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House panel OKs new lawsuit limits in heavily lobbied sovereign immunity bill

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floridaphoenix.com – Christine Sexton – 2025-02-19 16:17:00

House panel OKs new lawsuit limits in heavily lobbied sovereign immunity bill

by Christine Sexton, Florida Phoenix
February 19, 2025

People injured by the state government or any of its subdivisions would have an easier time suing for damages and could receive larger payouts under a bill approved by a House panel Wednesday morning.

In a near-unanimous vote, the House Civil Justice Subcommittee voted to approve HB 301, by Rep. Fiona McFarland. 

The bill increases the state’s sovereign immunity limits, taking them from $200,000 per person to $1 million and from $300,000 per occurrence to $3 million. Moreover, the bill makes clear that political subdivisions can settle cases beyond those limits without having to obtain advance approval in the form of a special legislative act.

It also prohibits insurance policies from conditioning payment of settlements on the enactment of a claims bill.

All changes that lobbyist took aim at during the meeting.

Sovereign immunity stems from the Latin phrase “rex non potest peccare,” which translates to “the king cannot commit a legal wrong.” In legal terms, it refers to the state’s authority to exempt itself as a legal sovereign from civil lawsuits, although the state does allow negligence claims against itself and its subdivisions — agencies, cities, counties, and public hospitals — within limits. 

Injured parties can sue for damages and collect within the liability thresholds established by law, but if they win awards in excess of the limits they must go to the Legislature in the form of what’s called a claims bill to collect the payment.

The claims bill process is lengthy and allows the defendant to challenge a jury verdict.

Once a claims bill is filed, each chamber’s presiding officer refers it to a special master, who essentially reconsiders the jury’s recommendation. Claims bills also go before House and Senate committees that consider special masters’ recommendations. Ultimately, the bills must pass in both chambers.

It’s not unusual for claims bills to take years to pass, if ever.

I’m pleased as punch when I walked around the Capitol yesterday, when I saw every local government, every hospital, I think the entire lobby corps was walking around yesterday, and this might be the only bill that the House is hearing this week, so I feel very special.

– Rep. Fiona McFarland

There are more than 100 lobbyist registrations on the bill, which is opposed by the Florida League of Cities, the Florida Association of Counties, the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, and school boards across the state.

Conversely, the bill is supported by the Florida Justice Association, which represents the state’s trial attorneys.

Florida Justice Association member and trial attorney Eric Tinstman (Photo via FJA)

‘Pleased as punch’

McFarland joked about the amount of lobbying taking place on the bill during her closing remarks Wednesday morning.

“I’m pleased as punch when I walked around the Capitol yesterday, when I saw every local government, every hospital, I think the entire lobby corps was walking around yesterday, and this might be the only bill that the House is hearing this week, so I feel very special,” she said. 

“But I’m glad you’re hearing their voices. I’m hearing voices too,” she said, rattling off a long list of names of Florida residents who have been injured by the government and its political subdivisions who have filed claims bills to receive their payments. “I hear those voices.”

McFarland, who filed similar legislation last year, promised she would work with interested parties on the legislation as it moves through the committee process.  The bill heads to the House Budget and Judiciary committees next.

McFarland said she was willing to discuss the new proposed sovereign immunity limits but wasn’t quite sure where they should be set.

She won’t negotiate on one key point though — that the new limits won’t apply retroactively. Currently, the bill has an Oct. 1 effective date, although McFarland said she would be willing to reconsider that.

Several lobbyists on Wednesday testified that the $1 million and $3 million limits would jack up their insurance costs and those increases would ultimately have to be borne by the local taxpayer. Governmental entities that are self-insured, and therefore on the hook to pay the claim out of their reserves, would be forced to request a special appropriation from the Legislature to cover the increased liability limits.

McFarland, though, noted that cities, counties, and other governmental entities routinely seek funding requests for special projects and that she herself has filed an appropriations request this year for solar panels. “I’m going to fight really strong for that. My local government tells me they need it. But I would also like to fight really strongly for each of the claims bills that come up. “

Pot-of-gold syndrome

Panhandle Area Educational Consortium lobbyist Bob Harris said increasing the limits will boost the number of lawsuits filed against his clients, school boards in small counties in that region.

Lobbyist Bob Harris (Photo via Messer Caparello P.A.)

“We know there will be more cases. If this happens, you increase the rates to $1 million and $3 million. We call it the pot-of-gold-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow syndrome. If you increase the size of the pot of gold, more people are going to go for that. And again, we know more cases will result in more cost for our school districts,” Harris said.

An attorney who defends the school districts when sued, Harris described a number of lawsuits on his desk that have been filed against the school districts, involving softball players suing their coach for not giving them enough play time or a football player suing his coach for penalizing him for missing practices. Another parent is suing a school district for negligence after their child “got his butt beat” in a physical education class.

“It’s those kind of lawsuits that we’re facing. And if you increase these caps and the amount that’s being recommended, I don’t know how we possibly can afford that,” he said.

In addition to opposing the increase in caps, Harris said that authorizing governmental entities to settle claims beyond the sovereign immunity limits would eviscerate the idea of limits altogether.

