law; repeals the provision related to the reservation of marks; codifies the application review process used by the Department of State (department); provides a right to an administrative hearing for affected parties; reduces the renewal period of a registered mark from 10 to 5 years; permits a person to file a change of name with the department and specifies recording requirements for such a change; clarifies that security interests in a mark may be created and perfected under the Uniform Commercial Code; conforms the Florida classification system for goods and services to the International Trademark Classification System; authorizes an award of attorney’s fees to a prevailing party according to the circumstances of a case where ownership of a mark is disputed; revises provisions allowing the owner of a famous mark to prevent the dilution of the mark by enjoining the use of the mark by another person or seeking additional remedies in the case of willful use of the mark by another person; combines all fees applicable to trademark registrations and related activities into one section of law; and repeals obsolete sections of Ch. 495. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect January 1, 2007. Chapter No. 2006-191 LOF. 1443 — Liens The bill amends §679.705 to extend by six months the time period during which financing statements are effective. The bill amends §713.135 to allow for the local building department to electronically deliver a summary of the Construction Lien Law to the property owner. It provides that, in addition to a building permit issuing authority, a private provider performing inspection services may not perform or approve subsequent inspections until the applicant files by mail, facsimile, hand delivery, or any other means a certified copy of the recorded notice of commencement. The bill increases the threshold amount for a notice of commencement from $5,000 to $7,500 on those direct contracts to repair or replace an existing heating or air-conditioning system. It provides that an issuing authority or a building official may not require that a notice of commencement be recorded as a condition of the application, processing, or issuance of a building permit. The bill authorizes authorities issuing building permits to accept permit applications electronically and requires an electronic application to include a sworn electronic submission statement; and requires that an authority responsible for issuing building permit applications which accept building permit applications in an electronic format provide public Internet access to the electronic building permit applications in a searchable format. Section 713.18 is amended to provide electronic evidence of delivery of notices, claims of liens, affidavits and other instruments permitted or required under the construction lien law. The bill amends §713.35 by revising the list of legal documents to include a waiver or release of lien, or other document in which it is a crime to knowingly and intentionally include certain false information about the payment status of subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, or suppliers in connection with the improvement of real property, knowing that the one to whom it was furnished will rely on it and will draw payments or final payment relying on the truth of such statements to do so. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect October 1. Chapter No. 2006-187 LOF. HB 567 — Notaries Public This bill requires notaries, except for notaries who are attorneys or who are employed by an attorney or title insurance agency, to make a record of their notarial acts in a journal that must be maintained by a notary for at least five years. The journal must be maintained in a sequential paper journal or on a computer or electronic storage device. The journal must include the: date, time, and type of notarial act; title or name of the document or transaction; signer’s printed name and signature; signer’s address and telephone number; identification presented by the signer. Further, the bill requires notaries to notify the governor’s Office in writing of the circumstances of a lost, destroyed, misplaced, stolen, or unusable journal of notarial acts. Moreover, the bill provides that a notary’s failure to keep a journal and notify the governor’s Office as required above is grounds for suspension or non-renewal of a notary’s commission. Existing law provides that a notary may charge a fee of $10 per notarial act. This bill provides that a notarial act is evidenced by the affixing of a notary seal to a document accompanied by a written certificate or jurat. Additionally, the bill prohibits notaries employed by a state agency from charging a fee to notarize certain documents for military veterans, firefighters, or law enforcement officers. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect January 1, 2007.Children & Family Law CS/CS/SB 1080 — Child Protective Services This bill amends Ch. 39 Florida’s child protection statute, to conform to the federal Adoptions and Safe Families Act (ASFA) in three major areas. These areas are reasonable efforts, case planning, and permanency. As to reasonable efforts, the bill amends current law to describe when reasonable efforts are required; and it clarifies the nature of reasonable efforts required regarding both parental and relative placements at the stages of dependency proceedings. As to case planning, the bill amends current law to provide that agreeing to a case plan does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing or consent to a finding of dependency; defines “concurrent planning” and gives direction for its use; replaces confusing pre-ASFA language relating to “extending the case plan” with clear direction as to the time frames and requirements for permanency hearings; clarifies the options available to the court when it becomes clear that a case plan cannot be completed within the first 12 months a child is in care; provides new emphasis on current language that “time is of the essence” in case planning by placing that language more prominently in the statute; and it clarifies the considerations and process to be used in amending a case plan. As to permanency, the bill amends current law by defining “permanency hearings,” “permanency plan,” and “permanency goal,” and it conforms the permanency options under Florida law to those described in federal law. The bill also includes language clarifying the restrictions placed on the use of child abuse reports and the ability of the Department of Children and Family Services to investigate reports that a child is without a responsible adult to provide care for the child. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-86. HB 7151 — Adoption The bill provides a mechanism for the Department of Health to receive notification of the filing of a petition for termination of parental rights. Additionally, the bill clarifies provisions relating to who may execute an irrevocable affidavit of paternity. The bill also modifies the statute of repose related to adoption by providing that the interest which entitles a person to notice of an adoption must be direct, financial, and immediate and the person must show that he or she will gain or lose by the direct legal operation and effect of the judgment. Absent such a showing a person with indirect interest lacks standing to set aside a judgment of adoption. The bill also contains the substance of CS/CS/SB 438, which permits a petition to set aside a determination of paternity or terminate a child support obligation, specifies the contents of such a petition, provides standards upon which relief can be granted, and provides remedies. The bill provides for the amendment of a child’s birth certificate and provides for assessment of costs and attorney’s fees. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. HB 7173 — Welfare of Children This bill creates the Office of Child Abuse Prevention within the Executive Office of the governor and establishes a Child Abuse Prevention Advisory Council. It grants rulemaking authority for the Office of Child Abuse Prevention to the Executive Office of the governor and provides access to child abuse records for agencies that provide early intervention and prevention services. The bill adds employees of public schools to the list of “other persons responsible for a child’s welfare” about whom the Department of Children and Family Services is required to receive and investigate reports of child abuse. It requires the court to issue an order separate from other judicial review orders so that a caregiver can access educational, medical, or other services without revealing confidential details about the child to the service provider. The bill establishes legislative intent for the statewide and local advocacy councils, provides guidelines for the selection of the executive director of the Florida Statewide Advocacy Council, and establishes a process for investigating reports of abuse. Additionally, the bill revises eligibility requirements for young adults to participate in the Road to Independence Program (contingent on funding), adds requirements for case planning for older foster children, removes the word “scholarship” from the Road to Independence Program, requires payment of Road to Independence funds to recipients by direct deposit (with some exceptions), and authorizes Community-Based Care lead agencies to purchase employment, housing, and transportation services directly for the benefit of young adults in the Road to Independence Program. The bill revises the definition of the term “boarding school” to require such schools to meet accreditation requirements and to allow existing boarding schools three years to comply. It revises §409.903 to expand eligibility for medical assistance payments to Road to Independence participants to age 20; creates §743.045 to remove the disability of nonage for specified foster children for the purpose of entering into leases for residential property. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1, except as otherwise provided. Chapter No. 2006-194 LOF. HB 1503 — Persons with Disabilities The bill makes substantive, conforming, and technical changes to sections of the Florida Statutes which relate to persons with developmental disabilities and the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD or agency). Some of the changes are designed to conform statutory provisions to the transfer in 2004 of the developmental disability program in the Department of Children and Family Services (DCF or department) to the newly created agency. Other changes reflect recommendations from the agency as a result in changes in the financing and delivery of developmental disability services. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. CS/CS/SB 1286 — Substance Abuse and Mental Health This bill revises the duties of the Florida Substance Abuse and Mental Health Corporation, modifies membership requirements to include primary consumers, and delays the repeal of the corporation’s authorizing statute until the year 2011. The bill modifies legislative intent regarding community substance abuse and mental health services to include intent that the publicly funded system of services focus on recovery and resiliency and provide continuity of care for persons released from state correctional facilities into the community. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. Chapter No. 2006-50. CS/CS/SB 1510 — Child Care Facilities This bill requires child care providers to maintain compliance with child care standards in order to maintain their status as Gold Seal Quality Care providers. It authorizes the revocation of a facility’s designation as a Gold Seal Quality Care provider for failing to meet specified standards. It requires the Department of Children and Family Services (DCF) to promulgate rules which provide criteria and procedures for reviewing and approving accrediting associations for participation in the Gold Seal Quality Care program, conferring and revoking designations of Gold Seal Quality Care providers, and classifying violations. The bill revises provisions relating to the background screening of volunteers in child care settings regulated by DCF to make those provisions consistent with the screening requirements for other child care personnel. The bill amends provisions relating to DCF’s enforcement authority in registered family day care homes to provide the same escalating enforcement options available in other child care settings. Also, it provides DCF with the option of converting the license or registration of certain child care facilities to probation status. The department is required to adopt rules to establish the grounds for denial, suspension, revocation, or probation status for a license or registration for certain violations. The department must also establish a uniform system of procedures to impose disciplinary sanctions on licensed child care facilities, licensed large family child care homes, and licensed or registered family day care homes. The bill extends the ability of DCF to issue provisional licenses to registered (as well as licensed) child care providers. The bill provides DCF with specific rule-making authority relating to safety standards in licensed family day care homes. The bill moves responsibility for the Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (TEACH) program from DCF to the Agency for Workforce Innovation. Finally, the bill creates §402.317 to allow child care to be provided for 24 hours or longer when the parent or legal guardian works a shift of 24 hours or longer. This new section requires that the employer document the shift assignment and limits the total child care to 72 consecutive hours in any seven-day period. It authorizes waiving all time limitations for child care when a state of emergency has been declared. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-91 LOF. CS/CS/SB 118 — Temporary Child Custody Under the bill and existing §751.01 an award of temporary custody is needed to consent to medical treatment, obtain records, make decisions for a child’s education, and to do other things necessary for the child’s care. Temporary custody may be awarded with the consent of a parent or if a parent has abused, neglected, or abandoned the child. Under existing law, family members that can petition for temporary custody are limited to a sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or cousin of a minor. Additionally, in some circumstances, a putative father can petition for temporary custody. This bill expands the group of relatives who may petition for temporary custody of a child to include relatives within the third degree by blood or marriage to the parent. Additionally, a stepparent of a minor, under certain circumstances, may petition for temporary custody. However, the bill provides that putative fathers are no longer permitted to petition for temporary custody. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-167 LOF. CS/CS/SB 2184 — Parental Relocation with a Child This bill establishes procedures for a primary custodial parent to relocate with a minor child. Under the bill, relocation can be permitted as the result of an agreement between the primary residential parent and those with visitation rights; or by the failure of a person with visitation rights to object to a proposed relocation after receiving notice of the proposed relocation; and by order of a court. When a court evaluates a petition to relocate with a child, it must consider the child’s relationships with others; the age or developmental stage of the child, the child’s needs, and the impact of the relocation on the child; the feasibility of preserving the relationship between the nonrelocating parent and other persons through substitute arrangements; the child’s preference; whether the relocation will enhance the quality of life of both the relocating parent and the child; the reasons for opposing or seeking relocation; whether the relocation is necessary to improve economic circumstances of the relocating person; whether the relocation is sought in good faith; the career opportunities available to the objecting parent; whether a party has a history of substance abuse or domestic violence; and any other factor affecting the best interest of the child. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect October 1. HB 7111 — Interference with Custody/OGSR The criminal offense of interference with custody occurs when certain persons take or conceal a child or an incompetent person from someone with lawful custody. The bill revises the interference-with-custody statute, §787.03 to expand an existing exception for a spouse who takes a child in order to seek shelter from domestic violence or to protect the welfare of the child. The bill expands the exception beyond spouses to include a person having a legal right to custody of the child. The bill also includes the taking of an incompetent person within the coverage of the exception and within the procedural steps that a person must follow to avail himself or herself of the exception. (Under existing law, §787.03(6) a spouse who takes a child to flee domestic violence may be able to avoid prosecution if he or she, among other requirements, reports their whereabouts to the sheriff or state attorney.) The bill revise an existing defense for victims of domestic violence, to require the defendant to establish that he or she reasonably believed it was necessary to take the child or incompetent person in order to escape the violence or to protect the child or incompetent person from being exposed to the violence. It revise an existing defense for cases in which the child or incompetent person instigates his or her own taking, to require the defendant to establish that it was reasonable to rely on the instigating actions of the child or incompetent person. The bill also clearly makes the offense of interference with custody applicable to the taking of a minor, replacing the term “child 17 years of age or under” with the term “minor.” An accompanying public records exemption passed as HB 7113. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect October 1. Chapter No. 2006-114 LOF. HB 457 — Guardianship This bill makes numerous changes to guardianship law. These changes reduce the amount of personal information that must be included in a professional guardian’s registration; empower the executive director of the Statewide Public Guardianship Office to suspend or revoke a professional guardian’s registration; revise the law permitting a court to appoint a guardian ad litem to represent a minor’s interest in a legal claim; require emergency temporary guardians to file reports and extend the length of an appointment of an emergency temporary guardian; increase the number of credit and criminal history record checks to which a guardian must submit; expand the rights of an incapacitated person to include services and rehabilitation necessary to maximize quality of life; provide that an incapacitated person’s right to marry is subject to court approval if an incapacitated person’s right to contract has been removed; require training for guardians, examining committee members, and court appointed guardianship attorneys; require each member of an examining committee to report his or her findings; require reports of voluntary guardians to include a certification from a physician that a ward is competent; require professional and public guardians or their staff to visit their wards quarterly; create separate requirements for guardianship plans for adults and minors; authorize guardians to amend revocable trusts and create irrevocable trusts; permit the appointment of a surrogate guardian to take the place of a guardian for up to 30 days; repeal a provision that prohibits a person from filing a suggestion of capacity within 90 day of having been found incapacitated; require the Statewide Public Guardianship Office to investigate each office of public guardian; and make numerous technical changes. