Florida Senate - 2020                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1302
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì423226ÇÎ423226                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  01/23/2020           .                                
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       The Committee on Judiciary (Flores) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 51 - 130
    4  and insert:
    5         (6)(5) The state and its agencies and subdivisions shall be
    6  liable for tort claims in the same manner and to the same extent
    7  as a private individual under like circumstances, but liability
    8  shall not include punitive damages or interest for the period
    9  before judgment. Neither the state nor its agencies or
   10  subdivisions shall be liable to pay a claim or a judgment by any
   11  one person which exceeds the sum of $200,000 or any claim or
   12  judgment, or portions thereof, which, when totaled with all
   13  other claims or judgments paid by the state or its agencies or
   14  subdivisions arising out of the same incident or occurrence,
   15  exceeds the sum of $500,000 $300,000. However, a judgment or
   16  judgments may be claimed and rendered in excess of this amount
   17  these amounts and may be settled and paid pursuant to this act
   18  up to $500,000 $200,000 or $300,000, as the case may be; and
   19  that portion of the judgment that exceeds this amount these
   20  amounts may be reported to the Legislature, but may be paid in
   21  part or in whole only by further act of the Legislature.
   22  Notwithstanding the limited waiver of sovereign immunity
   23  provided herein, the state or an agency or subdivision thereof
   24  may agree, within the limits of insurance coverage provided, to
   25  settle a claim made or a judgment rendered against it in excess
   26  of $500,000 without further action by the Legislature., but The
   27  state or agency or subdivision thereof may shall not be deemed
   28  to have waived any defense of sovereign immunity or to have
   29  increased the limits of its liability as a result of its
   30  obtaining insurance coverage for tortious acts in excess of the
   31  $500,000 $200,000 or $300,000 waiver provided above. The
   32  limitations of liability set forth in this subsection shall
   33  apply to the state and its agencies and subdivisions whether or
   34  not the state or its agencies or subdivisions possessed
   35  sovereign immunity before July 1, 1974.
   36  
   37  Beginning July 1, 2021, and every July 1 thereafter, the
   38  limitations of liability in this subsection shall be adjusted to
   39  reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index for the Southeast or
   40  a successor index as calculated by the United States Department
   41  of Labor. When determining liability limits for a claim, the
   42  limitations of liability in effect on the date a final judgment
   43  is entered apply to the claim.
   44         (10)(9)(a) No officer, employee, or agent of the state or
   45  of any of its subdivisions shall be held personally liable in
   46  tort or named as a party defendant in any action for any injury
   47  or damage suffered as a result of any act, event, or omission of
   48  action in the scope of her or his employment or function, unless
   49  such officer, employee, or agent acted in bad faith or with
   50  malicious purpose or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful
   51  disregard of human rights, safety, or property. However, such
   52  officer, employee, or agent shall be considered an adverse
   53  witness in a tort action for any injury or damage suffered as a
   54  result of any act, event, or omission of action in the scope of
   55  her or his employment or function. The exclusive remedy for
   56  injury or damage suffered as a result of an act, event, or
   57  omission of an officer, employee, or agent of the state or any
   58  of its subdivisions or constitutional officers shall be by
   59  action against the governmental entity, or the head of such
   60  entity in her or his official capacity, or the constitutional
   61  officer of which the officer, employee, or agent is an employee,
   62  unless such act or omission was committed in bad faith or with
   63  malicious purpose or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful
   64  disregard of human rights, safety, or property. The state or its
   65  subdivisions shall not be liable in tort for the acts or
   66  omissions of an officer, employee, or agent committed while
   67  acting outside the course and scope of her or his employment or
   68  committed in
   69  
   70  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   71  And the title is amended as follows:
   72         Delete lines 3 - 19
   73  and insert:
   74         768.28, F.S.; providing a short title; increasing the
   75         statutory limits on liability for tort claims against
   76         the state and its agencies and subdivisions;
   77         conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
   78         revising when a state and its agencies and
   79         subdivisions may agree to settle a claim or judgment
   80         without further action from the Legislature; requiring
   81         that the limitations on tort liability be adjusted
   82         every year after a specified date; specifying that the
   83         limitations in effect on the date a final judgment is
   84         entered apply to that judgment; prohibiting an
   85         insurance policy from