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 legislation or certain
   33  relief acts.—The notice required to obtain special or local
   34  legislation or any relief act specified in s. 11.065 shall 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. Notice
   48  of any relief act specified in s. 11.065 shall state the name of
   49  the claimant, the nature of the injury or loss for which the
   50  claim is made, and the amount of the claim against the affected
   51  municipality’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.
   57  However, 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. To
   66  enforce a judgment for monetary damages against the state or a
   67  state agency, the sole remedy of the judgment creditor, if there
   68  has not otherwise been an appropriation made by law to pay the
   69  judgment, is to petition the Legislature in accordance with its
   70  rules 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, and
   76  unpaid and it becomes unenforceable for any reason because of
   77  the provisions and limitations contained in this section, the
   78  person entitled to payment on the obligation may present a claim
   79  for relief to the Legislature, provided the claim is made within
   80  the 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 compensation claims prohibited; 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 be
   91  appropriated or paid on any claim the subject matter of which
   92  has not been provided for by preexisting laws, unless such
   93  compensation or claim is allowed by a law enacted by two-thirds
   94  of 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 after subsequent to July 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,
  171  this section does not prohibit survivors or the estate of the
  172  decedent from presenting a claim bill for approval by the
  173  Legislature in addition to the death benefits provided in this
  174  section.
  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 judgments
  192  may be claimed and rendered in excess of these amounts and may
  193  be settled and paid pursuant to this act up to $200,000 or
  194  $300,000, as the case may be; and that portion of the judgment
  195  that exceeds these amounts may be reported to the Legislature,
  196  but may be paid in part or in whole only by further act of the
  197  Legislature. 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
  202  without 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  waiver provided above. The limitations of liability set forth in
  208  this subsection shall apply to the state and its agencies and
  209  subdivisions regardless of whether or not the 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.