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-178 LOF. HB 191 — Guardianship/Court Monitors This bill prohibits a court from appointing a guardian for an incapacitated person if sufficient alternatives to guardianship exist, such as a trust or durable power of attorney. Under existing law, if a court finds that a person is incapacitated, a guardian must be appointed. However, the bill provides that a trust or durable power of attorney is not an alternative to guardianship if an interested person files a verified statement indicating that the trust or durable power of attorney is invalid. Additionally, the bill permits a guardian to challenge the validity of a ward’s revocable trust if a court finds that such an action appears to be in the ward’s best interests during the ward’s probable lifetime. As such, the bill creates an exception to the general rule that an action to contest the validity of a trust may not be commenced until the trust become irrevocable. Typically, revocable trusts used to manage a person’s assets during his or her life and to distribute property upon his or her death do not become irrevocable until the person’s death. Lastly, the bill strengthens a court’s ability through court monitors to investigate guardianships and enter any necessary orders to protect a ward’s health, safety, or property. The bill permits the appointment of an emergency court monitor without notice to interested parties when immediate action is necessary to protect the ward. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. Chapter No. 2006-77 LOF.Constitutional Amendments HJR 1569 — Eminent Domain This joint resolution proposes to amend the State Constitution to limit the conveyance of private property taken by eminent domain to a natural person or private entity. The limitation on conveyance applies prospectively to property taken by eminent domain if the property was taken pursuant to a petition of taking filed on or after January 2, 2007. The Legislature may provide exceptions to this limitation if passed by a three-fifths vote of the membership of each house. This proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors of the state for approval or rejection at the next general election or at an earlier special election specifically authorized by law for that purpose. HJR 353 — Homestead Exemption Increase This joint resolution would amend Article VII, Section 6 of the State Constitution, to increase the maximum additional homestead exemption that a county or municipality may grant to low income seniors from $25,000 to $50,000. It also creates Section 26 of Article XII to provide that this increase in the cap on the additional homestead exemption for low-income seniors takes effect on January 1, 2007. The joint resolution shall be submitted to the electors for approval or rejection at the next general election or at an earlier special election if provided by law. This provision would take effect January 1, 2007, if approved by the electors of this state at the next general election. HJR 631 — Homestead Tax/Disabled Veteran This joint resolution, if approved by the electorate, would allow certain disabled veterans of World War II to receive a discount from the amount of the ad valorem tax otherwise owed on homestead property. In order to qualify for this discount the World War II veteran must demonstrate: (1) he was a Florida resident at the time of entering the military service; (2) the disability was combat-related; and (3) the veteran was honorably discharged upon separation from military service. The discount is in a percentage equal to the percentage of the veteran’s permanent, combat-related disability, as determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor. Applicants for this discount are required to submit documentation supporting their eligibility to the county tax appraiser by March 1 of each year. The amendment grants authority to the Legislature to waive the requirement for an annual application. Required documentation includes the following: proof of residency at the time of entering military service; proof that the injury was combat-related; an official letter from the United States Department of Veteran’s Affairs stating the percentage of the veteran’s permanent disability; and a copy of the veteran’s honorable discharge. The joint resolution provides that if the property appraiser denies the request for a discount, the appraiser must notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for the denial, and the veteran may reapply. If approved, the amendment will take effect December 7. These provisions take effect on December 7, 2006 upon approval of the electors of this state at the next general election.Consumer Protection CS/SB 202 — Consumer Protection This bill amends §501.207 to provide legal standing for a receiver appointed in an unfair trade practices proceeding to bring actions in the name of, and on behalf of, the defendant enterprise, regardless of whether wrongful acts were committed by that enterprise. Under current statutory and common law, a receiver does not have the explicit ability to assert claims against other wrongdoers that may have contributed to an unfair trade practice. In addition, the bill revises effective dates provided in statute to capture changes made in federal law since 2001, the current year provided in statute. The bill also creates §501.972 to provide that the use of a creation that is not protected under federal copyright law shall not give rise to a claim or cause of action unless the parties to the claim or cause of action have executed a writing sufficient to indicate that a contract has been made between them governing such use. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-196 LOF.Criminal Law HB 61 — Postsentencing Testing/DNA Evidence Current law provided a four-year window for a convicted person claiming innocence to file a postconviction motion seeking the testing of DNA evidence. The four-year window expired October 1, 2005. The bill removes the four-year time limitation and expands those eligible to request DNA testing. Any person convicted of a felony and sentenced before July 1, may petition the court for postconviction DNA testing. In addition, the bill creates a front-loaded system for testing DNA evidence that requires the court to inquire of the defendant, defense counsel, and the state as to the existence of DNA evidence, which could exonerate the defendant, before accepting a plea of guilty or no contest. The bill authorizes DNA testing for persons entering a plea of guilty or no contest after July 1, with no deadline, if newly discovered facts or evidence are offered in support of the motion, or if the evidence sought to be tested was not disclosed by the state prior to the entry of the plea. It repeals the corresponding court rule of procedure to the extent it is inconsistent with the bill. Finally, the bill requires the maintenance of physical evidence until the defendant’s sentence is completed. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law, retroactive to October 1, 2005. HB 7177 — Prosecutions/Time Limitations/DNA The bill eliminates, under circumstances where the perpetrator’s identity is established by DNA evidence, the current Statutes of Limitation for certain personal crimes of violence by further amending subsection (15), and creating a new subsection (16) of §775.15, F.S. The bill provides that the following offenses can be prosecuted at any time after the date on which the identity of the accused is established, or should have been established by the exercise of due diligence, through the analysis of DNA evidence, if a sufficient portion of the evidence collected at the time of the original investigation and tested for DNA is preserved and available for testing by the accused; aggravated battery or felony battery; kidnapping or false imprisonment; sexual battery; lewd or lascivious offenses; burglary; robbery; carjacking; aggravated child abuse. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. HB 147 — Criminal Prosecutions The bill creates a new section of statute which provides that in criminal prosecutions, after the closing of evidence, the prosecuting attorney shall open the closing arguments, the accused or the attorney for the accused may reply, and the prosecuting attorney may reply in rebuttal. The bill also repeals Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.250 to the extent that it is inconsistent with the provisions in the bill. This bill creates §918.19, F.S. This bill repeals part of Rule 3.250, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect October 1. Chapter No. 2006-96 LOF. CS/CS/SB 1322 — Driver’s License Penalties/Alcohol The bill provides that a court may order the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to withhold the issuance of, or suspend or revoke, the driver’s license or driving privilege of any person who violates §562.11(1) which prohibits selling, giving, serving or permitting alcoholic beverages to be served to a person under 21 years of age, or permitting a person under 21 years of age to consume alcoholic beverages on the licensed premises. The violation in §562.11(1) relates to transactions on alcoholic beverage licensed locations. The provision does not apply to alcoholic beverage licensees and employees or agents of a licensee who violate §562.11(1) while engaged within the scope of his or her employment, or agency. The bill provides that the court may order the department to issue a driver’s license restricted to business or employment purposes. The bill provides a time frame for the delay of issuance of a license or the suspension or revocation of a license of not less than 3 months or more than 6 months for a violation and one year for any subsequent violation. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect October 1. Chapter No. 2006-203 LOF. SB 1076 — DUI Classes The bill requires driving under the influence (DUI) education courses be conducted only by certified DUI instructors. The bill calls for face to face instruction and for interaction in the classroom among offenders and instructors. The bill prohibits DUI education courses from being conducted via the Internet, remote electronic technology, home study, distance learning, or any other method in which the instructor and all offenders are not physically present in the same classroom. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. HB 5019 — Martin Lee Anderson Act of 2006 This bill relates to boot camp funding and amends provisions in Florida Statutes to conform to the funding provisions in the FY 2006-2007 General Appropriations Act. The bill titles the bill as the “Martin Lee Anderson Act of 2006.” It amends §39.01 allowing the Department of Children and Family Services’ Protective Services to have investigative jurisdiction over law enforcement officers employed in programs that are operated or contracted by the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). It amends §985.231 powers of disposition in delinquency cases – a technical change that deletes boot camp and replaces with sheriff’s training and respect program. The bill repeals §985.309 creating juvenile boot camps and creates §985.3091 establishes sheriff’s training and respect programs (STAR) in lieu of juvenile boot camps and the policies and procedures for operating such programs. Allows non-sheriff local law enforcement entities to operate STAR programs, for example, Miami-Dade County. Children ages 14 through 17 are eligible for the program if they have been committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) for any offense that, if committed by an adult, would be a felony other than a capital felony, life felony, or violent felony of the first degree (same as currently required for boot camps). A child must be physically examined by a physician licensed under Ch. 458 or Ch. 459 or an advanced registered nurse practitioner licensed and certified under chapter 464 when the child enters or exits the program. A child must complete a medical, psychological, and substance abuse evaluation before placement in the program. The child must be placed in a judicial circuit where he or she was adjudicated or the nearest circuit that has a STAR program. When a participant enters a STAR program he or she must be presented with a list of rights under this law that he or she can easily understand and acknowledge that he or she understands those rights. At exit, participants must sign a statement that these rights were observed. The bill requires that, at a minimum, each STAR program be staffed with at least one advanced registered nurse practitioner during the core hours of each day (7:00 am till 9:00 pm). A STAR program must provide a residential component and conditional release assessments. In addition, the minimum period of participation in the residential component must be four months for moderate-risk residential programs (same as currently required for boot camps). The new section also directs DJJ to adopt rules under §120.536(1) and 120.54 for the operation of STAR programs. The rules must prohibit the use of physical force or restraints except as authorized in rules adopted pursuant to §985.4055 and prohibit the use of harmful psychological intimidation techniques. It requires notice from the provider to DJJ that a child can be removed from the program for unmanageable behavior or is ineligible for the program due to changes in his or her medical, psychological, and substance abuse profile. For the first year of operations, STAR programs must comply with quarterly evaluations and yearly thereafter. If a program fails to meet the minimum thresholds and performance measures, DJJ must cancel the contract. The youth must sign an exit statement indicating he or she was not subjected to unauthorized physical intervention techniques or excessive force and document any unexplained injuries. Also, the youth must have the right to talk with outside counsel or law enforcement. It also requires that each STAR program have prominently displayed the telephone number of the statewide abuse registry. DJJ shall keep records and monitor criminal activity, educational progress, and employment placement of all STAR program participants after release from the program. In addition, DJJ shall adopt rules to establish training requirements for staff who work in a STAR program. Staff may not provide direct care to a child in a STAR program until they successfully complete the training. It creates §985.4055 protective action response – defines “Direct Care” and “Employee” in a program that is operated by DJJ or a provider under contract with the department. It also establishes a “Protective Action Response Policy,” the policy for governing the use of verbal and physical intervention techniques, mechanical restraints, and aerosol and chemical agents by employees. It also defines authorized physical intervention techniques and the situations under which employees may use these techniques on children. It prohibits lethal force except when necessary to protect an employee from an imminent threat of bodily harm or death. Finally, it also defines the authorized use of mechanical restraints and the situations under which employees may use restraints. These provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-62 LOF. HB 5021 — Sexually Violent Predators The bill limits the number of continuances in proceedings for involuntary civil commitment of sexually violent predators to one for not more than 120 days. The bill allows the court to grant additional continuances if it finds that a manifest injustice would otherwise occur. The bill creates a registry of mental health experts for use in involuntary civil commitment of sexually violent predators proceedings in the Justice Administrative Commission. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-33. HB 827 — Pretrial Release The bill requires judges who grant monetary bail to set a separate and specific bail amount for each charge or offense. The bill also provides that a defendant must comply with all conditions of pretrial release. Further, the bill amends statutes relating to bail bonds concerning forfeiture to judgment and cancellation. The bill expands the actions that satisfy the conditions of the bond to include: an acquittal or the withholding of an adjudication of guilt. This bill substantially amends §§903.02, 903.047, 903.27, and 903.31. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect October 1. HB 187 — Lawful Testing/Alcohol or Substances In order for a breath or blood test to be considered valid under the DUI statute, the test must be performed substantially in accordance with methods approved by the Department of Law Enforcement and by an individual possessing a valid permit issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Upon the request of the person tested, full information concerning the test taken at the direction of the law enforcement officer must be made available to the person or his or her attorney. This legislation mandates full information be provided to the driver and his or her attorney, upon request, concerning the results of the DUI test taken. Full information is limited to the type of test administered and the procedures followed; the time of the collection of the blood or breath test sampled; the numerical results of the test indicating the alcohol content of the blood and breath; the type and status of any permit issued by the Department of Law Enforcement which was held by the person who performed the test; and if the test was administered by means of a breath testing instrument, the date of performance of the most recent required inspection of such instrument. Full information does not include manual, schematics, or software of the instrument used to test the person or any other material not in the actual possession of the state. Additionally, full information will not include information in the possession of the manufacturer of the test instrument. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect October 1. CS/CS/SB 214 — Dart-Firing Stun Guns/Training and Use The bill sets forth the circumstances under which a law enforcement, correctional, or correctional probation officer may use a dart-firing stun gun. Under the provisions of the bill, the decision to use a dart-firing stun gun “must involve an arrest or custodial situation during which the person who is the subject of the arrest or custody escalates resistance to the officer from passive physical resistance to active physical resistance” and the person either “has the apparent ability to physically threaten the officer or others, or is preparing or attempting to flee or escape.” The bill requires the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission to establish training standards for instruction on the use of the dart-firing stun gun, and sets forth certain Basic Skills Training and annual training requirements. The bill also defines the term “dart-firing stun gun” and conforms other current statutory provisions to that definition. This bill creates §943.1717. The bill amends §§790.001, 790.01, 790.053, and 790.054. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. HB 55 — Restoration of Civil Rights The bill provides that administrators of county detention facilities will bear the responsibility for providing applications to prisoners who seek the restoration of their civil rights. When possible, the administrator must provide an application that is produced by the Parole Commission to the prisoner at least two weeks before discharge so that he or she may begin the application process for having civil rights restored. This legislation does not apply to prisoners who are discharged from a county facility to the custody of the Department of Corrections. The bill creates an unnumbered section of the Florida Statutes. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-174 LOF. HB 761 — Domestic Violence Center/Trespass This bill amends §810.09 by increasing the criminal penalty from a first degree misdemeanor to a third degree felony for trespassing upon a certified domestic violence center that is legally posted and properly identified (maximum possible penalty will be five years in prison rather than one year in jail). The increased penalty for this offense is comparable to the penalty already existing for trespassing upon other properly posted and identified properties such as a construction site, a commercial horticulture property, or a designated agricultural site. For the felony penalty to apply, a domestic violence center must be certified under §39.905 and be legally posted and identified in substantially the following manner: THIS AREA IS A DESIGNATED RESTRICTED SITE AND ANYONE WHO TRESPASSES ON THIS PROPERTY COMMITS A FELONY. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. HB 7021 — Stolen Motor Vehicle The bill creates a permissive inference that a person possessing a stolen motor vehicle knew or should have known the vehicle was stolen. Specifically, for purposes of proving theft or dealing in stolen property, proof that a person possesses a stolen motor vehicle and that the ignition mechanism of the vehicle has been bypassed or the locking mechanism of the steering wheel of the vehicle has been broken or bypassed, unless satisfactorily explained, gives rise to an inference that the person possessing the vehicle knew or should have known that it was stolen. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-107 LOF. HB 6003 — Resale of Tickets The bill creates §817.357 to establish a Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) violation for anyone who knowingly buys tickets, with the intent to resell those tickets, in excess of retail caps placed on the quantity of tickets that may be purchased. The bill, like current law, prohibits the resale of tickets for more than $1 above the admissions price, but limits the application of that restriction to tickets sold for passage or accommodation on any common carrier; multi-day or multi-event tickets to a park or entertainment complex or to a concert, entertainment event, permanent exhibition, or recreational activity within such a park or complex, including an entertainment/resort complex; and tickets sold through an Internet Web site unless authorized by the original ticket seller or one that makes and posts certain guarantees and disclosures. The bill also prohibits the resale of tickets on property where an event is taking place without the express written consent of the property owner. The bill requires that any sales tax due for resales be remitted to the Department of Revenue. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-105 LOF. HB 1325 — Controlled Substances This bill revises existing Florida Statutes and creates new provisions of law relating to the manufacture of controlled substances. The creation of controlled substances like methamphetamines, for example, creates toxic waste, endangering first responders and others who are exposed to the sites of methamphetamine laboratories. In addition, the combustibility of the components of methamphetamines creates a fire hazard. The bill addresses concerns related to children and first responders being exposed to the hazards of manufacturing controlled substances like methamphetamine, including: adding arrest for certain drug-related activities to the list of factors considered “highrisk” in a child protective investigation, requiring the Department of Children and Family Services to file a petition for dependency in child protective investigations; expanding language providing criminal penalties for persons who injure a first responder as a result of a violation of law (under Ch. 893, F.S.) involving controlled substances to include firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and other specified persons; prohibiting insurers from canceling or not renewing a health or life insurance policy for specified first responders solely on the basis of exposure to toxic chemicals, injury, or disease resulting from the exposure to chemicals as the result of performing duties related to another’s violation of Ch. 893; and adding the manufacture of controlled substances to the list of crimes for which pretrial detention may be ordered and requiring the court to order pretrial detention when it finds that there is a substantial probability that a defendant charged with a drug-related offense committed that crime and that there are no conditions of pretrial release that are reasonably sufficient to protect the community from harm. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. CS/CS/SB 80 — Electronic Mail The bill amends the Electronic Mail Communications Act, creates criminal penalties for sending unsolicited false or misleading commercial electronic mail messages, and creates the “Anti- Phishing Act,” prohibiting the acquisition and fraudulent use of a Florida resident’s personal identifying information through the use of a Web site or e-mail. The bill requires that any state or local agency, as defined in §119.011 or any legislative entity that operates a website and uses electronic mail to post the following statement in a conspicuous location on its website: Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing. The bill also provides that a violation of the statutes on unsolicited false or misleading electronic mail is a misdemeanor of the first degree or, under specified circumstances, a felony in the third degree, and provides that the existing civil penalties and the new criminal penalties are cumulative remedies. Finally, the bill creates the “Anti-Phishing Act” to: prohibit the acquisition and fraudulent use of a Florida resident’s personal identifying information through the use of a website or e-mail; create a civil cause of action for internet access providers, financial institutions, web page, or trademark owners harmed by a violation, or the Attorney General; provide remedies of injunctive relief and damages, including potential treble damages under specified circumstances, attorney’s fees and costs; and create a three-year statute of limitations; and provide for exemptions from the Act. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1.Ethics and Elections CS/CS/SB’s 716 and 2660 — Campaign Finance/Disclosure The committee substitute significantly enhances campaign finance disclosure requirements. Specifically, the bill requires statewide officers, state legislators, and candidates for those offices that solicit funds for a 527 or 501(c)(4) that they establish, maintain, or control to register with the Division of Elections within 5 days, create a website with the names of persons associated with the organization, and report contributions and expenditures within 5 days on the web site. It defines an “electioneering communication” without regard to when it occurs. It requires all “electioneering communications organizations,” or “ECOs,” to register with the Division of Elections using a real street address, not a post office box, and file campaign finance reports electronically. The bill mandates ECO registration within 24 hours of when an ECO organizes or anticipates receiving contributions or making expenditures for electioneering communications. Electioneering expenditures, in turn, can occur as early as the time an organization contracts for any electioneering communications. The bill requires an ECO, within 2 days after it registers and receives its initial secure sign-on from the Department of State, to electronically file all campaign finance reports that would have been required for reportable activities dating back to the date of the last general election. It also prohibits ECOs from using contributions received within 5 days of an election for that election. It prohibits an ECO from accepting a contribution from a 527 or 501(c)(4), other than a political party, political committee, or committee of continuous existence (CCE), unless the contributing organization has registered as if it were an ECO and filed all required campaign finance reports. It requires CCEs to report expenditures for personal services, salary, reimbursement for authorized expenses, and credit card transaction information on periodic campaign finance reports and clarifies that “direct mail” of any kind is a “communications media” for purposes of Florida’s campaign finance laws, thereby ensuring that all direct mail pieces that either expressly advocate or meet the new definition of an “electioneering communication,” not just the ones sent out by direct mail companies, will carry a sponsorship identification disclaimer. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect on July 1. SJR 2788 — Constitutional Officers/Term Limits Senate Joint Resolution 2788 rescinds House Joint Resolution 1177 (2005), which proposed a constitutional amendment to be voted at the 2006 general election extending term limits from 8 to 12 years for state legislators and Cabinet members whose continuous term in office began in November 2006 or thereafter. The effect of the joint resolution is to remove the proposed term limits amendment from the 2006 ballot. This resolution takes effect immediately without the governor’s signature. CS/SB 2000 — Ethics/Public Officers and Employee s The committee substitute clarifies and revises portions of the ethics code of the State of Florida, and provides for additional restrictions on the conduct of current and former government employees and elected officials. The bill prohibits persons who are registered to lobby the legislative and executive branches of state government, or any local governmental entity, from serving as members of the Commission on Ethics. The bill also prohibits any member of the Commission from lobbying the Legislature or executive branch of state government, or any local governmental entity, while serving as a member of the Ethics Commission. Specifically, the bill extends the Little Hatch Act to prohibit all state employees, or employees of any political subdivision, from being involved in political campaigns while on duty. The bill amends the prohibition against using inside information gained while in a public position to benefit oneself or another, clarifying that the prohibition applies to former employees and officers—except for information relating exclusively to governmental practices. The “revolving door” prohibition against representing a client before one’s former agency is extended to include other-personal-services (OPS) employees and any agency employees whose positions were transferred from Career Service status to Select Exempt Service status under the “Service First” law. Additionally, the bill applies the two-year prohibition for former local elected officials representing another person or entity to prohibit representation before the government body or agency they served (which would include staff), rather than just the body of which they were a member. The bill further revises post-employment restrictions to allow state employees whose jobs are privatized to work for a private entity under certain circumstances. Finally, the bill excludes from the definition of “expenditure” in the lobbying context certain campaign related contributions and expenditures. If approved by the governor, these provisions, except as otherwise provided in the bill, take effect October 1. SB 1756 — Succession to the Office of the Governor The configuration of the Florida Cabinet was modified by the adoption of Constitutional Amendment No. 8. in November 1998. The amendment merged two Cabinet offices and eliminated two others. Specifically, the offices of the Treasurer and the Comptroller were merged into the office of the Chief Financial Officer. The amendment also removed the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Education from the Cabinet. As a result of the adoption of the amendment, the Cabinet consists of an Attorney General, a Commissioner of Agriculture and a Chief Financial Officer. This bill modifies the current statutory succession to the office of governor in order to reflect changes in the size and composition of the Cabinet. The bill eliminates the Secretary of State from the succession as that office is no longer elected, but is appointed by the governor. The bill also eliminates the Commissioner of Education from succession. Further, the Comptroller and the Treasurer are eliminated from succession to the office of governor as those offices have been merged into the office of the Chief Financial Officer. The bill places the Chief Financial Officer in the line of succession. Under the bill, the line of succession to the office of governor is as follows: the Lieutenant governor, the Attorney General, the Chief Financial Officer, and then the Commissioner of Agriculture. This bill amends §14.055. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. Chapter No. 2006-53 LOF. CS/CS/SB 2518 — Contractual Services/State Agency The bill creates the Council on Efficient Government, and provides for the membership, powers, and duties of the council. The bill requires that an agency develop a detailed business case to outsource before a service or activity may be outsourced, and requires that an agency submit the business case to outsource to the council, the governor, and the Legislature, before releasing the solicitation or executing the contract, when the contract will cost more than $1 million in any fiscal year. For proposals to outsource costing more than $10 million in any fiscal year, the council must conduct an analysis and provide it, before the agency releases the solicitation, to the agency proposing the outsourcing, the governor, and the Legislature. The bill provides specific information that must be included in all business cases to outsource, and prescribes specific additional contract requirements applicable to outsourcing contracts. The bill provides that on contracts valued at greater than $10 million, certain contract amendments may not be executed before the agency first submits a written report on contract performance to the governor and the Legislature. The bill specifies that when a contract is valued in excess of $1 million, one of the negotiators must be certified as a contract negotiator by the DMS, and when a contract is valued in excess of $10 million, one of the negotiators must be certified as a Project Management Professional. The bill requires that solicitations include a provision that respondents to a solicitation may not contact, between the release of the solicitation and the end of the 72-hour period following the agency posting the notice of intended award, any employee of the executive or legislative branch concerning the solicitation, except in writing to the procurement officer or as provided in the solicitation. The bill provides that a contract may not prohibit lobbying by a contractor of the executive or legislative branch concerning the contract, during the contract term. The bill specifies restrictions on contractor supervision of state employees, and prohibits contractor involvement in procurements in which the contractor has an interest. The bill repeals §14.203 which provides the duties and functions of the State Council on Competitive Government. The bill appropriates funds and authorizes positions for the Council on Efficient Government, and for the training of Project Management Professionals. The bill provides that any agency under the control of the Attorney General, the Chief Financial Officer, or the Commissioner of Agriculture is subject to this act. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. HB 1123 — Procurement and Purchasing Reform This act provides a periodic review process for the continuation, modification, or abolition of many agencies of the executive branch of state government, including entities separately attached to the judicial and legislative branches. The Florida Legislature has enacted many structural devices to ensure the periodic review of governmental functions and agencies. The pioneering enactments date from the 1970s and while modified since then they have become sequentially known as the Sundown Act, Sunset Act, and Sunrise Act. Additional budget-based enactments have occurred since that time to provide succeeding Legislatures with a number of policy and financial tools to gauge the operations and sufficiency of the entities they have created and funded. The Open Government Sunset Review Act is by far the most commonly invoked of these enactments. Each year the Legislature undertakes a review process on new or existing public records exemption statutes to comply with the Florida constitutional right of access to public meetings and records. This act creates a “Florida Government Accountability Act” and proposes an eight-year review process affecting named state agencies and their advisory bodies. It establishes a multi-member Legislative Sunset Advisory Committee to act in a review and recommending capacity for agency reviews conducted by the Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA). Both OPPAGA and the advisory committee are directed to utilize specific review criteria designed to examine each reviewed agency’s operations which will ultimately lead to a recommendation to the Legislature on whether it should be retained, modified, or repealed. The act provides that a failure of the Legislature to act invokes an automatic one-year period at which time the reviewed state agency shall be subject to abolition unless specifically saved from expiration. If a decision to terminate an agency is reached, the bill provides specific safeguards for securing its property and funds and the satisfaction of any debt it has issued. Additional changes are made to the planning and budgeting statutes, and a working group of key budget professionals from the executive and legislative branches is created to make recommendations regarding methodology used in computing activity and unit cost information for agency legislative budget requests. