Florida Senate - 2017 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for SB 334 Ì398962PÎ398962 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House Comm: RCS . 03/29/2017 . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Committee on Rules (Lee) recommended the following: 1 Senate Substitute for Amendment (266818) (with title 2 amendment) 3 4 Delete everything after the enacting clause 5 and insert: 6 Section 1. Section 55.035, Florida Statutes, is created to 7 read: 8 55.035 Prejudgment interest.—In any action in which a 9 plaintiff recovers noneconomic damages, a court may award 10 prejudgment interest on those damages upon a motion by the 11 plaintiff if the court finds that the award is warranted based 12 on the nature of the damages, the time elapsed between the date 13 the defendant received written notice of the claim and the 14 verdict or judgment, and the conduct of the parties and counsel 15 in expeditiously resolving the case. The interest rate that 16 applies to prejudgment interest awarded under this section is 17 the rate established pursuant to s. 55.03. 18 Section 2. This act does not affect the accrual of 19 prejudgment interest before the effective date of the act if 20 otherwise authorized by statute or common law. 21 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017, and 22 shall apply to causes of action that accrue on or after that 23 date. 24 25 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 26 And the title is amended as follows: 27 Delete everything before the enacting clause 28 and insert: 29 A bill to be entitled 30 An act relating to prejudgment interest; creating s. 31 55.035, F.S.; authorizing a court to award prejudgment 32 interest on noneconomic damages under certain 33 circumstances; specifying the rate at which interest 34 accrues; providing for construction and applicability; 35 providing an effective date.