Florida Chamber-Opposed Legislation Moves Forward, Worsening Florida's Legal Climate
| Florida Legislature Continues to Advance Florida Chamber-Opposed Legislation that Worsens Florida's Bottom-Five Legal Climate | ||
| Today, the Florida Legislature passed a series of bills opposed by the Florida Chamber that will further deteriorate Florida’s bottom-five legal climate. The House took up HB 6017, related to medical malpractice, by Representative Dana Trabulsy, on the Special Order Calendar and passed it 104-6, and its companion, SB 734, by Senator Clay Yarborough, passed the Senate Rules Committee 23-1. The House Judiciary Committee passed HB 947, related to Transparency in Damages, by Representative Omar Blanco, by a 19-3 vote. | ||
| A special thank you to the following legislators who voted with the business community over the interests of billboard trial lawyers: Senator Gayle Harrell, Representative Shane Abbott, Representative Tom Fabricio, Representative Rachel Plakon, Representative James Buchanan, Representative Toby Overdorf, Representative Will Robinson, Representative Tom Fabricio, Representative Karen Gonzalez Pittman, and Representative Wyman Duggan. | ||
| Why it Matters: HB 6017 and SB 734 expands medical malpractice liability, which will fuel litigation, drive up insurance premiums, and make it even more challenging to attract and retain healthcare professionals. Florida has the nation's highest medical malpractice insurance rates, encouraging doctors to leave the state, switch specialties, stop performing high-risk procedures, or retire early – exacerbating our current healthcare workforce shortage. Expanding liability without a balanced approach – such as reinstating reasonable caps on pain and suffering damages – will only drive more doctors and nurses out of Florida. HB 947 directly repeals a section of the Florida Chamber-led lawsuit abuse reforms passed in 2023, eliminating “Transparency in Damages” and allowing inflated billed medical damages to once again be presented in court. By changing “shall” to “may,” the bill hinders the ability of juries to receive accurate and transparent information about the actual costs of medical treatment in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Without this safeguard, juries will base verdicts on the artificially inflated “sticker” prices as opposed to the real amounts paid for medical care. This change would reinstate an abusive legal practice and empower plaintiffs’ attorneys and unscrupulous medical providers working together to manipulate the system to their benefit at the expense of Floridians and local businesses. |
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| What’s Next: SB 734 and HB 947 are both ready for the Senate and House Floors, respectively. Tomorrow, the legislature will hear additional bills favored by billboard trial lawyers and opposed by the Florida Chamber. HB 1181, by Representative Danny Alvarez, is up in the House Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee and PCS for HB 1047, by Representative Kim Berfield, will be heard in the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee. HB 1181 repeals Florida’s mandatory Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage in auto insurance, replacing it with mandatory bodily injury coverage—resulting in increased premiums on Floridians due to higher coverage amounts and a greater incentive to sue. PCS for HB 1047 will weaken a provision of the 2023 Florida Chamber-backed lawsuit abuse reforms by substantially reducing the bad faith safe harbor and opening the door for gamesmanship used by plaintiffs’ lawyers to drive excessive payouts. |
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Get Engaged: All of these efforts hinder progress toward the Florida 2030 Blueprint goal of being a top-quartile legal climate, make Florida’s bottom-five legal climate worse and increase costs to Florida families, who currently pay $5,768 in lawsuit abuse “taxes” in the form of higher expenses on essentials like groceries, gasoline, and insurance. Engage in our efforts to prevent harmful legislation that hinders Florida’s economic momentum to the benefit of billboard trial lawyers by contacting Carolyn Johnson at cjohnson@flchamber.com. |
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