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-146 LOF. Environmental Law CS/SB 1194 — Growth Management The bill creates the “Interlocal Service Boundary Agreement Act” as part II of Ch. 171 to provide an alternative process for annexation that allows counties and municipalities to negotiate in good faith to identify municipal service areas and unincorporated service areas, resolve which local government is responsible for providing services and facilities within the municipal service areas, and reduce the number of enclaves. The negotiating parties, however, are not required to reach an agreement. This bill defines “invited local government” to mean an invited county or municipality, or special district and any other local government designated as such in an initiating resolution or a responding resolution that invites the local government to participate in the negotiation of an interlocal service boundary agreement.” The bill also defines a “municipal service area” as an unincorporated area that has been identified by a municipality that is party to the agreement as an area to be annexed or to receive municipal services from a municipality or its designee. Land within a municipal service area may be annexed by a municipality if consent is obtained using a process for annexation consistent with part I of Ch. 171 or a flexible process, as determined by the agreement, that includes one or more of the following: petition for annexation signed by more than 50 percent of the registered voters in the area proposed for annexation; petition for annexation signed by more than 50 percent of the property owners in the area proposed for annexation; or approval by a majority of the registered voters in the area proposed for annexation. Under this bill, an enclave consisting of 20 acres or more within a designated municipal service area may be annexed if the consent requirements of part I of Ch. 171 are met, one or more of the provisions for annexing land within a municipal service area are met, or the municipality receives a petition from one or more property owners who own real property in excess of 50 percent of the total real property in the area proposed for annexation. Enclaves consisting of less than 20 acres and with fewer than 100 registered voters, within a designated municipal service area, may be annexed using a flexible process for securing the consent of the voters, as provided in the interlocal service boundary agreement. No voter approval is required. In addition, this bill codifies certain provisions relating to the imposition of impact fees by local governments. It provides legislative findings and intent relating to the adoption of a local ordinance levying an impact fee. The bill stipulates that such an ordinance must, at a minimum require that the calculation of the impact fee be based on the most recent and localized data; provide for accounting and reporting of impact fee collections and expenditures; limit administrative charges for the collection of impact fees to actual costs; and require that notice be provided at least 90 days before the effective date of a new or amended impact fee. This bill also requires that audits of financial statements of local governments and school districts include an affidavit signed by the chief financial officer of the local government or school board stating that the entity has complied with §163.31801 relating to impact fee ordinances. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. Chapter No. 2006-218 LOF.Health Law CS/SB 746 — Certificates of Birth and Death The bill creates “Katherine’s Law” to specify requirements for the issuance of a “certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth.” A “certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth” is defined as a certificate issued to record and memorialize the birth of a stillborn child. “Stillbirth” is defined as an unintended, intrauterine fetal death after a gestation age of not less than 20 completed weeks. Only a parent listed on the fetal death certificate may make the initial request for a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. The person who is required to file a fetal death certificate must advise the parent of a stillborn child of the availability of a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth, how to request and obtain such a certificate, and that a copy of the original certificate is available as a public record when held by an agency. The bill requires specified information on the certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth to correspond to the information on the corresponding fetal death certificate. A certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth must contain the statement “This certificate is not proof of live birth.” The Office of Vital Statistics may not use a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth to calculate live birth statistics. A refusal by the Office of Vital Statistics to issue a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth to a person who is not listed as a parent on the fetal death certificate constitutes final agency action and is not subject to review under the Administrative Procedure Act. The certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth and the statutory definition of stillbirth may not be used to establish, bring, or support a civil cause of action seeking damages against any person or entity for bodily injury, personal injury, or wrongful death for a stillbirth. The department must prescribe by rule the form, content, and process for the certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. The Department of Health is authorized to collect a fee for a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. The bill authorizes the State Registrar of the Office of Vital Statistics of the Department of Health to receive electronically the certificate of death or fetal death which is required to be filed with the local registrar. The bill also authorizes the State Registrar of the Office of Vital Statistics of the Department of Health to receive electronically the birth certificate for each live birth that is required to be filed with the local registrar. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-118 LOF. SB 542 — Birth-Related Neurological Injury This bill provides that under the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Plan (the plan) addressed in s§766.301-766.316 the administrative law judge (ALJ) presiding over a claim for compensation has the exclusive jurisdiction to make the factual determination of whether the statutory notice provision has been met. The plan’s notice provision under §766.316 requires participating hospitals and physicians to provide notice to an obstetrical patient as to the plan’s limited no-fault alternative for birth-related neurological injuries. Except under certain circumstances, a lack of notice to the patient allows the patient to file a lawsuit in circuit court where damages are not limited to the plan’s coverage. There is currently a conflict among the state District Courts of Appeal as to whether it is within an ALJ’s or a circuit court judge’s jurisdiction to decide whether the patient received the statutorily required notice that a physician or hospital participates in the plan. In order to address this conflict and to provide for uniform application of the law as it relates to notice, the revision to statute explicitly states that the ALJ has sole jurisdiction to decide this matter. These provisions were approved by the governor. Chapter 2006-8, LOF. HB 7073 — Health Care Information The bill is entitled the “Coordinated Health Care Information and Transparency Act of 2006”. The bill renames The State Center for Health Statistics housed in the Agency for Health Care Administration (agency) to The Florida Center for Health Information and Policy Analysis (center) and revises the agency’s duties related to health-related data to include the collection of health care quality measures that include patient-safety indicators, inpatient quality indicators and performance measures. It also defines patient safety indicators and inpatient quality indicators. The bill authorizes the center to provide technical assistance services for: monitoring innovations in health information technology; maintaining a repository of technical resources to support the development of a health information network; administering, managing, monitoring and evaluating grants to specific entities that submit proposals for the development of a Florida health information network; initiating, overseeing, managing and evaluating, the integration of health care data from state agencies and making that data available to any health care practitioner through the Florida health information network. The bill removes the Comprehensive Health Information System Trust Fund from statute. The bill renames the State Comprehensive Health Information System Advisory Council to the State Consumer Health Information and Policy Advisory Council (council), modifies its duties, and revises its membership. It authorizes the agency to collect information from health care providers relating to professional organization and specialty board affiliations. It requires the agency to collect data on retail prices charged by pharmacies for the 100, rather than 50, most frequently prescribed medications. The bill also deletes obsolete provisions relating to the caesarean section rate in hospitals and requires the agency to publish caesarean section rates on its website. Finally, it requires the agency to ensure that its data and data backup systems are housed at a secure facility that meets or exceeds certain requirements. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law.Insurance Law CS/CS/SB 1980 — Property and Casualty Insurance The bill appropriates $715 million from General Revenue to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (“Citizens”) to offset the 2005 deficit, estimated to be about $1.73 billion. This appropriation is expected to reduce an estimated $920 million regular assessment against property insurers to about $205 million, and thereby reduce an estimated average 11 percent premium surcharge to about 2.5 percent for property insurance policyholders in the state (including Citizens policyholders). The bill also requires that the remaining estimated $800 million of the deficit, which would require about an 8 percent emergency assessment on policyholders if billed in one year, must be amortized and collected from policyholders over a 10-year period. Citizens and OIR are expected to levy the regular assessment (about $205 million due to the appropriation) for the 2005 deficit sometime this summer (2006), after which insurers may make rate filings to recoup this assessment, most of which are likely to become effective around January, 2007, and later. The bill requires that the premium notice sent to policyholders identify the dollar amount of the surcharge for the assessment by Citizens, and the dollar reduction in the surcharge due to the appropriation by the Florida Legislature. There will be about $800 million remaining of the $1.73 billion deficit for 2005, which will be paid by pre-event notes (debt) secured by Citizens, and funded by multi-year emergency assessments on all property insurance policyholders in Florida. The bill provides that this amount (which would be about an 8 percent assessment if collected in one year) must be amortized and collected over a ten-year period. The bill requires a 25 percent rapid cash build-up factor in the premiums paid by insurers for coverage from the FHCF, which is the state fund that reimburses most insurers for 90 percent of their residential hurricane losses above each insurer’s retention, up to each insurer’s share of a $15 billion cap on total annual payments. The State Board of Administration (SBA), the agency responsible for the operation of the FHCF, recently approved a 25 percent rapid cash build-up factor for the 2006-07 contract year premiums (that the bill requires each year), which is expected to increase total FHCF premiums from about $800 million to $1.0 billion. On average, this is estimated to increase residential property insurance premiums about 2.7 percent. But, this extra $200 million may be used by the SBA to offset the current FHCF deficit, estimated to be about $1.3 billion, which will reduce assessments levied against most types of property and casualty insurance policyholders (including auto) to fund a bond issue to cover this deficit. The bill specifies that the FHCF does not reimburse insurers for claims for “loss of rent or rental income,” rather than “loss of use,” to clarify that the FHCF reimburses insurers for additional living expenses paid under their policies. It clarifies that any annual assessments that are necessary to fund bonding obligations continue “for as long as” (rather than “until”) the revenue bonds are outstanding. The bill establishes the Florida Comprehensive Hurricane Damage Mitigation Program within the Department of Financial Services (DFS) and provides for free inspections of site-built, residential property, to determine what mitigation measures are needed to reduce vulnerability to hurricane damage, performed by qualified inspectors under contract with DFS, pursuant to a request for proposals. Home inspections must include a rating scale specifying the current and projected wind resistance rating, and insurer-specific information on insurance credits and discounts. The bill provides for 50 percent matching grants to encourage single-family (and up to four family), site-built homes to retrofit to reduce vulnerability to hurricane damage. Eligible property must have a homestead exemption, an insured value of $500,000 or less, and have undergone an acceptable hurricane mitigation inspection. Grants are limited to $5,000 (for up to a $10,000 project), with up to 100 percent grants ($5,000) for low income homeowners, as defined. The bill specifies the types of improvements (opening protection, roof covering, etc.) for which grants may be used. Matching fund grants are also made available to local governments and nonprofit entities for projects that will reduce hurricane damage to single-family, site-built residential property. It also requires OIR to reevaluate the insurance discounts and credits for homes built to meet the Florida Building Code and to determine the full actuarial value of such discounts, by July 1, 2007, for use by insurers in rate filings. Effective July 1, 2007, for residential property insurance in those areas for which OIR determines that a reasonable degree of competition exists, an insurer may increase or decrease rates by up to 5 percent on a statewide average, or 10 percent for any territory, without being subject to a determination by OIR that the rate is excessive or unfairly discriminatory (except for unfairly discriminatory rating factors prohibited by law). This provision may be used by an insurer once in a 12-month period. The bill authorizes the Insurance Consumer Advocate appointed by the Chief Financial Officer to represent the public in insurance rate proceedings before an arbitration panel (in addition to the current authority to represent the public at a rate proceeding before the Division of Administrative Hearings Effective March 1, 2007, nonhomestead property is not eligible for coverage in Citizens and is not eligible for renewal unless the property owner provides a sworn affidavit from one or more insurance agents that they have made their best efforts to obtain coverage and that the property has been rejected by at least one authorized insurer and three surplus lines insurers (for all agents combined). The bill defines “homestead property” as: a) property granted a homestead tax exemption under Ch. 196, F.S.; b) property for which the owner has a written lease with a renter for a term of at least 7 months and which is insured by Citizens for $200,000 or less; c) an owner occupied mobile home permanently affixed to real property, owned by a Florida resident, and either granted a homestead tax exemption or, if the owner does not own the land, for which the owner certifies that the mobile home is his principal place of residence; d) tenants coverage; e) commercial lines residential property; or f) any county, district, or municipal hospital; not-for-profit hospital; or continuing care retirement community that is certified under Ch. 651 and receives an ad valorem tax exemption under Ch. 196. All other property is “nonhomestead property.” Effective July 1, 2008, a personal lines residential structure that has a dwelling replacement cost of $1 million or more, or a single condominium unit that has a combined dwelling and contents replacement cost of $1 million or more, is not eligible for coverage by Citizens. Such dwellings insured by Citizens on June 30, 2008, may continue to be covered until the end of the policy term and may reapply for coverage for up to an additional three years if the property owner provides a sworn affidavit from one or more insurance agents that they have made their best efforts to obtain coverage and that the property has been rejected by at least one authorized insurer and three surplus lines insurers (for all agents combined). In regards to sinkholes, the bill requires the Department of Financial Services to certify engineers and geologists to serve as “neutral evaluators” of sinkhole claims disputes. This process would be mandatory if requested by either party, but nonbinding, and the costs would be paid by the insurer. If the insurer timely complies with the recommendation of the neutral evaluator, but the policyholder declines to resolve the matter in accordance with the evaluator’s recommendation, the insurer is not liable for extra-contractual (bad faith) damages related to issues determined at the neutral evaluation. Also, the insurer is not liable for attorney’s fees, unless the policyholder obtains a more favorable judgment at trial. OIR is appropriated funds and 2 FTEs for this purpose. It allows residential policies to provide a deductible for sinkhole losses equal to 1, 2, 5, or 10 percent of the dwelling limits and allows the insurer to make payment directly to the persons selected by the policyholder to make the repairs, if approved by the policyholder and lien holder. The bill deletes the current requirement that testing by a geologist to determine the presence or absence of a sinkhole loss be conducted in compliance with a specified publication of the Florida Geological Survey. It requires OIR to calculate a presumed factor to reflect the impact on rates of the changes made by the act related to sinkhole claims and the changes made by provisions of the 2005 property insurance act related to sinkhole claims. OIR is appropriated $250,000 for the purposes of this study. Each residential property insurer must, in it next rate filing after October 1, reflect a rate change that takes into account the presumed factor. It requires that insurers file information regarding paid sinkhole claims with the county clerk of court, rather than the county property appraiser, and specifies that the recording of the report does not constitute a lien or restriction on the title, and does not create any cause of action or liability. It makes it unlawful for a contractor or business providing sinkhole remediation services to communicate with any attorney for the purpose of assisting the attorney in the solicitation of legal business. The bill requires that an insurer make a claims payment directly to the primary policyholder without requiring an endorsement from a lien holder or mortgage holder, for: a) personal property and contents; b) additional living expenses; and c) other covered items not subject to a security interest recorded in the dual interest provision of the insurance policy. It allows insurers to make electronic payment of insurance claims, under certain conditions, without written authorization. It permits alien surplus lines insurers to use letters of credit meeting certain criteria to fund the required minimum $5.4 million trust fund. The bill clarifies that if a property insurer does not obtain a written rejection from the policyholder for coverage for the additional construction costs of meeting new building codes, commonly called “law and ordinance coverage,” the policy is deemed to include such coverage limited to 25 percent of the dwelling limit, not the 50 percent limit that must also be offered. Current law is ambiguous on this point, but the bill conforms to the current interpretation used by OIR. The bill clarifies that the law requiring insurers to offer replacement cost coverage and, if elected, to pay the replacement cost whether or not the policyholder replaces or repairs the damaged property, does not prohibit an insurer from limiting its liability to the lesser of: the cost of repair, the cost to replace, or the limit of liability shown on the policy declarations page. The bill requires OIR to conduct a study and report on the insurability of attached or free standing structures and requires OIR to conduct a study and develop a program that will provide an objective rating system that will allow homeowners to evaluate the relative ability of Florida properties to withstand the wind load from a hurricane. It prohibits public adjusters from engaging in conflicts of interest by participating in the repair of damaged property that he adjusted. It provides procedures for the cancellation of a property and casualty insurance policy if the policyholder submits a check which is subsequently dishonored by a financial institution. The bill provides that an insurance policy can be cancelled “ab initio” (from the beginning, or back to the first day of coverage) if the insured does not timely cure a dishonored check within 5 days of notice. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law except as otherwise provided. Chapter No. 2006-12 LOF. CS/CS/CS/SB 2114 — Motor Vehicle Insurance Fraud; Reenactment of No- Fault Law This bill reenacts the Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law, by repealing §19 of Ch. 2003-411, L.O.F., which would have repealed the No-Fault Law, effective October 1, 2007. However, the bill provides for future repeal of the No-Fault Law, effective January 1, 2009, unless reviewed and reenacted by the Legislature prior to that date. This bill amends §817.234 to provide that it is a second degree felony (with a two year minimum mandatory term of imprisonment) to plan or organize a scheme to create documentation of a motor vehicle crash that did not occur for purposes of a claim for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits or a motor vehicle tort claim. This penalty currently applies to staged or intentional motor vehicle accidents. The bill expands the applicability of the motor vehicle insurance fraud statute under §817.2361 to provide that any person who creates or presents false or fraudulent “proof” of motor vehicle insurance commits a third degree felony. The bill specifies information that must be contained in a motor vehicle crash report form under §316.068 to include the time, date and location of the crash; description of the vehicles involved; names and addresses of all drivers, passengers, witnesses and parties involved; name, badge number, and law enforcement agency of the officer investigating the crash; and the names of the insurance companies for the respective parties involved in the crash. The bill states that the absence of information in a crash report regarding the existence of passengers in the vehicles involved in a crash constitutes a “rebuttable presumption” that no such passengers were involved in the reported crash. The bill amends §322.26 to require the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to revoke the driver’s license of any person convicted of these specified offenses: soliciting any business from a person involved in a motor vehicle accident for the purpose of making, adjusting or settling a vehicle tort claim under §817.234(8); participating in a staged motor vehicle accident under §817.234(9) or for brokering health care patients under §817.505. The Governor vetoed the bill. HB 7035 — Motor Vehicle Crash Reports (Public Records) The bill reenacts and reorganizes the public records exemption contained in §316.066(3) related to motor vehicle crash reports. This law requires law enforcement officers to file written reports of motor vehicle crashes, which are public records. However, §316.066(3)(c) provides that crash reports that identify the parties to a car crash by revealing the identity, the home or employment telephone number, the home or employment address, or other personal information, concerning the parties to motor vehicle crashes that are received or prepared by any agency which regularly receives or prepares information concerning the parties to motor vehicle crashes are confidential and exempt from public disclosure. This information is to remain confidential and exempt for 60 days after the date the report is filed. The primary policy reason for closing access to these crash reports for 60 days to persons or entities not specifically listed is to protect crash victims and their families from illegal solicitation by “runners” for attorneys or medical providers, who may entice the victims to file fraudulent or inflated insurance claims. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect October 1. HB 561 — Insurance Fraud and Other Offenses Involving Insurance This bill amends provisions of the Insurance Code pertaining to insurance fraud. The legislation provides that it is a second degree felony (with a two year minimum mandatory term of imprisonment) to plan or organize a scheme to create documentation of a motor vehicle crash that did not occur (i.e., a “paper” accident) for purposes of a claim for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits or a motor vehicle tort claim. This penalty currently applies only to “staged” accidents. The bill expands the applicability of the motor vehicle insurance fraud statute to provide that any person who creates or presents false or fraudulent “proof” of motor vehicle insurance commits a third-degree felony. It provides that it is a third-degree felony for insurance agents, adjusters, customer representatives, and others to transact insurance without a license. The bill provides that it is a third-degree felony to solicit or receive a commission, bonus, rebate, kickback, or bribe, in cash or in kind, or engage in any split-fee arrangement, in return for accepting treatment from a health care provider or health care facility. Clarifies that a health care provider or facility means any person or entity required to be licensed or lawfully exempt from licensure. It specifies information that must be contained in a motor vehicle crash report to include the time, date and location of the crash; description of the vehicles involved; names and addresses of all drivers, passengers, witnesses and parties involved; name, badge number, and law enforcement agency of the officer investigating the crash; and the names of the insurance companies for the respective parties involved in the crash. The absence of information in a crash report regarding the existence of passengers in the vehicles involved in a crash constitutes a “rebuttable presumption” that no such passengers were involved in the reported crash. The bill requires the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to revoke the driver’s license of any person convicted of these specified offenses: soliciting any business from a person involved in a motor vehicle accident for the purpose of making, adjusting or settling a vehicle tort claim under §817.234(8), F.S.; participating in a staged motor vehicle accident under §817.234(9) or for brokering health care patients under §817.505, F.S. Mandates a fee of $180 to be imposed against drivers who have their revoked or suspended licenses reinstated due to convictions of the above offenses. The bill provides that it is a third-degree felony for any person to willfully violate an “emergency” rule or order of the Department of Financial Services, the Office of Insurance Regulation, or the Financial Services Commission (governor and Cabinet). However, such penalties would not apply to licensees or affiliated parties of licensees. The bill provides that it is a second-degree misdemeanor for any person to willfully violate a rule of the Department of Financial Services, the Office of Insurance Regulation, or the Financial Services Commission. It provides that falsely personating an officer of the Department of Financial Services is a third-degree felony. The bill authorizes the Division of Insurance Fraud to deposit revenues received from criminal proceedings or forfeiture proceedings into the Insurance Regulatory Trust Fund to be used to carry out the division’s responsibilities. It requires health care clinics to post anti-fraud reward signs in conspicuous locations and allows full and complete access to such clinics by authorized employees of the Division of Insurance Fraud to make unannounced inspections to ensure compliance. It prohibits a medical or clinic director from referring patients to the clinic if the clinic performs magnetic resonance imaging or similar tests. Violating this prohibition constitutes a third degree felony. The bill clarifies what is meant by independent procurement of insurance coverage to state that independent procurement of coverage is coverage by an unauthorized insurer legitimately licensed in another state or country. It requires insurers, upon receiving notice of a personal injury protection claim, to notify those insureds or persons for whom a claim for reimbursement for diagnosis or treatment of injuries has been filed, that the Department of Financial Services may pay rewards of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons committing specified crimes investigated by the Division of Insurance Fraud. It requires the Financial Services Commission to include specific anti-fraud information in a notification form to insurerds regarding personal injury protection benefits. The bill requires insurers to timely submit acceptable anti-fraud plans or anti-fraud investigative descriptions to the Division of Insurance Fraud and imposes an administrative fine for failure to comply. It provides that the law relating to fraudulently obtaining goods or services does not apply to investigative actions by law enforcement officers. It clarifies that kickbacks for patient referrals are illegal whether the patient is being referred to or from a health care provider or facility and clarifies the definition of “kickback” to mean payments by or on behalf of a health care provider to any person as an incentive to refer patients for past or future services. The bill provides that the Office of Insurance Regulation may adjust fines imposed against specified insurers by considering the financial condition of the licensee, premium volume written, ratio of violations to compliancy, and other mitigating factors. Finally, it eliminates a misdemeanor penalty for the violation of a stop work order under the workers’ compensation law to clarify that the offense is a third-degree felony and provides that the retroactive assumption of coverage and liabilities under a policy providing workers’ compensation and employer’s liability insurance may not exceed 21 days. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. HB 1361 — Debt Cancellation Products and Other Insurance Matters The bill authorizes insurers to sell debt cancellation and debt suspension agreement contractual liability insurance to creditors such as a bank or credit union, or an entity entering into retail installment contracts. The product would serve to insure a creditor from losses experienced pursuant to debt cancellation contracts, debt suspension agreements, or retail installment contracts that the creditor has executed with its customers. The debt cancellation product is not insurance, but instead is classified as a loan or lease contract term, or a contractual agreement. The financial services commission is given rulemaking authority to administer the sale of debt cancellation products by motor vehicle retail installment sellers. The bill also eliminates the $50,000 limit on insurance that may be procured on the life of a debtor under a debtor group contract or via credit life insurance. The change would allow the amount of insurance procured under a debtor group contract or credit life insurance on the life of a debtor to be up to the amount of his or her indebtedness to the creditor. The bill allows for the term of credit disability insurance to extend for the term of the indebtedness, rather than the current 10 year limitation. The bill creates an exception to the general prohibition against offering or providing free insurance. Such insurance covering property other than real property or motor vehicles may be offered or sold if the person paying for the insurance has an ongoing contractual or economic interest in the property or requires the property to deliver its services. Health insurance companies and health maintenance organizations are required to provide identification cards to policyholders and subscribers, which contain specified information that can be used to estimate the financial responsibility of the covered person and contact information for the insurer or HMO. This information will assist hospitals and other providers in determining coverage and the financial responsibility of the covered person. A discount medical plan organization (DMPO) applicant is permitted to submit, rather than petition OIR to accept, audited financials of the parent company, in lieu of the DMPO’s financials. Additionally, the DMPO is allowed to certify that minimum capitalization requirements are satisfied rather than submit annual, audited financials. The bill states that a market investigation by the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) of a DMPO may only be conducted “for cause.” A DMPO is authorized to require a waiting period for accessing hospital services and charge up to $60 dollars per month for a plan that covers physician or hospital services without prior approval from the OIR. A DMPO plan that does not include access to physician or hospital services may continue to charge up to $30 per month the plan without prior approval from the OIR. The bill authorizes any two or more not for profit corporations located in Florida and organized under Florida law to form a self-insurance fund for pooling liabilities of its members for any property, casualty, or surety risk, provided that the fund has annual normal premiums in excess of $5 million and has only members who each receive at least 75 percent of its revenue from local, state, or federal government sources. The self-insurance fund must use a qualified actuary to determine rates and establish reserves and annually submit to the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) a certification that the rates are actuarially sound and are not inadequate. The fund must maintain excess insurance, with a retention that does not exceed $350,000 per occurrence. Annual audited financial statements must be submitted to the OIR. The governing body of the self-insurance fund must be comprised entirely of corporation not for profit officials and the fund must use knowledgeable personnel to administer the fund with a minimum of 5 years’ experience with commercial self-insurance funds, group self-insurance funds, or domestic insurers, with such persons meeting all licensure requirements. The self-insurance fund must submit to the OIR contracts used for its members which clearly establish the liability of each member for obligations of the fund. The fund must annually submit to the OIR a certification by the governing body that, to the best of its knowledge, the requirements under this law are met. The bill also states that a worker’s compensation policy issued by a worker’s compensation self-insurance fund covered by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Guaranty Association cannot be rejected pursuant to a construction contract if the rejection is because the self-insurance fund is not rated by a nationally recognized rating service. The bill revises provisions relating to security deposits by domestic insurers to allow such deposits to be held by broker/dealers, to conform to Florida law to the model law and rules enacted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. HB 217 – Sinkhole Insurance In the United States, damage to the ground under a structure covered by insurance, such as damage from an earthquake, generally is not covered by homeowners’ insurance. Since 1981, in Florida, insurers offering property coverage have been required by law to provide coverage for damage resulting from sinkholes, both to covered structures and for stabilizing the ground beneath covered structures. Florida has more sinkholes than any other state in the nation. Sinkholes are a naturally occurring phenomenon as rain and groundwater flow through the top layer of soil into the limestone and dolomite layers that underlay most of Florida. While sinkholes occur naturally, meaning some likely would occur in the state even if Florida were uninhabited, sinkholes occur more frequently due to human interaction with the state’s natural environment. The counties in the west central portion of the state, i.e., the Tampa Bay area, are particularly prone to sinkhole formation and collapse because the limestone in that area is closer to the surface, thus making the rock layer beneath the surface there more vulnerable to erosion. The bill amends the laws governing property insurance claims relating to sinkhole damage. Section 627.706 relating to sinkhole insurance and definitions applicable to sinkhole coverage, is amended. Beginning October 1, the bill authorizes residential property insurers to offer various levels of deductibles applicable specifically to sinkhole losses: 1, 2, 5, and 10 percent of policy dwelling limits. References to engineers are changed to refer to a “professional engineer,” meaning one who is licensed by the state. Section 627.707 also is amended to authorize an insurer to make payment for sinkhole repairs directly to the repair person if the property owner and any lienholder request the direct payment by an insurer in writing. Such direct payment by an insurer does not make the insurer liable for the repairs. The bill also amends §627.7073 relating to sinkhole reports. The bill changes information a professional geologist or professional engineer must include in a sinkhole report prepared for an insurer. The report is now required to identify the “cause of distress to the property,” rather than to verify or eliminate a sinkhole as the cause of the property damage. An insurer is required by the bill, after settling a sinkhole claim, to file a copy of the engineer’s or geologist’s report on the damages to the property with the county clerk of court. Current law requires the insurer to file the report with the county property appraiser. The report filed by an insurer must also include the owner’s name and a legal description of the real property. The bill specifies that a sinkhole report filed with the clerk of court is not a lien against a property title, nor does the report otherwise encumber the property title. Filing a sinkhole report also does not create a liability for or cause of action against title insurers who have insured the title of the affected property. The bill creates a new section of law, §627.7074 which assigns the Department of Financial Services (DFS) to administer an alternative