Bill Text: FL S0200 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Legislative Relief Acts
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-10-03 - Withdrawn prior to introduction [S0200 Detail]
Download: Florida-2014-S0200-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2014 SB 200 By Senator Ring 29-00302-14 2014200__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to legislative relief acts; amending 3 s. 11.02, F.S.; deleting provisions requiring public 4 notice of relief acts; amending s. 11.047, F.S.; 5 deleting a provision exempting claim bills from 6 contingency fee prohibitions; repealing s. 11.065, 7 F.S., relating to the presentation of claims for 8 relief to the Legislature; amending s. 11.066, F.S.; 9 deleting a provision authorizing a judgment creditor 10 to petition the Legislature for an appropriation to 11 pay such judgment; amending s. 17.26, F.S.; deleting a 12 provision authorizing a person entitled to payment on 13 a state obligation to petition the Legislature for 14 payment if such obligation becomes unenforceable under 15 law; amending s. 215.425, F.S.; deleting a provision 16 authorizing an appropriation or the payment of a claim 17 for additional compensation of a state officer, agent, 18 or contractor; amending s. 250.34, F.S.; deleting a 19 provision authorizing the presentation of a claim bill 20 by members of the Florida National Guard in addition 21 to the receipt of certain disability and death 22 benefits provided under law; amending s. 768.28, F.S.; 23 deleting a provision authorizing a tort claimant to 24 present claims or judgments in excess of the limited 25 waiver of sovereign immunity to the Legislature for 26 payment; providing an effective date. 27 28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 29 30 Section 1. Section 11.02, Florida Statutes, is amended to 31 read: 32 11.02 Notice of special or local legislationor certain33relief acts.—The notice required to obtain special or local 34 legislationor any relief act specified in s. 11.065shall be by 35 publishing the identical notice in each county involved in some 36 newspaper as defined in chapter 50 published in or circulated 37 throughout the county or counties where the matter or thing to 38 be affected by such legislation shall be situated one time at 39 least 30 days before introduction of the proposed law into the 40 Legislature or, there being no newspaper circulated throughout 41 or published in the county, by posting for at least 30 days at 42 not less than three public places in the county or each of the 43 counties, one of which places shall be at the courthouse in the 44 county or counties where the matter or thing to be affected by 45 such legislation shall be situated. Notice of special or local 46 legislation shall state the substance of the contemplated law, 47 as required by s. 10, Art. III of the State Constitution.Notice48of any relief act specified in s. 11.065 shall state the name of49the claimant, the nature of the injury or loss for which the50claim is made, and the amount of the claim against the affected51municipality’s revenue-sharing trust fund.52 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 11.047, Florida 53 Statutes, is amended to read: 54 11.047 Contingency fees; prohibitions; penalties.— 55 (2) No person may, in whole or in part, pay, give, or 56 receive, or agree to pay, give, or receive, a contingency fee. 57However, this subsection does not apply to claims bills.58 Section 3. Section 11.065, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 59 Section 4. Subsection (3) of section 11.066, Florida 60 Statutes, is amended to read: 61 11.066 Suits seeking monetary damages against the state or 62 its agencies; payment of judgments; appropriations required.— 63 (3) Neither the state nor any of its agencies shall pay or 64 be required to pay monetary damages under the judgment of any 65 court except pursuant to an appropriation made by law.To66enforce a judgment for monetary damages against the state or a67state agency, the sole remedy of the judgment creditor, if there68has not otherwise been an appropriation made by law to pay the69judgment, is to petition the Legislature in accordance with its70rules to seek an appropriation to pay the judgment.71 Section 5. Subsections (4) and (5) of section 17.26, 72 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 73 17.26 Cancellation of state warrants not presented within 1 74 year.— 75(4) If a valid obligation of the state is due, owing, and76unpaid and it becomes unenforceable for any reason because of77the provisions and limitations contained in this section, the78person entitled to payment on the obligation may present a claim79for relief to the Legislature, provided the claim is made within80the time limitations presently provided by law.81 (4)(5)This section does not extend any applicable statute 82 of limitations or revive any barred claim with respect to any 83 state obligation outstanding and unpaid on July 1, 1995. 84 Section 6. Section 215.425, Florida Statutes, is amended to 85 read: 86 215.425 Extra compensationclaimsprohibited; bonuses; 87 severance pay.— 88 (1) No extra compensation shall be made to any officer, 89 agent, employee, or contractor after the service has been 90 rendered or the contract made; nor shall any money be91appropriated or paid on any claim the subject matter of which92has not been provided for by preexisting laws, unless such93compensation or claim is allowed by a law enacted by two-thirds94of the members elected to each house of the Legislature. 95 However, when adopting salary schedules for a fiscal year, a 96 district school board or community college district board of 97 trustees may apply the schedule for payment of all services 98 rendered aftersubsequent toJuly 1 of that fiscal year. 99 (2) This section does not apply to: 100 (a) A bonus or severance pay that is paid wholly from 101 nontax revenues and nonstate-appropriated funds, the payment and 102 receipt of which does not otherwise violate part III of chapter 103 112, and which is paid to an officer, agent, employee, or 104 contractor of a public hospital that is operated by a county or 105 a special district; or 106 (b) A clothing and maintenance allowance given to 107 plainclothes deputies pursuant to s. 30.49. 