Legislative Update - November 17, 2023

The Florida Legislature ended their last interim committee meeting week in November.  Now it’s back to their districts for more local delegation meetings.  Next round of interim committee meetings will be held during the week of December 4.

Senate President Kathleen Passidomo has a new priority this session … “Live Healthy.”  The Senate Health Policy Committee met this week to discuss the state's healthcare workforce issues and possible solutions.  No other Senate committees were scheduled for the same time as the Health Policy Committee so that all Senators could participate in the meeting.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation approved a 15.1% statewide decrease in overall workers' compensation insurance rates.

Governor …

DeSantis Signs Special Session Bills - Gov. Ron DeSantis signed four bills passed during a special legislative session, including spending packages to provide aid to people in communities hit by Hurricane Idalia (HB 1C) and to bolster a home hurricane-hardening program and legislation (HB 7C) creating a grant program to boost security at Jewish day schools and other potential terrorism targets. The governor on Monday also signed a bill (HB 5C) that expands existing state sanctions against Iran because of its backing of Hamas, which targeted Israel in a terror attack in early October. While the state already can't invest in Iranian-linked oil sector companies, the bill expands sanctions to companies in other sectors. DeSantis also signed legislation (HB 3C) removing a cap on the number of students with special needs who can use a taxpayer-paid tuition voucher to attend private school. The measure will clear a waiting list of nearly 9,000 students who had sought the scholarships, but couldn't get one this year because of the cap on the number available. The roughly $90 million needed for clearing the waitlist come from a $350 million pot of money set aside during the last legislative session to pick up the cost should more students than expected participate in the state's newly expanded voucher program. DeSantis Press Release / Associated Press / Florida's Voice / WPTV / LobbyTools Governor's Activity

Legislative …

Passidomo's 'Live Healthy' Priority: Increase Health Care Workforce - The Senate has set a Nov. 14 meeting of the Health Policy Committee to discuss the state's healthcare workforce issues and possible solutions, with no other meetings happening at the same time "so every Senator has the opportunity to watch or attend the workshop," said Senate President Kathleen Passidomo in a memorandum to members. The president cited data from the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Department of Health that shows an aging physician workforce, with a potential shortfall of nearly 18,000 doctors by 2035, with similar shortages projected for nurses. Passidomo also highlighted the need for better access to care for pregnant patients, rural Floridians and the state's senior population. She noted that telehealth could help provide more opportunities, especially with mental health. "There are so many great ideas. Now it is the time to narrow down all of the ideas and put forward patient-focused innovations that improve access and options so more Floridians can live healthy," Passidomo wrote. "We can leverage communal insight to see what is working, and where we can improve the delivery and cost of health care with an eye toward prevention and early intervention that helps people live healthier." Senate Memorandum / Florida Politics

Dr. Nurse: Providers Expect Return of Battle Over Titles for Nurse Practitioners - Health care providers say they expect lawmakers to again consider tightening the rules around what titles practitioners can use and how they can communicate what their job is. The debate could again include whether nurse practitioners who have a doctoral – but not a doctor of medicine – degree can use the title "Doctor," or whether that misleads patients to believe they're a physician. Currently, nurse practitioners – who aren't physicians – can call themselves "Doctor," if they have a doctorate, for example, wearing a tag saying they're a "doctor of nursing practice." Lawmakers initially considered during the legislative session earlier this year a proposal (SB 230) that would have limited how various types of nurses could identify themselves, for example, allowing a registered nurse to only use that term, or the abbreviation, R.N. The bill was amended to exempt nurses, which would have kept the law silent on how they can identify themselves – and the measure dealing with other titles in health care was eventually vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis anyway.  But the debate over the issue remains in Florida and around the country, and practitioners expect it will continue. Stateline

Virtual Currency Tax Break Measure Awaiting Committee Consideration - Florida is like most other states in that it currently doesn't have clear statutory or regulatory guidance on the sales and use tax requirements of transactions involving bitcoin or other virtual currencies. But if people using Bitcoin are paying sales taxes on those purchases, they wouldn't have to during a proposed sales tax holiday for purchases made with virtual currencies. The bill (SB 352) by Republican Sen. Jason Brodeur, was filed earlier this month and this week was referred for consideration by the Commerce and Tourism Committee. The bill would make purchases with digital currency tax free from June 1, 2025 through July 31, 2025. Brodeur told The Center Square this week that the proposal is intended to boost digital currency use. "We thought that the way to incentivize folks to (use digital currency) was to take a model from some cities in Europe," Brodeur said. "They relaxed some of the fees associated with transactions if the consumers and the retailers used virtual currency instead because it’s frictionless." A House version of the legislation (HB 369) is being carried by Republican Rep. Webster Barnaby, but hasn't yet gotten a committee reference. The next chance for the Senate version of the bill to be heard in committee is the Dec. 5 meeting of Commerce and Tourism, but the committee's agenda for the meeting hasn't been set. The Center Square