“The one thing I can negotiate with when I’m dealing with plaintiff lawyers on these issues is the cap, the sovereign immunity caps. If you take those away, I don’t have that as leverage. The claims are going to be four or five, six million. Every single one of them. And that’s a problem.”

The existing caps were set by the Legislature in the early 1970s and last adjusted in 2010. 

Florida League of Cities lobbyist David Cruz recommended that the Legislature tie the caps to the consumer price index, which, he said, would yield new limits of $280,000 per individual and $420,000 per occurrence.

The Legislature also could review other states’ sovereign immunity laws and adjust Florida’s accordingly, he suggested, noting that Texas limits are set at $250,000 per individual and $500,000 per occurrence. Another option, Cruz said, would be to mirror the caps that were proposed in House and Senate legislation last year, which ranged from a low of $300,000 per person to a high of $600,000 per incident.

Cruz stressed, though, that the requirement for a claims bill process should remain intact. 

“There is value in going to that special master process,” Cruz said.

Anti-American

Miami attorney Eric Tinstman, a Florida Justice Association member, said the concept of sovereign immunity is “anti-American.”

“I can think of no more anti-American statement than the king can do no wrong,” he said.

Tinstman defended the portion of the bill that allows a governmental entity to settle a claim without first going through the claims bill process and having a special master reconsider the case and make its own findings and facts, he told the committee.

“A special master is how Europe does it. They don’t have juries. They don’t have their people, their community, to decide what the damages are, what the liability is. It’s all special masters,” he said. “We like the way our country works. We leave it to our community, juries, and judges who are appointed and elected by the people, not some special master.”

Tinstman views the $1 million and $3 million caps as reasonable. In response to adjusting the sovereign immunity limits by inflation, Tinstman said, the adjustment should be made to the initial $50,000 cap in 1973 not the 2010 cap.

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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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House panel OKs the use of ‘granny cams’ in long term care facilities

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floridaphoenix.com – Christine Sexton – 2025-02-20 16:41:00

House panel OKs the use of ‘granny cams’ in long term care facilities

by Christine Sexton, Florida Phoenix
February 20, 2025

“Granny cams” may be coming to Florida nursing homes.

A House panel on Thursday overwhelmingly voted to approve a bill (HB 223) that would allow long term care facility residents to install electronic recording devices as long as they are willing to foot the bill for installation, removal, and the internet needed to run them.

Nursing home residents who share rooms would have to secure permission from their roommates to use the cameras. Consenting roommates are allowed to put restrictions on camera use and require that the camera be pointed away or prohibit use of specific devices.

If a roommate doesn’t agree, the legislation would require a facility to make accommodations by moving one of the residents to another room.

Rep. Susan Plasencia has filed legislation to allow the use of “granny cams” in Florida nursing homes. (Photo/Florida House of Representatives)

“If you look at the news lately, you’ll see and you’ll find whether there’s a lot of issues happening that people catch on cameras that they otherwise would would not. And they’re horrific scenes happening to people who are elderly, who can’t take care of themselves, and who, even if they could say what happened, people wouldn’t believe it, because maybe they have dementia or Alzheimer’s or something that would cause someone to not believe what they are saying,” bill sponsor Rep. Susan Plasecia, a Republican representing part of Orange and Seminole counties, told members of the House Health Care Facilities & Systems Subcommittee Thursday.

“And so for me, it’s important to speak for them and that’s what brought me here.”

Nineteen states allow camera use in nursing homes, Plasencia said. Florida law, though, is silent on whether electronic recording devices can be used. That means facilities decide whether to allow them.

Plasencia said her bill protects the public and puts “guardrails” into statutes outlining what can and cannot be done.

The vote to advance the bill came over objections of Florida’s long term care industry.

We know that nursing home and assisted living facility cameras help with deterring abuse and neglect and also help with identifying where there can be improvements made to a loved one’s care.

– AARP Florida Associate State Director of Advocacy Karen Murillo

Jen Lawrence, chief nursing officer at Aston Health and a member of the statewide nursing home association, the Florida Health Care Association, said lots of personal things happen in residents’ rooms, including bathing and grooming, psychiatric visits, and meetings with clergy. The cameras, she said, will capture it all.

Moreover, she expressed concerns that the resident’s family or guardian would be responsible for ensuring the roommate’s privacy is protected. “This is a family member of a roommate. How do we trust those folks in controlling what is being videotaped and recorded?” Lawrence asked.

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Maryellen Lalor with the group Protect Florida Seniors testified for the bill, sharing the story of her husband who lived in a nursing home for more than 2 1/2 years before dying. She tried to sneak a camera into her husband’s room after he was admitted but the facility found it and made her remove it. She said she never complained out of fear of retaliation against her husband, knowing he would reside in the facility until he died.

Lalor countered Lawrence’s testimony by telling the subcommittee members that nursing home residents in semi-private rooms don’t enjoy the privacy that people think they might.

“As far as confidentiality, when you’re in a semi-private room and they’re going to do personal care to the other person, the curtain is pulled. When you are meeting with a psychologist or therapist, that person goes right in. The other [resident] can hear, okay? So as far as the concern about hearing other people, everything is exposed.”