108 (3) Any policy, ordinance, rule, or resolution designed to 109 implement a bonus scheme must: 110 (a) Base the award of a bonus on work performance; 111 (b) Describe the performance standards and evaluation 112 process by which a bonus will be awarded; 113 (c) Notify all employees of the policy, ordinance, rule, or 114 resolution before the beginning of the evaluation period on 115 which a bonus will be based; and 116 (d) Consider all employees for the bonus. 117 (4)(a) On or after July 1, 2011, a unit of government that 118 enters into a contract or employment agreement, or renewal or 119 renegotiation of an existing contract or employment agreement, 120 that contains a provision for severance pay with an officer, 121 agent, employee, or contractor must include the following 122 provisions in the contract: 123 1. A requirement that severance pay provided may not exceed 124 an amount greater than 20 weeks of compensation. 125 2. A prohibition of provision of severance pay when the 126 officer, agent, employee, or contractor has been fired for 127 misconduct, as defined in s. 443.036(30), by the unit of 128 government. 129 (b) On or after July 1, 2011, an officer, agent, employee, 130 or contractor may receive severance pay that is not provided for 131 in a contract or employment agreement if the severance pay 132 represents the settlement of an employment dispute. Such 133 severance pay may not exceed an amount greater than 6 weeks of 134 compensation. The settlement may not include provisions that 135 limit the ability of any party to the settlement to discuss the 136 dispute or settlement. 137 (c) This subsection does not create an entitlement to 138 severance pay in the absence of its authorization. 139 (d) As used in this subsection, the term “severance pay” 140 means the actual or constructive compensation, including salary, 141 benefits, or perquisites, for employment services yet to be 142 rendered which is provided to an employee who has recently been 143 or is about to be terminated. The term does not include 144 compensation for: 145 1. Earned and accrued annual, sick, compensatory, or 146 administrative leave; 147 2. Early retirement under provisions established in an 148 actuarially funded pension plan subject to part VII of chapter 149 112; or 150 3. Any subsidy for the cost of a group insurance plan 151 available to an employee upon normal or disability retirement 152 that is by policy available to all employees of the unit of 153 government pursuant to the unit’s health insurance plan. This 154 subparagraph may not be construed to limit the ability of a unit 155 of government to reduce or eliminate such subsidies. 156 (5) Any agreement or contract, executed on or after July 1, 157 2011, which involves extra compensation between a unit of 158 government and an officer, agent, employee, or contractor may 159 not include provisions that limit the ability of any party to 160 the agreement or contract to discuss the agreement or contract. 161 Section 7. Subsection (4) of section 250.34, Florida 162 Statutes, is amended to read: 163 250.34 Injury or death on state active duty.— 164 (4) Each member of the Florida National Guard who is 165 killed, or who dies as the result of injuries incurred, while on 166 state active duty under competent orders qualifies for benefits 167 as a law enforcement officer pursuant to s. 112.19 or any 168 successor statute providing for death benefits for law 169 enforcement officers, and the decedent’s survivors or estate are 170 entitled to the death benefits provided in s. 112.19.However,171this section does not prohibit survivors or the estate of the172decedent from presenting a claim bill for approval by the173Legislature in addition to the death benefits provided in this174section.175 Section 8. Subsection (5) of section 768.28, Florida 176 Statutes, is amended to read: 177 768.28 Waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions; 178 recovery limits; limitation on attorney fees; statute of 179 limitations; exclusions; indemnification; risk management 180 programs.— 181 (5) The state and its agencies and subdivisions shall be 182 liable for tort claims in the same manner and to the same extent 183 as a private individual under like circumstances, but liability 184 shall not include punitive damages or interest for the period 185 before judgment. Neither the state nor its agencies or 186 subdivisions shall be liable to pay a claim or a judgment by any 187 one person which exceeds the sum of $200,000 or any claim or 188 judgment, or portions thereof, which, when totaled with all 189 other claims or judgments paid by the state or its agencies or 190 subdivisions arising out of the same incident or occurrence, 191 exceeds the sum of $300,000.However, a judgment or judgments192may be claimed and rendered in excess of these amounts and may193be settled and paid pursuant to this act up to $200,000 or194$300,000, as the case may be; and that portion of the judgment195that exceeds these amounts may be reported to the Legislature,196but may be paid in part or in whole only by further act of the197Legislature.Notwithstanding the limited waiver of sovereign 198 immunity provided herein, the state or an agency or subdivision 199 thereof may agree, within the limits of insurance coverage 200 provided, to settle a claim made or a judgment rendered against 201 it in excess of the $200,000 or $300,000 waiver provided above 202without further action by the Legislature, but the state or 203 agency or subdivision thereof shall not be deemed to have waived 204 any defense of sovereign immunity or to have increased the 205 limits of its liability as a result of its obtaining insurance 206 coverage for tortious acts in excess of the $200,000 or $300,000 207 waiverprovided above. The limitations of liability set forth in 208 this subsection shall apply to the state and its agencies and 209 subdivisions regardless of whetheror notthe state or its 210 agencies or subdivisions possessed sovereign immunity before 211 July 1, 1974. 212 Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.