Senator Linda Stewart filed (SB 510), which failed to pass during the 2023 legislative session, would charge bottled water companies one-thousandth of a cent per-gallon on water extracted for commercial or industrial purposes. The money collected would be deposited into the Water Protection and Sustainability Program Trust Fund, which would be used to combat nutrient pollution, preserve the state's aquifer and safeguard the current water supply.

She also filed another bill (SB 498) would repeal a state preemption on auxiliary containers, allowing local municipalities to regulate the use of polystyrene materials like plastic bags. Stewart Press Release

Lawmakers to Consider Preempting Workplace Heat Rules - When the Miami-Dade County commission recently scrapped a plan to require strict local heat protections for outdoor workers that included frequent mandatory breaks out of the sun and access to water, local officials noted that state lawmakers were likely to invalidate the local rule anyway. On Tuesday, that became a possibility as Fort Myers Republican Rep. Tiffany Esposito filed legislation banning local governments from putting any heat exposure rules for workers in place. The measure (HB 433) would preempt such requirements to the state and prohibit local laws and regulations, while requiring the state Department of Commerce to adopt rules statewide relating to workplace heat exposure if federal occupational health and safety officials fail to do so by the summer of 2028. The proposed legislation says that existing federal workplace safety standards already require businesses to provide a workplace that is "free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm," and that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is already working on expanding those protections – which would supercede any local rules that communities may put in place. "Having a patchwork of local workplace heat exposure standards and regulations makes compliance difficult and burdensome on employers and employees and may impede commerce throughout the state," the measure says, and "based on the potential negative impacts of local regulation on workplace heat exposure, the Legislature finds that the powers of local government in this area must be appropriately limited." The newly proposed bill is yet to be assigned to House committees and doesn't yet have a Senate companion.

Bill Would Allow 16-Year-Olds to Work Construction Jobs - Sixteen and 17-year-olds would be allowed to work on a roof, scaffolding or in residential or commercial construction if they've earned an Occupational Safety and Health Administration 10 certification and are under adult supervision under legislation (SB 460) filed this week by Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee. State and federal law currently generally bans minors from working in certain jobs deemed dangerous, including working on any scaffolding, roofs or ladders more than six feet off the ground. The measure is part of a broader effort around the nation to ease some child labor restrictions in the face of difficulty many employers are having finding enough workers and demands for higher pay. Orlando Weekly

Senate GOP Social Media Bill Takes Different Approach from House Dems - Legislation (SB 454) filed this week by Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia would require social media platforms to put in place strategies to prevent minors from being exposed to certain materials on the social platform, require the companies to verify the ages of users creating accounts and require them to provide parental control settings. The measure would require social media companies to put mechanisms in place to prevent minors from being exposed to content that "promotes, glorifies, or facilitates grooming, solicitation, child pornography, or other sexual exploitation or abuse," including programs that analyze content for such material. A social media platform bill (HB 207) filed earlier this month in the House by Democratic Rep. Michele Rayner also seeks to bolster social media protection for minors, but rather than requiring companies to put such measures in place it only would require them to clearly disclose what type of content moderation policies they have, along with information about whether they allow addictive features such as continuous autoplay of new material and other information, such as whether they allow manipulated photos to be shared. A proposal to Rayner's passed the full House during the 2023 legislative session, but its Senate companion never received a committee hearing. 

Business …

OIR Approves Workers Comp Rate Drop - The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation approved a 15.1% statewide decrease in overall workers' compensation insurance rates proposed by the National Council on Compensation Insurance, or NCCI. The recommended decrease was based on favorable loss experience data from 2020 and 2021, and factors in changes in the medical fee schedule. The drop also accounts for a lower profit and contingency factor. The reduction, effective Jan. 1, 2024, is applicable to both new and renewed workers' compensation insurance policies in the state. Florida's workers' compensation system, a no-fault arrangement, provides benefits for workplace injuries and helps prevent workers from suing their employers. OIR Press Release

Florida homeowner insurance rates up 40%, at all-time high” via Jackie Callaway of ABC Action News — Insurance agent Michelle Mosher, owner of South Shore Insurance, can’t think of one time in the last two years when she delivered good news to one of her clients when it comes to their policy renewal. Property insurance this year spiked to record levels. The average homeowner is paying $6,000 in premiums. Century 21 Realtor Lisa Weiss is among those who said their rates have doubled in the last one to two years. “The insurance in my house has doubled in a year it's gone it's gone from $3,100 to $6,200,” Weiss said.

