Lawmakers have gone home. The following is a partial list of bills that were passed or failed to pass during the 2013 Florida Legislative session. (Please note: This is NOT a comprehensive list.)
Editor's Note: Be sure to check out an interactive bill tracker of this year's session from the Miami Herald.
BILLS THAT PASSED
HEALTH CARE/MEDICINE
-HB 1159: Expedites new nursing beds for certain retirement communities, including The Villages.
-HB 1159: Allows Miami Children's Hospital to offer 10 obstetrics beds.
-HB 1159: Creates a prescription drug monitoring database
-HB 1159: Requires insurers who offer IV cancer drug coverage to also cover oral cancer medications
-HB 1129: Requires medical care for newborns who survive botched abortions and penalizes abortion providers who don’t provide medical care for infants born alive after a failed abortion.
-SB 1520: Gradually revamps the state's system of billing counties for Medicaid care.
-SB 1844: Revises enrollment period for the Florida Health Choices Program, a marketplace program linking up Florida residents with health plans. It includes $900,000 for the program.
- HB 239: Relates to the practice of optometry The bill will allow optometrists to start prescribing oral medications and reflected a compromise between optometrists and ophthalmologists. It allows optometrists to go beyond prescribing "topical" medications, such as drops and creams. - SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
ETHICS AND ELECTIONS
- SB 2: Makes changes to state ethics law, such as barring elected officials from taking advantage of their positions to get taxpayer-funded jobs. Also, it includes blocking lawmakers from lobbying state agencies for two years after they leave office.
-HB 569: Makes changes to the campaign-finance system, such as eliminating a type of political funding vehicle known as "committees of continuous existence," or CCEs. It also ups limits on individual contributions to candidates.
-HB 7013: Allows county supervisors to increase early voting days, among other things.
EDUCATION
-SB 1108: Gives parents of exceptional students more say in their education.
-SB 1076: Ties secondary education to the job market.
SMALL BUSINESS
-HB 623: Allows the sale of wine in 5.16 gallon canisters which can be tapped like a keg, allowing easier sale of wine by the glass in restaurants and bars. Florida is one of only a couple of states that still requires wine to be sold in gallon or smaller wine bottles.
-SB 160: Requires the Department of Health to waive license fees for veterans.
-HB 423: Creates a sales tax break on dyed diesel fuel used by commercial fishermen, shrimpers, oystermen and clammers.
-HB 347: Allows craft distillers to sell small amounts directly to consumers.
LAWSUITS/TORTS
- HB 7015: Tightens standards for expert witnesses in lawsuits. It would lead to Florida adopting the same standards that federal courts use in deciding whether expert testimony will be admitted.
-SB 1792: Makes changes to the medical malpractice lawsuit rules, including tightening requirements for expert witnesses.
- HB 55: Requires that customers give demand letters to auto dealers at least 30 days before filing lawsuits. Dealers could avoid litigation if, within that 30-day period, they pay the amounts sought in demand letters, along with surcharges of $500 or 10 percent of the amounts of damages claimed.
CRIMINAL LAW
-HB 7083: Speeds up the death penalty appeals process.
- SB 92: Restricts the use of unmanned aerial drones by law enforcement. It bars law enforcement from using the automated surveillance aircraft unless a judge issues a warrant, there is a "high risk of terrorist attack" or officials fear someone is in imminent danger. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
-HB 1355: Closes loophole to prevent the mentally ill, who received but stopped treatment, from purchasing guns.
-SB 964: Prevents a convicted rapist from suing for parental rights if a child is conceived as a result of the rape.
-SB 390: Prohibits businesses from claiming to be veterans service organizations when they're not.
- HB 95: Allows charities to keep money and avoid criminal prosecution after accepting donations in good faith from donros convicted of Ponzi schemes.
-HB 217: Requires check cashing companies to report checks over $1,000 to the state to try to prevent workers compensation-check cashing scams.
-HB 15: Prevents protests at funerals.
HOUSING
-SB 1852: Sets out spending from the National Mortgage Foreclosure settlement.
-HB 87: Speeds up the foreclosure process.
GAMING
- HB 155: Outlaws the types of electronic games used in Internet cafes, effectively shutting down the controversial industry. Lawmakers rushed to pass the bill after raids on Internet cafes across the state, charges of racketeering and illegal gambling and the resignation of Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll because of her past ties to the industry. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
TAXES
-HB 7007: Eliminates the sales tax on manufacturing equipment for three years. Was a key issue for Gov. Rick Scott.
-SB 406, A three-day sales tax holiday on some items in August. Passed as part of a broader economic incentives bill.
