Douglas Mannheimer

Broad and Cassel is pleased to provide you with summaries of bills passed in the recent 2007 Florida Legislature. It has been my pleasure to represent many business clients before the Legislature over the past 25 years. As you know, government impacts all of us in many ways, and it is critical for you to understand the issues and changes which may affect your business.

In the recent session, over 2,500 bills were filed. Nearly 350 bills passed both the House and Senate. In order to help you review summaries of legislation, we have divided them into general areas of interest.

The summaries were compiled by staff at the Legislature. Many of these bills have not yet been acted on by the Governor and are still subject to veto. It is important to read the actual language of any bill, not just a summary, before making any decision based on a new law.

Our Broad and Cassel attorneys will be glad to help you determine how any new law may affect your interests. Please let me know if I can be of help to you in providing more information regarding these changes in Florida law.

Douglas Mannheimer, Partner
850-681-6810
dmannheimer@broadandcassel.com

Agriculture

Agriculture bills passed covering everything from defining and promoting agritourism, to conducting research projects on citrus diseases. For more information on the 2007 agriculture bills, visit the summary located at:

• Agriculture

Banking & Insurance

One of the underlying themes in terms of insurance bills was hurricane preparedness. Legislators made changes to the Florida Comprehensive Hurricane Damage Mitigation Program, which provides incentives to encourage residential property owners to make their properties less vulnerable to hurricane damage. The Hurricane Preparedness and Insurance bill made changes to the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation ("Citizens") Law, prohibiting the formation of new Florida domestic residential property insurance subsidiaries and introducing required rate filings for all insurance subsidiaries that include parent company profit information. Other important banking and insurance bills addressed issues such as Medicare supplement policies, title insurance, worker's compensation and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. For more information on all 2007 banking and insurance bills, visit the Banking & Insurance section summary at:

• Banking & Insurance

Budget

The Legislature enacted a 2007-2008 state budget of over 71 billion dollars, while setting aside almost 2 billion dollars for the "rainy day" reserve. Many new directives came in the form of budget provisos. For more information on all 2007 budget-related bills, visit the following summaries:

• Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations
• Education Facilities Appropriations
• Education Pre-K-12 Appropriations
• General Government Appropriations
• Health and Human Services Appropriations
• Higher Education Appropriations
• Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations
  

Business Services & Regulations

As a way to promote venture capitalism investment in the State, $35 million in nonrecurring revenue was appropriated for investment in three programs: the Florida Opportunity Fund, the Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research and the State University Research Commercialization Assistance Grant Program. In response to the renewable energy debate, a bill passed creating the Energy Police Governance Task Force to recommend a unified approach to state energy policy. For more information on all 2007 business services and regulations-related bills, visit the following summaries at:

• Commerce
• Communications and Public Utilities
• Regulated Industries

Criminal Justice

Alleged probation violators, with the exception of those convicted of murder, will be issued notices to appear instead of being arrested and jailed. Legislation on increased regulation of sexual offenders and predators was enacted, requiring that certain offenders must remain on the sexual predator's list for life. Legislation was also passed to enforce or increase punishment for crimes, including attempted felony murder against law enforcement officers and possession of child pornography. For more information on all 2007 criminal law-related bills, visit the summaries at:

• Criminal Justice 

Military Affairs and Domestic Security

The Robert A. Wise Military Protection Act, named after a member of the Florida National Guard who died while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom, prohibits the unauthorized use of the name or image of a member of the armed forces for the purpose of trade or for any commercial or advertising purpose. Other bills passed include an extension of educational opportunities at the expense of the state to dependent children of parents who are classified as prisoners of war (POWs) or missing in action (MIA). For more information on all 2007 military affairs and domestic security bills, visit the following summary at:

• Military Affairs and Domestic Security

Education

Through a new bill creating the High School to Business Career Enhancement Act, district school boards are encouraged to adopt policies allowing internships for high school students through partners of the school district. Other bills passed include a mandatory allotment of time for physical fitness in elementary schools, an expanded eligibility for the Florida Teachers Lead Program Stipend and mandatory drug testing for all high-school athletes playing specified sports. For more information on significant 2007 education bills, visit the following summaries at:

• Education Pre-K-12

Community & Environment

Affordable housing was a primary focus in the community affairs sector during this year's session. A bill passed requiring that each county that is not designated as an area of critical state concern must adopt a plan to ensure affordable workforce housing. Watershed restoration was a major issue regarding environmental preservation and conservation. A new bill amended provisions related to the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee, and established new watershed restoration programs for the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Rivers. For more information on all 2007 community affairs and environment-related bills, visit the summaries at:

• Community Affair
• Environmental Preservation and Conservation

Governmental Operations

Topics tackled under governmental operations included retirement and benefits, adoption benefits, public records and administrative procedures. For a summary of all 2007 governmental oversight and productivity bills, visit the summary at:

• Governmental Operations

Judiciary

This year's legislative session saw an increase in bills involving elections. An election reform bill addressed several issues, including paper ballots for voting systems, political party internal procedures and campaign finance. A new bill passed that codifies existing Florida judicial opinions defining the permissible content and validity of premarital agreements. For more information on all 2007 elections and judiciary-related bills, visit the summaries at:

• Ethics and Elections
• Judiciary

Health Care

The Health Care area saw many newly enacted bills. Changes were made to statutes governing drug task forces, primary care access networks, dispensing of controlled substances, chiropractic medicine, osteopathic medicine, clinical nurses, physician's assistants, and immunizations by pharmacists, among others. Regulation of nursing homes, off-premises emergency departments, as well as the licensure of most health care providers, was amended. Multiple bills concerning children, families, and elders passed this session, including areas of adoption, child support, domestic violence, human trafficking, and suicide prevention, among others. For a summary of all 2007 health care and family-related bills, visit the following summaries at:

• Health Policy
• Health Regulation
• Children, Families and Elder Affairs

Transportation

Changes in transportation law affected MPOs, concurrency, bond issuance, DOT contracting and expressway authorities, as well as local government transportation issues, among others. For more information on all 2007 transportation-related bills, visit the following summary at:

• Transportation

It should be noted that at the time of publication of this report, some acts have not been presented to the Governor and the time allotted for the Governor to approve or veto an act has not expired. Therefore, some acts identified as "passed" by both chambers may not become law. To verify the status of acts passed by the Legislature, talk to a Broad and Cassel attorney, visit the Legislature's Web site, or call the Division of Legislative Information at 1-800-342-1827. To look at the actual text of each bill from this year's session, please click here. However, it is important to find the engrossed and enrolled final version of the bill. To be sure, please contact Broad and Cassel.

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