Florida Senate - 2024                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 472
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì205246&Î205246                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                   Comm: WD            .                                
                  01/29/2024           .                                
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       The Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability
       (Brodeur) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment to Amendment (702674) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete lines 59 - 139
    5  and insert:
    6         above. An insurance policy may not condition the payment of
    7  benefits, in whole or in part, on the enactment of a claims
    8  bill.
    9         (c) The limitations of liability set forth in this
   10  subsection shall apply to the state and its agencies and
   11  subdivisions whether or not the state or its agencies or
   12  subdivisions possessed sovereign immunity before July 1, 1974.
   13         (d)(b) A municipality has a duty to allow the municipal law
   14  enforcement agency to respond appropriately to protect persons
   15  and property during a riot or an unlawful assembly based on the
   16  availability of adequate equipment to its municipal law
   17  enforcement officers and relevant state and federal laws. If the
   18  governing body of a municipality or a person authorized by the
   19  governing body of the municipality breaches that duty, the
   20  municipality is civilly liable for any damages, including
   21  damages arising from personal injury, wrongful death, or
   22  property damages proximately caused by the municipality’s breach
   23  of duty. The sovereign immunity recovery limits in paragraph (a)
   24  do not apply to an action under this paragraph.
   25         (e)When determining liability limits for a claim, the
   26  limitations of liability in effect on the date a final judgment
   27  is entered shall apply to the settled claim.
   28         (f)Beginning July 1, 2029, and on July 1 every 5 years
   29  thereafter, the Department of Financial Services shall adjust
   30  the limitations of liability in this subsection to reflect
   31  changes in the Consumer Price Index for the Southeast or a
   32  successor index as calculated by the United States Department of
   33  Labor.
   34         (6)(a) An action may not be instituted on a claim against
   35  the state or one of its agencies or subdivisions unless the
   36  claimant presents the claim in writing to the appropriate
   37  agency, and also, except as to any claim against a municipality,
   38  county, or the Florida Space Authority, presents such claim in
   39  writing to the Department of Financial Services, within 18
   40  months 3 years after such claim accrues and the Department of
   41  Financial Services or the appropriate agency denies the claim in
   42  writing; except that, if:
   43         1. Such claim is for contribution pursuant to s. 768.31, it
   44  must be so presented within 6 months after the judgment against
   45  the tortfeasor seeking contribution has become final by lapse of
   46  time for appeal or after appellate review or, if there is no
   47  such judgment, within 6 months after the tortfeasor seeking
   48  contribution has either discharged the common liability by
   49  payment or agreed, while the action is pending against her or
   50  him, to discharge the common liability; or
   51         2. Such action arises from a violation of s. 794.011
   52  involving a victim who was younger than 16 years of age at the
   53  time of the act, the claimant may present the claim in writing
   54  at any time pursuant to s. 95.11(9) is for wrongful death, the
   55  claimant must present the claim in writing to the Department of
   56  Financial Services within 2 years after the claim accrues.
   57         (d) For purposes of this section, complete, accurate, and
   58  timely compliance with the requirements of paragraph (c) shall
   59  occur prior to settlement payment, close of discovery or
   60  commencement of trial, whichever is sooner; provided the ability
   61  to plead setoff is not precluded by the delay. This setoff shall
   62  apply only against that part of the settlement or judgment
   63  payable to the claimant, minus claimant’s reasonable attorney’s
   64  fees and costs. Incomplete or inaccurate disclosure of unpaid
   65  adjudicated claims due the state, its agency, officer, or
   66  subdivision, may be excused by the court upon a showing by the
   67  preponderance of the evidence of the claimant’s lack of
   68  knowledge of an adjudicated claim and reasonable inquiry by, or
   69  on behalf of, the claimant to obtain the information from public
   70  records. Unless the appropriate agency had actual notice of the
   71  information required to be disclosed by paragraph (c) in time to
   72  assert a setoff, an unexcused failure to disclose shall, upon
   73  hearing and order of court, cause the claimant to be liable for
   74  double the original undisclosed judgment and, upon further
   75  motion, the court shall enter judgment for the agency in that
   76  amount. Except as provided otherwise in this subsection, the
   77  failure of the Department of Financial Services or the
   78  appropriate agency to make final disposition of a claim within 4
   79  6 months after it is filed shall be deemed a final denial of the
   80  claim for purposes of this section. For purposes of this
   81  subsection, in medical malpractice actions and in wrongful death
   82  actions, the failure of the Department of Financial Services or
   83  the appropriate agency to make final disposition of a claim
   84  within 90 days after it is filed shall be deemed a final denial
   85  of the claim. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice
   86  actions and wrongful death actions is tolled as to all
   87  prospective defendants for the period of time taken by the
   88  Department of Financial Services or the appropriate agency to
   89  deny the claim. The claimant has 60 days from the time of the
   90  Department of Financial Services' or the appropriate agency's
   91  final disposition of a claim or the time at which final denial
   92  of the claim is deemed to have occurred, or the remainder of the
   93  period of the statute of limitations, whichever is greater,
   94  within which to file suit. The provisions of this
   95  
   96  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   97  And the title is amended as follows:
   98         Delete lines 189 - 208
   99  and insert:
  100         subdivisions; prohibiting insurance policies from
  101         placing conditions for payment upon the enactment of a
  102         claim bill; authorizing a subdivision of the state to
  103         settle a claim in excess of the statutory limit
  104         without further action by the Legislature regardless
  105         of insurance coverage limits; prohibiting a party from
  106         lobbying against any agreed upon settlement brought to
  107         the Legislature as a claims bill; specifying that the
  108         limitations in effect on the date a final judgment is
  109         entered apply to that claim; requiring the Department
  110         of Financial Services to adjust the limitations on
  111         tort liability every 5 years after a specified date;
  112         revising the period within which certain claims must
  113         be presented to certain entities; revising exceptions
  114         relating to instituting actions on tort claims against
  115         the state or one of its agencies or subdivisions;
  116         revising the period after which the failure of certain
  117         entities to make final disposition of a claim shall be
  118         deemed a final denial of the claim for certain
  119         purposes; revising the statute of limitations for tort
  120         claims against the state or one of its agencies or
  121         subdivisions and exceptions thereto; providing a
  122         claimant a specific timeframe to file suit; reenacting
  123         ss.