Florida Senate - 2019                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 256
       
       
       
       
       
       
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                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       Senator Rader moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete line 59
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 2. Effective October 1, 2020, subsection (5) of
    6  section 768.28, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
    7         768.28 Waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions;
    8  recovery limits; limitation on attorney fees; statute of
    9  limitations; exclusions; indemnification; risk management
   10  programs.—
   11         (5) The state and its agencies and subdivisions shall be
   12  liable for tort claims in the same manner and to the same extent
   13  as a private individual under like circumstances, but liability
   14  shall not include punitive damages or interest for the period
   15  before judgment. Neither the state nor its agencies or
   16  subdivisions shall be liable to pay a claim or a judgment by any
   17  one person which exceeds the sum of $1 million $200,000 or any
   18  claim or judgment, or portions thereof, which, when totaled with
   19  all other claims or judgments paid by the state or its agencies
   20  or subdivisions arising out of the same incident or occurrence,
   21  exceeds the sum of $2 million $300,000. However, a judgment or
   22  judgments may be claimed and rendered in excess of these amounts
   23  and may be settled and paid pursuant to this act up to $1
   24  million $200,000 or $2 million $300,000, as the case may be; and
   25  that portion of the judgment that exceeds these amounts may be
   26  reported to the Legislature, but may be paid in part or in whole
   27  only by further act of the Legislature. Notwithstanding the
   28  limited waiver of sovereign immunity provided herein, the state
   29  or an agency or subdivision thereof may agree, within the limits
   30  of insurance coverage provided, to settle a claim made or a
   31  judgment rendered against it without further action by the
   32  Legislature, but the state or agency or subdivision thereof
   33  shall not be deemed to have waived any defense of sovereign
   34  immunity or to have increased the limits of its liability as a
   35  result of its obtaining insurance coverage for tortious acts in
   36  excess of the $1 million $200,000 or $2 million $300,000 waiver
   37  provided above. The limitations of liability set forth in this
   38  subsection shall apply to the state and its agencies and
   39  subdivisions whether or not the state or its agencies or
   40  subdivisions possessed sovereign immunity before July 1, 1974.
   41         Section 3. The amendments made to subsection (5) of section
   42  768.28, Florida Statutes, by this act apply to claims arising on
   43  or after October 1, 2020.
   44         Section 4. Except as otherwise provided in this act, this
   45  act shall take effect July 1, 2019.
   46  
   47  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   48  And the title is amended as follows:
   49         Delete lines 2 - 8
   50  and insert:
   51         An act relating to sovereign immunity; amending s.
   52         768.28, F.S.; revising the definition of the term
   53         “officer, employee, or agent,” as it applies to
   54         immunity from personal liability in certain actions,
   55         to include any member of a child protection team
   56         established by the Department of Health in certain
   57         circumstances; modifying, as of a specified date, the
   58         limitations of liability for tort claims or judgments;
   59         providing applicability; providing effective dates.