TOOLS
FOR MONITORING SESSION
The Florida Legislature has taken major steps to provide
extensive amounts of information online and, thus available
to the public, to keep Floridians updated on the activities
of your legislators. The following are tools you can access
from a home computer without ever stepping foot into the
Florida Capitol!
Bills...
One of the more popularly accessed resources offered
by the Legislature during session is a nearly real-time
access to the status of legislation moving through both
chambers, found at www.myfloridahouse.gov and www.flsenate.gov.
Calendars...The House and Senate publish daily calendars,
made available online, that references the agendas of
all committee meetings, as well as order of business
and bills up for consideration on the House and Senate
floors.
Committee/House Floor Broadcasts...The House and Senate
both provide streaming live video of committees, as
well as gavel to gavel floor action. You can find broadcasts
for both chambers linked at: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/HouseCalendar/broadcast.aspx
Committee Packets/Hand-outs... Legislative committees
make their "committee agenda packets" and
other hand-outs, such as proposed committee bills, available
online, even prior to the committee's meeting.
RECAP OF WEEK TWO
•
Committees continued to meet this week and consider
legislation filed by House members on a host of issues
ranging from middle & high school education reforms
to budget development. The House met in floor session
on Tuesday as part of the Health Summit, and on Wednesday
and Thursday to consider legislation. As part of the
60-day legislative session, committees will continue
to meet through the first-half of the session with focus
gradually shifting to action on the House floor.
•
On Thursday, the House approved House Bill (HB) 145
repealing the joint and several liability provisions
in Florida law. HB 145 removes exceptions in Florida
law that permit “joint and several liability” rather
than liability based on percentage of fault. Joint and
several liability provisions allow a disproportionate
level of liability to be assessed to a party regardless
of level of fault in a matter. For example, a small
business found to have 15% fault in a matter might be
assessed with 50% of the liability.
•
On Thursday, the House recognized the strong partnership
the State of Florida enjoys with the space-related industries
that employ thousands of Floridians, attract tourists
to the Kennedy Space Center, and generate millions in
economic impacts for our state. Additionally, the House
State Infrastructure Council and the Spaceport &
Technology Committee held a joint meeting to receive
testimony from Dr. Michael Griffin, Administrator of
NASA, on the national vision for space exploration.
•
The Select Committee to Protect Private Property Rights,
led by Speaker Designate Marco Rubio rolled-out House
Bill 1567 and House Joint Resolutions 1569 and 1571
as recommendations for consideration by the House regarding
Eminent Domain. HB 1567 sets statutory limits on use
of eminent domain while HJR 1569 and HJR 1571 propose
eminent domain amendments to the Florida Constitution.
Chairman Rubio and the members of the Select Committee
to Protect Private Property Rights are to be commended
for their hard work and resolve to ensure that the bill
and resolutions will protect the private property rights
of Floridians.
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View Boiler Notes from Previous Weeks |
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