Orlando home sales fall for fifth month as median price increases” via Austin Fuller of the Orlando Sentinel — Orlando home sales fell for the fifth straight month in October as interest rates continued to climb to their highest point in more than two decades, according to a report released this week. Sales fell 5% from 2,558 in September to 2,429 in October, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, which looks at sales from Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake counties. October’s interest rate was at 7.8%, an increase from 7.3% in September, and the highest in the Orlando area since April 2001, the report said. Median home prices went up from $370,000 in September to $377,000 in October following three months of falling prices.

“Gas prices begin sinking again after 8-cent bump” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics — Gas prices in Florida are declining again after an unexpected rise last week, settling at about $3.18 per gallon on Monday. One week before, the state registered a new per-gallon 2023 low of $3.16 before shooting up 8 cents through Wednesday. That upward trend made a U-turn after, declining at a rate of roughly 2 cents daily. AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins said the price increase “didn’t make much sense” considering drops in oil and gasoline futures over the past few weeks. “Either way, the jump at the pump was short-lived lived and those gains were mostly erased by the weekend,” he said. “Oil prices are now at multi-month lows, which should keep gas prices low through the holidays.”

AAA: 3 million Floridians Expected to Travel Over Thanksgiving Weekend - AAA estimates that over 3 million Floridians will travel 50 miles or more during the Thanksgiving holiday, marking the second-highest forecast on record. The projection indicates an increase of 87,000 travelers, or 3%, over the previous year. Nationwide, more than 55.3 million Americans are expected to travel for Thanksgiving, representing the third-largest volume on record. The majority of Thanksgiving travelers in Florida, around 2.8 million people, are anticipated to drive to their destinations. Approximately 210,000 Floridians are also expected to fly for Thanksgiving, marking a 6% increase from 2022 and the second-highest air travel volume in 15 years, surpassed only by 2019. AAA Press Release

Florida Jobless Claims Remain Low - The number of first-time jobless claims in Florida remains relatively low, as the state prepares to release a detailed unemployment report on Friday. The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday said an estimated 5,672 initial claims were filed in Florida last week, 13 more than during the week that ended Nov. 4. Meanwhile, claims nationally increased by 13,000 to 231,100. The national unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in October. Florida had a 2.8 percent unemployment rate in September, and the state Department of Commerce will release an October rate on Friday. Florida has averaged 5,783 claims over the past four weeks. It has averaged 5,822 weekly claims since the start of the year. The state’s September unemployment rate reflected 309,000 Floridians out of work from a labor force of 11.15 million.

State’s top economist says wages are up for Florida workers — but so is inflation” via Mitch Perry of Florida Phoenix — Florida historically has been a low-wage state. But, according to state economist Amy Baker, wages have consistently grown in the Sunshine State since we emerged from the pandemic over the past two years, particularly in the leisure and hospitality sector. Florida workers have made approximately 88.5% of the U.S. annual wage on average, Baker told the members of the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. But preliminary data for 2022 says that ratio has increased to 91.1% of the U.S. average, “something that we haven’t seen since the turn of the century,” she said. “So, Florida, which has thought of itself as a low-wage state because of the mix of jobs we have, is now seeing a lot of pressure on wages that we haven’t seen before,” added Baker, coordinator of the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research.

What is a good paying job in Florida? Here are jobs where workers get paid the best - How much do workers make in Florida? Depends on where you look. According to payroll company ADP, the median yearly income for wage and salary earners in Florida in October was $51,500 in Florida, a 6.4% increase over the same time last year. But that's a median average, the middle amount in the whole range of income. According to the Florida Bureau of Workforce Statistics and Economic Research Quarterly Census, the average annual wage in Florida in 2022 was $63,770. More from the Tallahassee Democrat.

