Florida Senate - 2026 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1366
Ì491330pÎ491330
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/03/2026 .
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The Committee on Rules (Brodeur) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 167 - 309
4 and insert:
5 $350,000 $200,000 or any claim or judgment, or portions of a
6 claim or judgment thereof, which, when totaled with all other
7 claims or judgments paid by the state or its agencies or
8 subdivisions arising out of the same incident or occurrence,
9 exceeds the sum of $500,000 $300,000. However, a judgment or
10 judgments may be claimed and rendered in excess of these amounts
11 and may be settled and paid pursuant to this section act up to
12 $350,000 $200,000 or $500,000. Any $300,000, as the case may be;
13 and that portion of the judgment that exceeds these amounts may
14 be reported to the Legislature, but may be paid in part or in
15 whole only by further act of the Legislature.
16 (b) Notwithstanding the limited waiver of sovereign
17 immunity in paragraph (a) provided herein, the state or an
18 agency or subdivision of the state thereof may agree, within the
19 limits of insurance coverage provided, to settle a claim made or
20 a judgment rendered against it without further action by the
21 Legislature, but the state or agency or subdivision of the state
22 may thereof shall not be deemed to have waived any defense of
23 sovereign immunity or to have increased the limits of its
24 liability as a result of its obtaining insurance coverage for
25 tortious acts in excess of the $350,000 $200,000 or $500,000
26 $300,000 waiver in paragraph (a) provided above.
27 (c) The limitations of liability set forth in this
28 subsection shall apply to the state and its agencies and
29 subdivisions whether or not the state or its agencies or
30 subdivisions possessed sovereign immunity before July 1, 1974.
31 (d)(b) A municipality has a duty to allow the municipal law
32 enforcement agency to respond appropriately to protect persons
33 and property during a riot or an unlawful assembly based on the
34 availability of adequate equipment to its municipal law
35 enforcement officers and relevant state and federal laws. If the
36 governing body of a municipality or a person authorized by the
37 governing body of the municipality breaches that duty, the
38 municipality is civilly liable for any damages, including
39 damages arising from personal injury, wrongful death, or
40 property damages proximately caused by the municipality’s breach
41 of duty. The sovereign immunity recovery limits in paragraph (a)
42 do not apply to an action under this paragraph.
43 (6)(a) An action may not be instituted on a claim against
44 the state or one of its agencies or subdivisions unless the
45 claimant presents the claim in writing to the appropriate
46 agency, and also, except as to any claim against a municipality,
47 county, or the Florida Space Authority, presents the such claim
48 in writing to the Department of Financial Services, within 18
49 months 3 years after the such claim accrues and the Department
50 of Financial Services or the appropriate agency denies the claim
51 in writing; except that, if:
52 1. The Such claim is for contribution pursuant to s.
53 768.31, it must be so presented within 6 months after the
54 judgment against the tortfeasor seeking contribution has become
55 final by lapse of time for appeal or after appellate review or,
56 if there is no final such judgment, within 6 months after the
57 tortfeasor seeking contribution has either discharged the common
58 liability by payment or agreed, while the action is pending
59 against her or him, to discharge the common liability; or
60 2. The Such action arises from a violation of s. 794.011
61 involving a victim who was younger than 16 years of age at the
62 time of the act, the claimant may present the claim in writing
63 at any time. This subparagraph applies to any action other than
64 an action that would have been time barred on or before October
65 1, 2026 is for wrongful death, the claimant must present the
66 claim in writing to the Department of Financial Services within
67 2 years after the claim accrues.
68 (b) For purposes of this section, the requirements of
69 notice to the agency and denial of the claim pursuant to
70 paragraph (a) are conditions precedent to maintaining an action
71 but may shall not be deemed to be elements of the cause of
72 action and do shall not affect the date on which the cause of
73 action accrues.
74 (c) The claimant shall also provide to the agency the
75 claimant’s date and place of birth and social security number if
76 the claimant is an individual, or a federal identification
77 number if the claimant is not an individual. The claimant shall
78 also state the case style, tribunal, the nature and amount of
79 all adjudicated penalties, fines, fees, victim restitution fund,
80 and other judgments in excess of $200, whether imposed by a
81 civil, criminal, or administrative tribunal, owed by the
82 claimant to the state, its agency, officer or subdivision. If
83 there exists no prior adjudicated unpaid claim in excess of
84 $200, the claimant shall so state.
85 (d) For purposes of this section, complete, accurate, and
86 timely compliance with the requirements of paragraph (c) must
87 shall occur before prior to settlement payment, close of
88 discovery, or commencement of trial, whichever is earlier
89 sooner; provided the ability to plead setoff is not precluded by
90 the delay. This setoff applies shall apply only against that
91 part of the settlement or judgment payable to the claimant,
92 minus claimant’s reasonable attorney attorney’s fees and costs.
93 Incomplete or inaccurate disclosure of unpaid adjudicated claims
94 due the state, or, its agency, officer, or subdivision, may be
95 excused by the court upon a showing by the preponderance of the
96 evidence of the claimant’s lack of knowledge of an adjudicated
97 claim and reasonable inquiry by, or on behalf of, the claimant
98 to obtain the information from public records. Unless the
99 appropriate agency had actual notice of the information required
100 to be disclosed by paragraph (c) in time to assert a setoff, an
101 unexcused failure to disclose shall, upon hearing and order of
102 court, cause the claimant to be liable for double the original
103 undisclosed judgment and, upon further motion, the court shall
104 enter judgment for the agency in that amount. Except as provided
105 otherwise in this subsection, the failure of the Department of
106 Financial Services or the appropriate agency to make final
107 disposition of a claim within 4 6 months after it is filed shall
108 be deemed a final denial of the claim for purposes of this
109 section. For purposes of this subsection, in medical malpractice
110 actions and in wrongful death actions, the failure of the
111 Department of Financial Services or the appropriate agency to
112 make final disposition of a claim within 90 days after it is
113 filed shall be deemed a final denial of the claim. The statute
114 of limitations for medical malpractice actions and wrongful
115 death actions is tolled as to all prospective defendants for the
116 period of time taken by the Department of Financial Services or
117 the appropriate agency to deny the claim. The provisions of This
118 subsection does do not apply to such claims that as may be
119 asserted by counterclaim pursuant to s. 768.14.
120 (7) In actions brought pursuant to this section, process
121 must shall be served upon the head of the agency concerned and
122 also, except as to a defendant municipality, county, or the
123 Florida Space Authority, upon the Department of Financial
124 Services.; and The department or the agency served has concerned
125 shall have 30 days within which to file responsive pleadings
126 plead thereto.
127 (8) An No attorney may not charge, demand, receive, or
128 collect, for services rendered, fees in excess of 25 percent of
129 any funds recovered as a result of judgment or settlement.
130
131 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
132 And the title is amended as follows:
133 Delete lines 5 - 23
134 and insert:
135 and subdivisions for tort claims; revising exceptions
136 relating to instituting actions on tort claims against
137 the state or one of its agencies or subdivisions;
138 revising the period after which the failure of certain
139 entities to make final disposition of a claim shall be
140 deemed a final denial of the claim for certain
141 purposes; revising the statute of limitations for tort