FHCA wasn’t the only long term care association to flag concerns. Florida Assisted Living Association CEO Bijou Ikli and Florida Senior Living Association vice president for Public Policy and legal Affairs Jason Hand also expressed concerns.

But Karen Murillo, AARP Florida’s state director for advocacy, argued the bill would improve safety and keep the family members abreast of the care being provided to their loved ones.

“We know that nursing home and assisted living facility cameras help with deterring abuse and neglect and also help with identifying where there can be improvements made to a loved one’s care. AARP is a big advocate of family caregivers, especially those who are far away, and these cameras will provide peace of mind and the ability for family caregivers to be advocates, present, and part of their loved ones’ care,” Murillo said.

Spike in abuse reports

Democratic Reps. Daryl Campbell (left) and Gallup Franklin (right) voted against HB 223 Thursday. (Photo/Florida House of Representatives.)

The legislation comes a year after the Tampa Bay Times reported a spike in allegations of serious violations against Florida nursing homes — between 2019 and 2022, nearly double the reports during the previous six years.

The Times’ reporting showed that in 2022, nursing homes were cited 83 times for putting older adult residents at risk of immediate danger. 

Looking ahead

Several of the committee members asked about privacy, how often the agreements between roommates could be altered, who would enforce the agreements, and whether long term care facility staff could access the images being captured.

Rep. Hillary Cassel, a Republican from Fort Lauderdale, worried about how visitors, some of whom could suffer from dementia or have vision problems, would know video cameras were being used in the room.

Plasencia committed to continuing to work with members to address their concerns. Reps. Daryl Campbell, a Democrat from Fort Lauderdale, and Gallop Franklin, a Democrat from Tallahassee, voted against the bill.

HB 223 has two more committee stops (Judiciary and Health and Human Services) before it can be heard on the floor.

A companion bill (SB 64) was filed by Republican Sen. Illeana Garcia. It has been referenced to three Senate committees (Health Policy, Judiciary, and Rules) but has yet to be considered.

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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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Wilton Simpson directs Department of Agriculture to implement name change to ‘Gulf of America’

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floridaphoenix.com – Mitch Perry – 2025-02-20 10:38:00

Wilton Simpson directs Department of Agriculture to implement name change to ‘Gulf of America’

by Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
February 20, 2025

While legislation has already been filed in the Florida Legislature to ensure all official state documents, maps, and references be changed to reflect President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson says he can’t wait that long.

Simpson has directed the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services “as quickly as possible” to enshrine the “Gulf of America” in all department administrative rules, forms, maps, and resources.

“The Gulf of America has helped shape our state and nation’s economy, history, and culture for generations,” Simpson said in a written statement issued on Thursday. “President Trump’s action rightfully recognizes the Gulf of America’s significance to our nation, and I am proud to support this effort and ensure that Florida honors this historic change.”

Simpson is considering a run for governor in 2026 and undoubtedly would like Trump’s support — or at least that he stays neutral. Trump has not backed a candidate so far in the early stages of the race, although he did cite a poll earlier this week showing Southwest Florida U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds leading in a recent poll of Florida Republican voters.

In the statement, Simpson notes that his department has many divisions, offices, and programs that directly pertain to the “Gulf of America,” including divisions of aquaculture, marketing, and food safety.

While Republican lawmakers are rushing to follow up on the president’s executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, that certainly isn’t where the majority of Floridians — or Americans — are, according to multiple public opinion surveys.

A majority of registered Florida voters — 58% — opposed the idea strongly or somewhat and only 31% expressed support for renaming the Gulf, according to a public opinion survey of 871 registered voters from the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab released earlier this week.

A national Marquette University poll released last week found that 71% of respondents opposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico with only 29% favoring the change. A Harvard CAPS–Harris poll from January, also national, found that 72% of registered voters were against adopting the “Gulf of America” name with 28% backing it.

Meanwhile, Trump said Tuesday that he will block the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One until the news agency stops referring to the Gulf of Mexico.

The news agency notes: “Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change.

“The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.”

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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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Florida Congressman Gus Bilirakis hosts DOGE workshops for residents

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www.youtube.com – ABC Action News – 2025-02-20 08:33:48

SUMMARY: In Tampa Bay, residents are discussing two key federal issues: cryptocurrency funding and the war in Ukraine. President Donald Trump announced the creation of a “Department of Government Efficiency” led by Elon Musk, emphasizing the need to cut government spending by one trillion dollars. Meanwhile, Congressman Gus Bilirakis engaged local constituents in dialogue about budget cuts and the importance of reviewing government programs, acknowledging overlaps and inefficiencies. Despite differing opinions, many participants expressed a desire for bipartisan compromise to reduce federal expenses significantly. Bilirakis is committed to presenting the community’s feedback in Congress, reflecting a shared interest in responsible budgeting.

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A Pasco County library transformed into the U.S. Capitol building during a Wednesday night workshop, and dozens of ordinary people from across the county became members of Congress. In actuality, the library became the site of an exercise in civics. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) asked his constituents to divide into small groups and decide what they would fund, expand, or trim in the federal budget over the next decade.

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