Campaigns & Elections …

“How did Tom Keen and Erika Booth win Primaries in HD 35? And what’s their plan to win in January?” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — Primaries held Tuesday set the stage for the hottest Florida legislative race of the year. Now, both Republicans and Democrats feel confident they can win House District 35, where voters favored Biden for President in 2020 but DeSantis for Governor in 2022. Republicans picked Osceola School Board member Booth as a nominee. Democrats tapped aviation entrepreneur and veteran Keen to carry the party banner. Through Nov. 2, six candidates spent about $490,000 combined in the fight for the nomination. That’s likely a fraction of what will be poured into the Central Florida contest in the 10 weeks leading to a Jan. 16 Special Election.

New Florida GOP presidential poll is the worst yet for DeSantis” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics — New polling from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) suggests that Sunshine State Republicans are souring on DeSantis’ bid. The survey shows the Florida Governor plumbing new depths in the GOP Primary race, with just 20% support, 41 points behind Trump. Meanwhile, Haley has taken hold of third place, garnering 9% support. DeSantis is most competitive with Trump among voters under the age of 35, with 35% support against 41% for Trump. The Governor’s strongest region is Duval County and other parts of Northeast Florida, where Trump only leads him 44% to 37%. Conversely, he is weakest in the Miami area, with 10% support, and in Southwest Florida, where 6% of respondents back him, putting him behind Haley in that part of the state.

Florida poll shows Trump on track to win state over Joe Biden” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — If the election were held today, Trump would win Florida’s electoral votes over Biden. Survey results released by Florida Atlantic University’s Mainstreet Research show 49% of registered voters would vote for Trump, and just 39% would pick Biden. Another 10% intend to vote for another candidate. Results include answers from 946 voters surveyed between Oct. 27 and Nov. 11, and pollsters report a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points. That puts Trump in a strong position to win the Sunshine State’s electoral votes again, as he did in 2020 and 2016. When he lost nationwide to Biden in 2020, Trump won his home state by 3 percentage points.

Poll shows Florida voters concerned about Biden’s age, not so much about Trump” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics — Trump is only three and a half years younger than Biden, but Floridians are far more concerned about the incumbent President’s age than that of his challenger. Biden Turns 81 on Monday. Trump turned 77 in June. But a new poll from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) found that Biden is plagued by doubts about his fitness for a presidential rerun, with 67% of respondents expressing worry. Just 33% said they believe Trump is too old to run. The gap, which predictably was strongest among Republicans and young voters, is likely partly driven by Trump’s frequent social media activity and the perception that he’s more energetic, said Kevin Wagner, a political-science professor at FAU.

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina abruptly announced that he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, surprising donors and campaign staff just two months before the start of voting in Iowa’s leadoff GOP caucuses, the Associated Press reports.

Nikki Haley ‘s presidential campaign will reserve $10 million in television, radio and digital advertising across Iowa and New Hampshire beginning in the first week of December, as she aims to overtake DeSantis, the Associated Press writes.

New FAU survey shows majority of Floridians disapprove of Matt Gaetz’s performance in Congress” via Mitch Perry of Florida Phoenix — Gaetz took a victory lap earlier this month at the Republican Party of Florida’s Freedom Summit in Kissimmee, where he was lauded for leading the effort to oust Kevin McCarthy from his Speaker position in the U.S. House of Representatives. The move resulted in the election of hard-right conservative Johnson to serve as the new House Speaker. “Fighting Washington has won us a new conservative Speaker,” Gaetz said. “Fighting Washington has shown the swamp creatures that they don’t win every time. Fighting Washington has restored some modicum of power back to ‘We the People.’ And I’m just getting started.”

Fewer than a quarter of contributors to candidates in statewide elections in Florida in the last general election cycle were women. Axios

Voter registration signature ruling appealed - Vote.org, the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, the Florida NAACP and Disability Rights Florida filed a notice that was a first step in appealing the Oct. 30 ruling by U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor. The notice did not detail arguments the groups will make at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The challenge involves a state requirement that paper voter-registration applications include what is known as a “wet” signature — a handwritten signature in ink. The groups contend the requirement violates part of the federal Civil Rights Act barring the rejection of voter-registration applications for reasons “immaterial” to determining whether people are qualified to vote. [Source: News Service of Floirda]

AG Moody seeks oral arguments in FL Supreme Court test of abortion-rights initiative - State Attorney General Ashley Moody has joined other abortion-rights opponents in asking the Florida Supreme Court to schedule oral arguments about whether a proposed constitutional amendment enshrining that right belongs on the ballot. Moody had already filed written arguments in which she asked the court to block the “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion” from going before the voters in November 2024. More from the Florida Phoenix.