procedure for resolving disputed sinkhole claims; the procedure is called “neutral evaluation.” Only professional geologists and professional engineers who have completed a course in alternative dispute resolution and been approved by DFS may serve as neutral evaluators. Once an insurer either receives a sinkhole report from a geologist or engineer, or denies a sinkhole claim, the insurer must inform the policyholder of the right to request a neutral evaluation. The neutral evaluation will be an informal process, nonbinding, but mandatory, if requested either by the insurer or policyholder. Insurers are required by the bill to pay the costs associated with the neutral evaluation process. Filing a request for a neutral evaluation tolls the time for filing a suit related to the claim for 60 days and stays any legal action relating to the claim. A neutral evaluation may be held via telephone conference call if agreed to by the parties and the bill requires the neutral evaluation hearing to be held within 45 days of the initial request to DFS. The department will adopt rules governing the neutral evaluation process and staff of DFS may assist policyholders in the hearing if the policyholder does not hire an attorney for representation in the hearing. If an insurer offers to settle the claim during the neutral evaluation, or if the policyholder and insurer negotiate for a settlement during the neutral evaluation, such offers may not be used in a subsequent legal action to prove liability or its absence, or the value of the claim. At the end of the neutral evaluation, the neutral evaluator is required to prepare a report relating to unresolved matters between the insurer and its policyholder. The report of the neutral evaluator is required to verify or eliminate a sinkhole as the cause of the property damage. If the evaluator believes a sinkhole caused the property damage, the report also must detail the need for, and estimated costs of, stabilizing the land and any insured structures, including appropriate remediation and structural repairs. The neutral evaluator must send a copy of his or her report to the parties to the hearing and to DFS. The recommendation of the neutral evaluator is not binding; however, the written recommendations may be used in a legal action relating to the sinkhole claim. If the neutral evaluator determines a sinkhole caused the property damage and recommends stabilization and repairs with an estimated cost exceeding any settlement offer made by the insurer to the insured, the insurer must pay legal fees, if any, up to $2,500, incurred by the policyholder during the neutral evaluation process. If an insurer timely agrees in writing to perform the repairs recommended by the neutral evaluator and timely does so, but the policyholder declines to resolve the claim as recommended by the neutral evaluator, then the insurer is not liable for extra-contractual damages related to the issues determined by the neutral evaluation; the insurer may be liable for extra-contractual damages unrelated to the issues determined in neutral evaluation; and the insurer is not liable for the policyholder’s attorney fees unless the policyholder receives a judgment more favorable than the neutral evaluator’s recommendation. The bill also amends §877.02 which prohibits solicitation of legal business. The bill prohibits a general or other contractor and any other business providing sinkhole remediation from soliciting business for an attorney. The bill requires OIR, or its contractor, by September 1, to calculate a presumed factor to reflect the changes in the bill and changes related to sinkhole coverage enacted in 2005 and the impact of the changes on rates filed by residential property insurers providing sinkhole coverage. After determining the presumed factor, OIR is required to notify insurers writing residential property insurance of the factor. Insurers are required to reflect a rate change taking into account the presumed factor in their respective rate filings made after October 1. Subject to the governor’s veto powers, the effective date of this bill is July 1, except as otherwise specifically provided. The governor vetoed this bill.Judicial Branch HB 113 — Judges The bill creates 55 judicial offices to be filled by the 2006 election. Judicial candidates must qualify between noon, July 17, 2006 and noon, July 21. The judicial offices take effect on January 2, 2007. The bill creates thirty-five circuit court and twenty county court judicial offices. The bill appropriates $7,298,357 from the General Revenue Fund and 122 full-time positions to the circuit and county courts to support the new judges. The bill appropriates $4,389,000 from the General Revenue Fund and 82.5 full-time positions to the state attorneys and public defenders for increased workload in circuits where new criminal courts are established. Approved by the governor without his signature, these provisions take effect July 1. HB 841 — Supersedeas Bonds Where a money judgment is entered by a court, the prevailing party may enforce the judgment even though an appeal is pending. In order to prevent collection on that judgment during the appeal process, an appealing party may post a supersedeas bond. A supersedeas bond also protects a prevailing party by insuring that a judgment can be enforced against the nonprevailing party. The bill places an upper limit on a supersedeas bond at $50 million dollars per appellant regardless of the type of appeal or case, except for certified class actions subject to §768.733, F.S. The $50-million figure shall be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. A party seeking a stay of execution pending review of a judgment may move the court to reduce the amount, which the court may grant, unless the appellant has an insurance or indemnification policy applicable to the case. If bond is posted for less than the amount for an automatic stay under the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, the appellee may engage in certain limited discovery. If the court determines that an appellant has dissipated or diverted assets or is in the process of doing so, the court may take certain actions to protect the judgment, including requiring the appellant to post a supersedeas bond in an amount up to the amount that would be required for an automatic stay pursuant to Rule 9.310(b)(1), Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1, and apply to judgments rendered on or after that date. HB 175 — Drug Court Programs This bill creates the “Robert J. Koch Drug Court Intervention Act” and amends several sections of statute that relate to the dependency system, referral to treatment-based drug courts, and referral for pretrial intervention. This bill modifies laws regarding treatment-based drug court programs in dependency, criminal, and delinquency proceedings. The bill authorizes a court, in a dependency case, to order a person who has custody or is requesting custody of a child to be evaluated for drug or alcohol problems at any time after a shelter petition or petition for dependency is filed. Additionally, it allows the court, after an adjudication of dependency or a finding of dependency where adjudication is withheld, to require participation in and compliance with treatment-based drug court programs. Individuals involved in a dependency case may voluntarily enter drug court prior to an adjudication of dependency or a finding of dependency where adjudication is withheld. In adult criminal and juvenile delinquency courts, treatment-based drug court programs have traditionally been structured as pretrial intervention programs. This bill requires that entry into any pretrial treatment-based drug court program must be voluntary. Additionally, voluntary participants must acknowledge in writing that they understand the requirements of the program and the potential sanctions for noncompliance. This bill also provides that counties with treatment-based drug court programs may adopt a protocol of sanctions for noncompliance with program rules. If a protocol of sanctions is adopted, it may include, but is not limited to: (a) placement in a substance abuse treatment program offered by a licensed service provider; (b) placement in a jail-based treatment program; or (c) serving a period of secure detention if a child or a period of incarceration within the time limits established for contempt of court if an adult. These provisions of the bill address recent case law holding that incarceration or a licensed substance abuse treatment program may not be imposed for noncompliance with pretrial drugcourt programs as such sanctions are not authorized by current law. The court, in conjunction with other public agencies, may oversee progress and compliance with treatment and may impose appropriate available sanctions for noncompliance. The court may also make a finding of noncompliance for consideration in determining whether an alternate placement of the child is in the child’s best interests. A person enrolled in a treatment-based drug court program established under §397.334. F.S., is subject to a coordinated strategy developed by the drug court team that may include a protocol of sanctions for noncompliance with dependency drug court program rules. If a protocol of sanctions is adopted, it may include, but is not limited to: (a) placement in a substance abuse treatment program offered by a licensed service provider; (b) placement in a jail-based treatment program; or (c) serving a period of secure detention if a child or a period of incarceration within the time limits established for contempt of court if an adult. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. Chapter No. 2006-97. HB 849 — Foreign Language Court Interpreters This bill directs the Florida Supreme Court to establish standards and procedures to certify, discipline, and train foreign language interpreters who are appointed by a court. Additionally, the bill permits the Court to charge fees to persons who apply for certification or renewal of their certification as an interpreter. The bill provides that the fee revenues will be used to offset the costs of administering the certification process. Further, the bill authorizes the Court to employ personnel necessary to administer the procedures authorized by the bill. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. HB 1563 — Court Files/Public Records This bill revises the responsibilities of court clerks and county recorders to protect certain confidential and exempt information from disclosure. The bill extends the current deadline of January 1, 2007, by one year to January 1, 2008, by which clerks of court must automatically redact social security, bank account, credit, and debit card numbers from court records. It provides court clerks with immunity from liability for inadvertent release of social security numbers and financial account numbers in court records filed before January 1, 2008. The bill permits the county recorder to continue to allow inspection and copying of official records without redaction of social security numbers and financial account numbers until January 1, 2008, unless the county recorder has received a request to redact specific information. Finally, the bill requires a county recorder that stores official records electronically to use his or her best efforts, which may be satisfied through an automated program, to redact confidential or exempt information from electronic records. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1.Labor Laws CS/CS/SB 428 — Per Diem The Legislature last increased the rates for per diem and meals in 1981, and the rate for mileage in 1994. The bill amends §112.061 effective July 1, so that: $50 per diem rate for travelers would be increased to $80; the $3 breakfast rate for travelers would be increased to $6; the $6 lunch rate for travelers would be increased to $11; the $12 dinner rate for travelers would be increase to $19; the 29 cents per mile rate for travelers using a privately owned vehicle would be increased to 44.5 cents per mile. The bill also permits specified county-level entities to enact policies that vary from the standard rates so long as those rates are not less than the authorized rates for FY 2005-2006. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-41 LOF.Juvenile Law CS/SB 1748 — Juvenile Justice Chapter 985 addresses Florida’s juvenile justice system. Some judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and agency personnel have indicated that the chapter’s current organization is difficult to utilize in practice. This bill reorganizes Ch. 985 to provide a chronological presentation of the delinquency proceeding from the introduction of the child into the system to the case outcome. It divides the chapter into 13 parts. It also divides larger sections within the chapter into smaller parts that are given more meaningful section and subheading names to better describe and organize the chapter’s contents. The bill is designed to be strictly a technical rewrite of Ch. 985 with no substantive changes to current law. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect January 1, 2007. Chapter No. 2006-120 LOF. HB 41 — Nonjudicial Arrest Record/Expunction This bill requires the local law enforcement agency that wrongly arrests a juvenile or adult to apply to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for an administrative expunction of that non-judicial arrest record, if the agency or court determines the arrest is a mistake or that it is unlawful. It also allows an adult or the parent or legal guardian of a minor child to apply to the FDLE for an administrative expunction under these same circumstances, if the application is accompanied by an endorsement from the head of the arresting agency or the state attorney in the judicial circuit in which the arrest occurred. Finally, the bill provides that an application or endorsement is not admissible as evidence in any judicial or administrative proceeding, nor is either one to be construed as an admission of liability in connection with the arrest. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. Chapter No. 2006-94 LOF.Mental Health Law SB 1400 — Psychotherapist-patient Privilege The bill revises the definition of “psychotherapist” that is used for purposes of the psychotherapist-patient privilege under the Florida Evidence Code to include an advanced registered nurse practitioner, whose primary scope of practice is the diagnosis or treatment of mental or emotional conditions, including chemical abuse. The privilege would extend only to actions by the advanced registered nurse practitioner that are performed in accordance with the Nurse Practice Act. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-204 LOF. HB 7199 — Forensic Treatment and Training The bill amends Ch. 916 relating to forensic services for persons with mental illnesses and persons with mental retardation or autism. The bill revises definitions and procedures for persons committed to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCF or department) as defendants who are incompetent to stand trial due to a mental illness, mental retardation, or autism. It makes technical changes to conform procedures and criteria to the transfer of programs from DCF to the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD or agency). It makes substantive changes which include updating definitions including “forensic client,” deleting commitment criteria from the definition and moving it to the appropriate section, creating a definition for “defendant” to distinguish persons who are not yet clients because they have not been committed. The bill requires separate housing requirements for forensic clients (conforms to current practice). It clarifies provisions relating to defendants who are currently in the custody of the Department of Corrections. It also adds references to APD and requiring the department to adopt rules governing the use of seclusion and restraint that reflect best practices and assure resident and staff safety, as well as providing for documentation in the client’s facility record. The bill allows the transfer of court jurisdiction for forensic clients. It clarifies the distinction between Ch. 916 forensic procedures for involuntary commitment, and Ch. 393 procedures for non-forensic involuntary commitment and deletes the provision in current law (§916.1075, F.S.), which requires the inspector general to immediately investigate allegations of sexual misconduct between an employee and a client in a forensic facility, and upon a finding of probable cause, to report it to the local state attorney. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. Chapter No. 2006-195 LOF.Military Affairs Law HB 7127 — Disturbance of Assemblies This bill establishes a first degree misdemeanor penalty for anyone who willfully interrupts or disturbs an assembly of people who have gathered to acknowledge the death of an individual with a military funeral honors detail. A first degree misdemeanor is punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding one year and by a fine not exceeding $1,000. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. CS/SB 1370 — Veterans’ Nursing Home/Admittance This bill authorizes the Executive Director of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs to waive the residency requirement for veterans who are otherwise eligible for admission under Florida law but are not Florida residents. Consideration for such waivers would be limited to evacuees from other states where a state of emergency had been declared by that state’s governor. The bill specifies that eligible veterans who are Florida residents will receive first priority for admission. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. CS/SB 2034 — Education/Spouses/Disabled Veterans This bill extends certain state-sponsored educational benefits currently available to the children of deceased and disabled veterans to the spouses of such veterans. It establishes eligibility criteria and use restrictions governing this program. The bill also limits the benefits to 110 percent of the required hours for the initial baccalaureate or certificate program in which a spouse is enrolled, and clarifies that the age restrictions in §295.02 do not apply to qualifying spouses. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1.Public Records HB 7113 — Interference with Custody/OGSR This bill saves from repeal an existing public records exemption for certain information provided to a sheriff or a state attorney by a person who seeks shelter with a child and wants to utilize an exception afforded under the state’s interference with custody statute. The bill is the public records companion to HB 7111, relating to the criminal offense of interference with custody, which occurs when certain persons take or conceal a child or an incompetent person from someone with lawful custody. Under existing law, §787.03(6) a spouse who takes a child to flee domestic violence may be able to avoid prosecution if he or she, among other requirements, reports their whereabouts to the sheriff or state attorney. Currently, the name of the person taking the child and the current address and telephone number of that person and the child, contained in the report, are confidential and exempt from public disclosure. This bill expands the public records exemption to include address and telephone information for an incompetent person who is taken, in addition to the same information for a child. It narrows the public records exemption by no longer providing confidential-and-exempt status for the name of the person who does the taking. The bill authorizes the confidential information to be shared with an agency in furtherance of the agency’s duties. It provides a statement of public necessity offering a rationale for expansion of the public records exemption. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect October 1, provided HB 7111 becomes law. Chapter No. 2006-115 LOF.Real Property, Probate & Trust Law HB 1567 — Eminent Domain This bill heightens the safeguards of private property rights by providing certain restrictions on the use of eminent domain and limiting the transfer of property that has been taken by eminent domain. The bill eliminates the authority to take property for the purpose of abating or eliminating a public nuisance. The bill also prohibits the use of eminent domain for the purpose of preventing or eliminating slum or blight conditions. The bill repeals §163.375 which granted broad eminent domain power to counties, municipalities, or community redevelopment agencies, with the delegated authority of eminent domain, for community redevelopment and related activities. However, the use of eminent domain in a community redevelopment area (CRA) for a traditional public purpose is permitted in the same way as permitted outside the CRA. The bill prohibits a county or municipality from delegating the power of eminent domain to a community redevelopment agency. The state, any political subdivision, or any other entity to which the power of eminent domain is delegated is prohibited from transferring property acquired by eminent domain to another private entity for 10 years with certain exceptions. The exceptions include transfers for: private entities engaged in common-carrier services; roads open to the public for transportation, whether at no charge or by toll; operating a public or private utility; or public infrastructure. The bill also has an exception for transferring surplus property. If property is acquired via eminent domain and is not needed for the original purpose, and it has been less than 10 years, it can be transferred if the original owner is first given a chance to repurchase the property at the price that the government paid him or her for the property. The bill provides for public notice and competitive bidding for the disposition of property taken by eminent domain. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law and apply to all property for which a petition of condemnation is filed on or after that date. Chapter No. 2006-11 LOF. SB 1948 — Coastal Property/Sale/Disclosures This bill prescribes additional disclosure requirements for sellers of coastal real property that are seaward of the coastal construction control line. The seller is required to make the following disclosure at or prior to the time a seller and a purchaser both execute a contract for the sale and purchase of the real property: that the property may be subject to coastal erosion and certain federal, state, or local environmental laws that regulate coastal property, including the delineation of the coastal construction control line, rigid coastal protection structures, beach nourishment, and the protection of marine turtles; and that additional information can be obtained from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), including whether there are significant erosion conditions associated with the shore line of the property being purchased. The disclosure may be set forth in the contract or in a separate writing. The bill also provides that failure to deliver the disclosure, affidavit, or survey required by these provisions does not effect the enforcement of the sale and purchase contract, create a right of recession, or impair the property’s title. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. HB 1089 — Construction Contracting The bill decreases the period within which an action based on design, planning, or construction of an improvement to real property may be filed from 15 years to 10 years. It provides that warranties of the developer under §718.618 apply to the conversion of an existing improvement if construction of the improvement was started before it was designated by the developer as a condominium. The bill further provides that the warranties of the developer to the purchaser of a unit under §718.203 does not apply to such a conversion. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-145 LOF. HB 1139 — Construction Defects/Property The bill expands the applicability of Ch. 558 which provides an alternative method to resolve construction disputes, to include construction defects in any real property, including mobile homes and excluding public transportation projects. To conform to the chapter’s broadened applicability, the bill deletes provisions that limit the application of Ch. 558 to residential property. The bill provides that the provisions of the chapter apply to contracts that include the notice prescribed by the chapter. The bill amends §558.005(4) to provide that this chapter applies to all actions accruing or commenced on or after July 1, 2004, for a construction contract. It further provides that, notwithstanding the notice requirements of this section, the chapter applies to all contracts entered into between July 1, 2004 and September 30, and all actions occurring before July 1, 2004, but not yet commenced by that date. The failure to include the notice in a contract entered into prior to July 1, 2004, does not operate to bar the procedures of Ch. 558 from applying to all such actions. The bill provides that, notwithstanding the notice requirements of this section, for contracts entered into on or after October 1, this chapter applies to all actions accruing before July 1, 2004, but not yet commenced as of July 1, 2004. Failure to include such notice in a contract entered into before July 1, 2004, does not operate to bar the procedures of Ch. 558 from applying to all such actions. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect October 1. CS/CS/SB 1556 — Condominiums This bill substantially revises the provisions of the statute governing the termination of the condominium form of ownership of a property. The bill provides legislative findings that it is the public policy of the state to provide a method to preserve the value of the property interests and the rights of alienation thereof that owners have in the condominium property before and after termination. The bill requires a plan of termination to be prepared and presented to the unit owners in the condominium for approval before termination can occur. The plan must provide for the valuation of the individual units, the common elements, and the other assets of the condominium based upon their respective fair market values. The plan must further set out the share that each unit owner will receive if the plan of termination is adopted, and if the property is to be sold, it must state the minimum sale terms. The bill provides three methods of approval of a plan of termination of the condominium form of ownership. Economic Waste or Impossibility: The plan of termination may be approved by the lesser of the majority of the total voting interests or as otherwise provided in the declaration for approval when the costs to repair and restore the property to its prior condition are more than the fair market value of the property after the repairs or when it is impossible to reconstruct the physical configuration of the condominium because of the current land use laws. Court Approval (subsection heading: “Jurisdiction For Plan of Termination Review”): The bill provides that termination approval may be pursued in circuit court by one or more unit owners if the plan of termination did not receive approval by at least 80 percent the community, and fewer than 20 percent of the total voting interests voted against the plan. Optional Termination: Except as provided in methods one and two or unless the declaration provides for a lower percentage, the plan of termination may be approved by 80 percent or more of the total voting interests. The plan of termination becomes effective upon recording of the plan with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Within 90 days of the recording, any owner who does not agree that the apportionment of the proceeds from the sale among the unit owners was fair and reasonable may bring an action in circuit court contesting the plan of termination. The bill provides for quarterly reports prepared by the association, receiver, or termination trustee following the approval of the termination plan. The report shall provide the status and progress of the termination, costs and fees incurred, the expected completion date of termination, and the current financial condition of the association, receivership or trusteeship. Unit owners may recall or remove members of the board of administration with or without cause, and lienors of an association in termination representing at least 50 percent of the outstanding amounts of liens may petition the court for the appointment of a termination trustee upon a showing of good cause. A copy of the proposed plan of termination must be given to all of the unit owners (in the same manner as for notice of the annual meeting) at least 14 days prior to the meeting at which the plan will be voted upon. Once a plan of termination is approved, each unit owner and the holders of liens on property in condominiums must be mailed notice of the plan’s adoption and the right to contest the plan within 30 days of the recording with the Clerk. Within 90 days after the effective date of the plan, a certified copy of the recorded plan must be provided to the Division of Land Sales, Condominiums, and Mobile Homes. The bill also requires a distribution notice. Not less than 30 days prior to the first distribution, notice of the estimated distribution shall be provided to all unit owners, lienors of the condominium property, and lienors of each unit. The bill provides that unless another person is appointed as trustee in the plan of termination, the condominium association shall serve as the “termination trustee.” Once the plan is effective, the termination trustee is vested with the title to the condominium property, and the unit owners become the beneficiaries of the proceeds realized from the plan of termination. The trustee is obligated to protect and maintain the property, to sell the assets of the condominium, and disburse the proceeds to the unit owners and the mortgagees as provided for in the plan. The bill provides that value of each unit must be determined based upon the fair market value of the units immediately before the termination by one or more independent appraisers or based upon the values maintained by the county property appraiser. Unit owners are also entitled to the fair market value of their share of the common elements, association property, and the common surplus. Each unit’s total share of the proceeds must be set out in the plan of termination. It provides that consent of mortgagees is not required for the adoption of a plan of termination under the provisions of the bill unless the proceeds under the plan are less than the full satisfaction of the mortgage lien encumbering the unit. The Governor vetoed this bill. HB 391 — Community Associations The bill provides that nonmandatory homeowner’s associations may use the covenant revitalization procedures in Ch. 720 relating to mandatory associations, to revitalize covenants that have lapsed. The bill defines the term “equity facilities club” to mean a club comprised of recreational facilities in which proprietary membership interests are sold to individuals, and prohibits any law, ordinance, or regulation that establishes certain requirements on the equity facilities club form of ownership that are not applicable to other forms of ownership. The bill prohibits local governments from limiting access to a public or private beach adjacent to the condominium for the condominium or its guests, licensees, or invitees. It extends the deadline of retrofitting with a fire sprinkler system in the common areas in high-rise buildings from 2014 to the end of 2025; and limits the enforcement of provisions in the governing documents recorded on or after October 1, or amendments thereto, that require the consent or joinder of some or all mortgagees of units or any other portion of the condominium property for those mortgages. The bill prohibits the acquiring or entering into agreements acquiring leaseholds, memberships, or other possessory or use interests within 12 months after a declaration. The bill allows homeowner’s association to incorporate as profit entities under Ch. 607, F.S. and provides that all meetings of a homeowner’s association regarding a final decision for the spending of association funds, and to approve or disapprove architectural decisions with respect to a specific parcel of residential property must be open to all members. The bill provides that the homeowner’s association has to provide or disclose only the information required by Ch. 720, F.S. It provides for the charging of a reasonable fee not to exceed $150 plus photocopying and attorney’s fees to a prospective purchaser or lienholder or the current parcel owner for providing good faith responses to requests for information, unless required by law. The bill provides that any member who prevails in an action against an association and is awarded attorney’s fees may be awarded an amount sufficient to cover the member’s share of assessments levied to fund the association’s litigation expenses. The bill permits the merger or consolidation of one or more associations. It establishes for the maintenance of reserve accounts in the annual budget, including how to calculate reserves and conditions for waiving the maintenance of reserve accounts. The bill provides that an association may review and approve building plans only to the extent that it is specifically stated or reasonably inferred in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants. The bill provides that an association can only enforce setbacks specifically provided for in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants, and cannot enforce setback requirements that are inconsistent with applicable county or municipal setback standards. It provides that each parcel owner’s rights and privileges as provided in the declaration of covenants cannot be unreasonably impaired concerning the use of the parcel, and the construction of permitted structures and improvements. It provides for auditing of financial records when an association is transferred from the developer to the homeowners and provides procedures for the guarantee of common expenses by the developer; and provides that an association cannot enforce any policy that is inconsistent with the rights and privileges of a parcel owner set forth in the declaration of covenants, whether the policy is uniformly applied or not. The bill also increases from 60 days to 90 days the period after each fiscal year that an association must prepare and complete the annual financial report. The bill specifies additional records and documents that the developer must provide to the association’s board of directors upon the creation of the association. It also provides procedures for determining the developer’s financial obligation to the homeowner’s association upon the creation of the association. This bill repeals the mediation of disputes between homeowners’ associations and members by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Such disputes would be mediated by private mediators. The procedures are renamed as presuit mediation and specific procedures are established. The mediator may require advance payment of fees and costs. The bill deletes the $200 filing fee for mediation. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. CS/SB 466 — Regulation of Real Estate Appraisers The bill requires that a primary or secondary supervisory appraiser must provide training in addition to the supervision required under current law. It defines the terms “direct supervision” and “training” in the context of the supervisory appraiser and register appraiser trainee relationship. It also amends the definition of the term “supervisory appraiser” to provide that the board shall establish, by rule, the minimum qualifications and standards of a licensed or certified appraiser before he or she may act in the capacity of a supervisory appraiser. The bill provides that a supervisory appraiser may not be employed by a trainee or by a company, firm, or partnership in which the trainee has a controlling interest. The bill prohibits a person from issuing an appraisal report, whether or not the transaction is federally related, unless certified, licensed, or registered. The bill requires, in addition to the approval and signature of a certified or licensed appraiser required under current law, that an appraisal report based upon work performed by a person who is not a certified or licensed appraiser, or a registered trainee appraiser must be supervised by a certified or licensed appraiser who has full responsibility for all requirements of the report and valuation report. Additionally, the bill provides that only the certified or licensed appraiser may issue an appraiser report and receive direct compensation for providing valuation services for the appraiser report. The bill provides that any appraisal report prepared by a full-time degree program graduate student must be issued in the name of the supervisory individual who is responsible for the report’s content. The bill requires that any appraisal report or file memoranda used to support a claim for experience by an applicant must be maintained for not less than five years. It also authorizes the board to implement this reporting requirement by rule. The bill also provides that a Florida licensed real estate broker, sales associate, or broker associate may provide valuation services for compensation. Current law does not require a Florida license. The bill requires that the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board (board) conform education and experience requirements to the standards adopted by the Appraisal Qualifications Board on February 20, 2004. It requires that by July 1, an applicant for certification or registration must provide fingerprints in electronic format, and that an application expires one year from the date received. The bill repeals the education and experience requirements for a licensed appraiser because, pursuant to §475.611(1)(l) the department has not issued licenses for the category since July 1, 2003. The bill provides that, to be certified as a residential appraiser or a general appraiser, the applicant must present satisfactory evidence to the board that he or she has met the minimum education and experience requirements prescribed by rule of the board. It also requires that the board prescribe education and experience requirements that meet or exceed the qualification criteria adopted on February 20, 2004 by the Appraiser Qualifications Board. The bill increases the number of classroom hours needed for registration as appraiser trainee (from 75 classroom hours to 100 classroom hours), certification as a residential appraiser (from 125 classroom hours to 200 classroom hours) and general appraiser from 180 classroom hours to 300 classroom hours. The bill requires that the classroom hours for general and residential appraisers must include a 15-hour National Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice course. It deletes the board’s authority to increase the required number of hours for general and residential appraisers, and also increases the maximum number of hours that the board may require for registration from 100 to 125 classroom hours. The bill provides for the issuance of a registration or certification upon receipt by the board of a completed application, successful course completion, proof of experience, and proof of passing a written examination, if required. The bill requires that each appraiser registered, licensed or certified under Ch. 475, part II must furnish the department with the firm or business name for which he or she operates in the performance of appraisal services. It also specifies the documentation that must be presented for issuance of a registration or certification. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-198. SB 152 — Property Appraiser Assessments This bill amends §193.023 to provide that county property appraisers must physically inspect property at least once every five years, rather than every three years as required under current law. Additionally, the bill authorizes county property appraisers to review, as deemed necessary, image technology in assessing the value of real property. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. Chapter No. 2006-36 LOF. CS/SB 264 — Homestead Assessments This bill amends §193.155 to provide that there is no change in ownership of a homestead property if a change or transfer is by means of an instrument in which the owner is listed as both grantor and grantee of the real property and one or more individuals are additionally named as grantee. As a result, a change or transfer that merely adds an additional person or persons to the title does not trigger a change in ownership. However, if an individual who is added to a title applies for a homestead exemption on the property, the application is considered a change of ownership and reassessment is required. The effect of this bill is that an individual may add one or more co-owners to the deed for homestead property without losing the Save Our Homes benefit, assuming the individual continues to qualify for the homestead exemption on the property. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-38. HB 521 — Probate This bill revises procedures relating to the administration of a decedent’s estate. Statutes providing for access to a decedent’s safe-deposit box are revised in both the Financial Institutions chapter and the Probate Code for consistency in application and to provide specific procedures relating to surviving co-lessees of a safe-deposit box. The bill modifies provisions relating to notice of administration of a decedent’s estate, requiring additional information on filing deadlines to be included in the notice in order to clarify these deadlines for beneficiaries. Additional clarification is provided in sections on elective shares and exempt property (property that is protected from creditors’ claims against the estate and given to beneficiaries) to allow for claims “on or before ” certain filing deadlines. The revisions to statute address an interpretation at common law that effectively barred claims filed prior to certain events and allows for filing on or before filing deadlines provided in statute. The revisions to statute would allow interested parties to file on or before a filing deadline in the following instances: estate administration – Filing any objection that challenges the validity of a will, the qualifications of a personal representative, the venue, or the jurisdiction of the court; exempt property – Filing a petition for determination of exempt property; and elective share – Filing and withdrawing an election to take an elective share. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-134 LOF. CS/SB 1170 — Florida Trust Code The bill creates a comprehensive, new Florida Trust Code (code). The new code is a product of the Ad Hoc Trust Code Revision Committee, which was comprised of members of various sections of the Florida Bar, including Real Property, Probate and Trust Law; Elder Law; and Tax Law. The committee also included liaisons to the Probate and Trust Litigation Committee and the Probate Law Committee and representatives of the Florida Bankers Association and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The new code is based in part upon the Uniform Trust Code (UTC) with revisions to account for distinctions found in current Florida statutory and case law. Several of these distinctions are retained in the new code; however, changes put forth in the new code will affect trust administration. In regards to representation the bill expands the provision dealing with representation by a holder of a power of appointment and adds a new provision permitting a trust settlor (person who creates a trust) to designate a representative for the trust (e.g., a trust protector). Regarding trust creation the bill affirms the requirement that trusts containing land be evidenced by a signed writing; limits the unique Florida requirement that the testamentary aspects of trusts be executed with the formalities required for a will to revocable trusts; and specifies that the capacity needed to create a revocable trust is the same as that required for the execution of a will. The bill revises provisions relating to trust creation and termination proposed in the UTC while retaining Florida’s existing trust modification provisions. It also codifies the authority that the Attorney General has at common law to enforce charitable trusts and extends standing to enforce charitable trusts to the settlers who create them and to charitable organizations designated in an instrument to receive distributions from them. The bill provides that, for trusts created after the effective date of the code, a spendthrift clause must restrain both voluntary and involuntary alienation and slightly modifies the “last resort” principle established in Bacardi v. White. (The “last resort” principle allows the garnishment of trust distributions from a spendthrift trust to enforce orders such as child support and alimony as a last resort for fulfilling these financial obligations.) The bill provides that trusts are revocable by default, that a method of revocation expressed in an instrument is exclusive, and that while a trust is revocable, the trustee owes duties only to the settlor. The trustee’s duties to the settler also apply to beneficiaries who have a right of withdrawal over trust property (i.e., holders of a right of withdrawal are treated as a settlor while the power is exercisable). The bill replaces the existing antilapse statute for inter vivos trusts with a new provision more broadly applicable to the descendibility of future interests in both testamentary and inter vivos trusts; creates new provision in Ch. 518 to allow for fiduciary investment of funds in investment instruments owned by the trustee or its affiliate; abolishes the Worthier Title Doctrine; makes §731.103, F.S. (evidence of death or status), and §731.201, F.S. (definitions), now apply to chapter 736, F.S.; adds definition of “power of appointment” to §731.201, F.S.; makes §731.303, F.S. representation), no longer applicable to proceedings involving trusts; and makes §732.603, F.S. (antilapse), now apply only to outright devises and appointments. Section 736.1303 provides that the new code applies retroactively to all trusts, whenever created, except where stated otherwise in the text of the bill. The advantage to including this provision in the code is that it avoids the maintenance of two systems of trust law for extended periods of time, but in some instances retroactive application can be constitutionally impermissible (e.g., where it impairs vested rights) or unfair. To address issues that might arise if all provisions of the new code were to apply retroactivity, there are some sections that provide for differing dates of application (e.g., new requirement that testamentary aspect of a revocable trust must be executed in the manner of a will does not apply to trusts created before the bill’s effective date). In addition, the court is provided with discretion in its retroactive application of the new code in situations where retroactive application might interfere with judicial proceedings or prejudice the rights of the parties to proceedings. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2007. Chapter No. 2006-217 LOF. CS/SB 1956 — Florida Land Trust Act This bill modernizes the land trust statute, §689.071 and codifies case law on land trusts. The bill provides that a trustee of a land trust is no longer required to be qualified to act as a fiduciary. Beneficiaries of a land trust generally are not liable for the liabilities of a land trust. The authority of a trustee of a land trust is not affected by encumbrances of a beneficiary’s interest. The power of direction of a land trust may be vested in a person other than a beneficiary; and a person’s principal residence held in a land trust is entitled to a homestead exemption. Lastly, the bill creates procedures for the appointment of a successor trustee to a land trust. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect October 1. HB 65 — Foreclosure Proceedings Surplus funds may exist after a foreclosure sale, if property is sold for more than the amount of all disbursements required by a foreclosure order. Under existing law, the surplus belongs to the property owner at the time of the foreclosure sale. The bill creates a presumption that surplus funds belong to the owner of the real property on the date of the filing of the lis pendens. A lis pendens is a notice, filed in the official records, indicating that the title to property is in litigation. The presumption, however, can be rebutted with a properly executed assignment of the funds. The bill requires that information regarding surplus funds be included in the final judgment, certificate of sale, and certificate of disbursements. The surplus funds will be paid to the former owner of the property, unless another person files a claim for the funds within 60 days after a foreclosure sale. If a person other than the owner of record on the date of the filing of the lis pendens files a claim, a court must determine who is entitled to the surplus funds. The bill creates the position of surplus trustee to find the owner of real property as of the lis pendens date, if no claims of surplus funds are made. The surplus trustee is entitled to 12 percent of the surplus upon obtaining a court order disbursing the surplus to the owner of record. The bill also authorizes penalties of up to $15,000 for conduct that “victimizes or attempts to victimize” a homeowner during the course of a residential foreclosure proceeding. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-175 LOF. HB 1141 — Conveyances of Land An individual retirement account (IRA) is an investment tool that permits qualified individuals to save and invest for retirement, with certain federal income tax advantages. Although IRAs have long been able to invest in real estate, it was not until recently that there has been significant interest in placing real estate investments into an IRA. Current Florida law is unclear as to how an IRA can take title to real property. The bill specifies how retirement investment plans, such as IRAs and other qualified plans, may accept, hold, and transfer title to real property. The bill also provides for validation of conveyances to a custodian or trustee of an IRA or qualified plan which were recorded before July 1, the effective date of the bill. This language is intended to provide a cure for previous conveyances into an IRA or other qualified plan which may not have otherwise been honored if the statute of frauds had been interpreted to preclude an IRA’s or other qualified plan’s investment in real property. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-147 LOF.Tax Law HB 209 — Intangible Personal Property Tax Chapter 199 imposes two different taxes on intangible personal property: an annual (or recurring) tax is imposed at the rate of 0.5 mill on the value of stocks, bonds, notes, and other intangible personal property; and a non-recurring tax is imposed on obligations secured by liens on Florida realty at the rate of 2 mills. Individuals and businesses are currently obligated to pay an annual (recurring) tax on stocks, bonds, notes, governmental leaseholds, and interests in limited partnerships registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Current law exempts from the annual (recurring) tax $250,000 for each natural person and $500,000 for each natural person and spouse filing a joint return. The law also provides a $250,000 exemption for corporations and other legal entities. This bill repeals the 0.5 mill annual (recurring) tax imposed on stocks, bonds, notes, and other intangible property. No change is made to the 2 mills non-recurring tax imposed upon obligations secured by liens on Florida property. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect January 1, 2007. SB 692 — Florida Sales Tax Relief Act The bill provides that no sales and use tax will be collected on the sale of books, clothing, wallets, or certain bags having a selling price of $50 or less during the period from 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, July 22, through midnight on Sunday, July 30. The bill also provides that no sales and use tax will be collected on the sale of school supplies having a selling price of $10 per item or less during the period from 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, July 22, through midnight on Sunday, July 30. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-63 LOF. HB 7109 — Taxation House Bill 7109 includes the substance of CS/SB 1430, which amends s§193.155 and 196.031 to shield property owners whose homestead property is damaged or destroyed by a hurricane or other misfortune from increases in assessed value for property tax purposes, as long as the size of the home is not increased by more than 10 percent, or does not exceed 1,500 square feet. It also calls for a study of the impact on local property taxes of current homestead tax exemptions and assessment limitations. It requires the Department of Revenue to provide and analyze data about homestead property taxation, and analyze how portability of the Save Our Homes differential would affect relative taxes levied on all other classes of property and the distribution of the required local property tax effort for school funding. The final DOR report is due January 2, 2007. The Office of Economic and Demographic Research is directed to prepare a report summarizing the DOR study, including findings of the study and property tax policy options that may be available to the state. An interim progress report is due February 15, 2007 to include preliminary findings and policy options to be considered during the 2007 session. The final report must be submitted to the governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and the chair of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission no later than September 1, 2007. If approved by the governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law. CS/SB 1268 — Deferral of Ad Valorem Taxes This bill revises the age and income thresholds governing eligibility for the homestead tax deferral program established in §197.252, F.S. specifically, the bill decreases the minimum age limit from 70 to 65, and increases the household income limitation from $12,000 to $23,463. This income limit matches the threshold amount designated for the additional homestead exemption authorized in §196.075, F.S. additionally; the bill reduces the maximum interest rate that may be charged on deferred property taxes from 9.5 to 7 percent. The bill will enable a larger population of homestead property owners to elect to defer all or a portion of the combined total of the ad valorem taxes and any non-ad valorem assessments. The maximum interest rate applicable to deferred taxes and assessments would be capped at 7 percent. The deferred taxes and interest would continue to constitute a prior lien on the homestead, and all deferred taxes, assessments, and interests would be due upon a change in the ownership or use of the property. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-47. HB 47 — Hurricane Preparedness/Sales Tax Exemption This bill provides for a sales and use tax exemption for certain items used to prepare for and withstand a hurricane. The following items are exempt from sales and use tax collections during the period from May 21, 2006 through June 1, 2006: any portable self-powered light source selling for $20 or less; any portable self-powered radio, two-way radio, or weather band radio selling for $50 or less; any tarpaulin or other flexible waterproof sheeting selling for $50 or less; any ground anchor system or tie-down kit selling for $50 or less; any gas or diesel fuel tank selling for $25 or less; any package of AAA-cell, AA-cell, C-cell, D-cell, 6-volt, or 9-volt batteries, excluding automobile and boat batteries, selling for $30 or less; any cell phone battery selling for $60 or less and any cell phone charger selling for $40 or less; any non electric food storage cooler selling for $30 or less; any portable generator used to provide light or communications or preserve food in the event of a power outage selling for $1,000 or less; any storm shutter device selling for $200 or less (A storm shutter device is defined as materials and products manufactured, rated, and marketed specifically for the purpose of preventing window damage from storms); any carbon monoxide detector selling for $75 or less; any blue ice selling for $10 or less; and any single product consisting of two or more of the above items, or other tax exempt items, selling for $75 or less. These provisions became law upon approval by the governor on April 27. Chapter 2006-7 LOF.Tort Law HB 145 — Damage Apportionment/Civil Actions This bill largely abolishes the application of joint and several liability for economic damages in negligence cases. As a result of the bill, a defendant’s liability for damages will be based on the defendant’s percentage of fault for an injury. Previously, under certain circumstances a defendant could be liable for up to $2 million in economic damages attributed to others. These provisions became law upon approval by the governor on April 26. Chapter 2006-6 LOF. HB 7259 — Class Action Lawsuits This bill generally prohibits nonresidents from participating as plaintiffs in class action lawsuits filed in Florida courts. However, a nonresident may be included in the plaintiff class if the nonresident’s claim is recognized in the nonresident’s home state and the nonresident’s state lacks personal jurisdiction over the defendant or defendants. Additionally, a nonresident may be included in a plaintiff class if the conduct giving rise to the cause of action occurred in or emanated from this state. Under the bill, class action plaintiffs must allege and prove actual damages if seeking statutory penalties under chs. 320, 501, 520, and 521, F.S. These chapters pertain to motor vehicles, consumer protection, retail installment sales, and motor vehicle lease disclosure. This requirement appears to prohibit class actions for monetary relief for technical violations of the law that do not cause an injury. Approved by the governor, these provisions take effect July 1. Chapter No. 2006-117 LOF. read more