-SB 342, Allows someone with a homestead exemption to rent their property out for 30 days without losing the exemption.
FAMILY LAW
-SB 1036: Extends foster care to age 21, rather than 18 as is currently the case. It also has some independent living training language, and provides training and support for foster parents. The bill was named the Sen. Nancy C. Detert Common Sense and Compassion Independent Living Act.
-SB 718: Overhauls the state’s alimony laws, including eliminating the concept of permanent alimony. It also would have created new legal standards based on the lengths of marriages and would set limits on the percentages of monthly income that could be awarded in alimony based on the lengths of marriages. VETOED BY GOVERNOR
INSURANCE
-SB 1770: Sets up a clearinghouse to push Citizens Property Insurance policies into private companies, restricting Citizens coverage in some cases, giving the company an inspector general and changing how its leaders are appointed.
- SB 1842: Changes insurance regulations under the federal Affordable Care Act. In part, it would temporarily rely on the federal government to do rate reviews for many insurers.
ENERGY
-SB 1472: Establishes review benchmarks for power companies that want to collect money from customers in advance of building new nuclear generating plants.
- HB 4001: Lifts the 2008 state law requiring gasoline sold by terminal suppliers or wholesalers to be blended with ethanol. The Florida Renewable Fuel Standard Act was created to attract the ethanol industry to Florida, but repeal supporters argued the requirement damages engines and drives up fuel and food costs.
TRANSPORTATION/HIGHWAY SAFETY/MOTOR VEHICLES
-SB 52: Bans texting while driving except when stopped.
-HB 7125: Keeps local governments from using red light cameras to ticket people for not stopping before turning right on red.
- HB 7059: Repeals a 2012 law requiring foreigners to have a special international permit to drive in Florida. The 2012 law caused confusion among tourists, such as Canadian snowbirds. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
-SB 606: Creates the Northeast Florida Regional Transportation Commission, Passed unanimously.
GOVERNMENT
-SB 50: Guarantees people the right to speak before local government boards and commissions.
LABOR/EMPLOYMENT
-HB 655: Keeps local governments from setting their own policies on forms of compensation like earned sick leave.
ENVIRONMENT/NAT RESOURCES
-HB 7065: Establishes a process for Everglades cleanup.
MISC.
-SB 674: Requires many animal shelters and animal control agencies to keep records about how many animals they euthanize and make the records available to the public.
-SB 142: Removes the word "retardation" from statutes in favor of "intellectual disability."
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BILLS THAT FAILED
HEALTH CARE
Bills aimed at expanding health care coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act and increasing oversight over assisted living facilities
EDUCATION
-HB 867: So-called "parent trigger" bill would have given parents the ability to petition school districts about a turnaround plan for failing schools.
-HB 1279: Would have overhauled the Florida High School Athletic Association
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/INCENTIVES
-SB 306: Would have given the Miami Dolphins the ability to get a local hotel tax increase and use it to renovate their home stadium and set out a process for other facilities to get state money for rehabs.
TAXES/FEES
-SB 1832: Would have rolled back motor vehicle registration fee increases, lowering the cost by $12. In turn, the bill would have eliminated a premium tax credit that out-of-state insurers pay based on payroll in Florida.
PENSIONS/RETIREMENT/LABOR ISSUES
-SB 1932: Would have changed the default retirement plan for state employees who don’t select a type of retirement plan to the defined contribution system and shortened the vesting period for those workers who chose the defined contribution plan rather than the defined benefit pension plan.
-SB 1216: Would have pre-empted state wage-theft regulations.
AGRICULTURE
-HB 761, SB 752: Would have made certain agricultural operations that use alternative energy technology eligible for capital investment tax credits.
TOURISM
-SB 140: Would have exempted short-term car rentals of 6 hours or less under a car sharing service from the rental car surcharge.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
-SB 1350: Would have changed sentencing guidelines for juvenile offenders in order to meet Supreme Court decisions preventing life sentences for certain juveniles.
-HB 797: Would have prevented police from searching cell phones of arrestees without a warrant. (A Supreme Court ruling during the session essentially did the same thing, however.)
-HB 159: Would have increased the amount of oxycodone and hydrocodone one could possess before being charged with trafficking and reduced prison terms in some cases.
-SB 874: Would have prohibited open parties where minors are in possession or are consuming alcohol.
BUSINESS REGULATIONS
-HB 715: Would have allowed 64-ounce growlers to be filled up at brew pubs.
MISCELLANEOUS
-HB 589: Would have officially established via statute the position of State Poet Laureate and provided selection criteria.
-SB 634: Would have re-enacted a ban on loud car stereos.
-HB 58: Would have barred foreign legal systems from being honored in American family courts.
