Florida Senate - 2022                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. PCS (502578) for SB 524
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì514084(Î514084                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       The Committee on Ethics and Elections (Taddeo) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Between lines 164 and 165
    4  insert:
    5         Section 3. Section 97.0292, Florida Statutes, is created to
    6  read:
    7         97.0292 Recovery of public funds; investigation of false
    8  claims regarding conduct of an election.—The Secretary of State
    9  or the Attorney General may seek recovery in a court of
   10  competent jurisdiction of any public funds expended toward any
   11  investigations of any knowingly false claims regarding the
   12  outcome or the conduct of an election in this state which are
   13  disseminated or distributed in this state by any person,
   14  organization, media outlet, publisher, or other entity. A court
   15  may also award punitive damages to the state equal to an amount
   16  treble the full cost of public funds expended if the state
   17  demonstrates to the court that a reasonable basis exists to
   18  support such an award. The Secretary of State or the Attorney
   19  General shall remit any portion of recovered public funds to any
   20  affected supervisor of elections, law enforcement agency, or
   21  other agency involved in the investigation of such false claims.
   22  
   23  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   24  And the title is amended as follows:
   25         Delete line 12
   26  and insert:
   27         certain election-related expenses; creating s.
   28         97.0292, F.S.; authorizing the Secretary of State and
   29         the Attorney General to seek recovery of public funds
   30         expended in investigating false election claims
   31         disseminated or distributed by certain parties;
   32         authorizing a court to award punitive damages if
   33         certain conditions exist; requiring the Secretary of
   34         State or the Attorney General to remit any portion of
   35         the recovered funds to an affected supervisor of
   36         elections, law enforcement agency, or other agency;
   37         amending s. 97.057,