Summer 2017
2017 Legislative Wrap Up By Timothy Stanfield, Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney PC
The 2017 legislative session was marked by deep divides in policy and budget between both chambers and the Governor’s office. Ultimately, the session had to be extended by 3 days for a budget agreement to be reached. The Senate prioritized environmental policy to address discharges from Lake Okeechobee, criminal justice reform, and a reprioritization of higher education spending. The House of Representatives led an effort to reform the State’s economic development and tourism marketing practices, and major reforms to K- 12 education. All the while, the Governor focused on job creation and countering the House’s crusade of economic development reforms. Other important issues, like medical marijuana and gaming, were left un- finished. which may lead to a special session.
The Budget settled at $83 Billion. Hospitals and economic development activities, along with some colleges and universities saw the greatest declines in funding in this budget. K-12 education and environmental pro- jects were funded generously. The Governor’s decision whether to veto the entire budget is likely to be large- ly based on the funding reductions suffered by economic development activities and tourism marketing. Of note, the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Trust Fund was funded at a level that will provide $80 per officer in training funding, which is a healthy increase from recent years. The Governor’s decision on the budget will be a major factor in whether there will be a special session, to address the budget and potentially medical marijuana and gaming.
FPCA had a very successful 2017 legislative session. The FPCA Board of Directors adopted a legislative priori- ty to address frivolous public records law suits. Senator Dennis Baxley and Representative Stan McClain filed bills (SB 846 and HB 331) that would have required a public records request for a law enforcement agency be submitted to the Chief Executive or custodian of records. Although these bills did not pass, the Legislature did pass SB 80 by Senator Steube. SB 80 is the greatest protection against frivolous public records suits that has ever been provided to local governments. The bill requires a court to award attorney fees and enforce- ment costs in actions to enforce public records laws only if the court determines that an agency unlawfully refused access to a public record and the plaintiff provided written notice identifying the public records re- quest to an agency records custodian at least 5 business days before filing the action. Further, if the court determines that a plaintiff requested records or filed the enforcement action based on an improper purpose, the court must award reasonable costs and attorney fees against the plaintiff.
FPCA was also instrumental in defeating SB 196 by Senator Flores and HB 213 by Representative Brown re- lating to Juvenile Civil Citations. These bills would have mandated that law enforcement officers issue civil citations for specified first-time misdemeanor offenses, including some violent offenses. Even though the Senate passed SB 196, the House of Representatives stood with law enforcement and did not advance HB 213.
###
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
