A compromise plan to increase the amount of money a claimant can recover from a local government agency passed the Senate Rules Committee last month, but it has an uncertain future as the Florida legislative session winds down.
The Senate panel approved Senate Bill 974 on a vote of 16-1 after it was amended to include sovereign immunity caps that are based on the population of the local government entity being sued. Under current law, recovery of damages during a tort action against a city or other local agency is limited to $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, according to an analysis of the bill by legislative staff.
The bill, which was authored by state Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota), would raise those caps under a tiered system based on population. For state agencies and cities and counties with populations above 250,000, the caps would be $400,000 per person and $600,000 per incident. But for counties and cities with populations between 50,000 and 250,000, the caps would be set at $300,000/$400,000.
The current limit of $200,000/$300,000 would apply to local governments with populations of less than 50,000, according to the bill’s provisions.
The bill, which would take effect on Oct. 1 if signed into law, would have some negative financial impacts on state and local governments, according to the bill analysis, due to increased payouts from civil litigation.
The Florida League of Cities agreed that the latest version of the bill is preferable to a previous version that would have raised the per-person cap to $1 million. As a result, the league is neutral on the Senate bill.
“Ultimately, when discussing sovereign immunity, we feel there is a balance that needs to be struck in between making the injured person whole and balancing the impact that that has on taxpayers and services that government entities provide for all residents,” David Cruz, the league’s deputy general counsel, told the Florida Record.
The league favors sitting down with stakeholders and working out reasonable compromises on what the caps should be raised to, according to Cruz. The latest changes to the bill also reflect the league’s desire to avoid tax increases, he said.
“I wouldn’t say that the idea of population alone is the best idea, but what that amendment did is to protect our smallest cities that have limited financial resources,” Cruz said.
The latest version of the Senate bill would also allow local government agencies to voluntarily pay out a claim that exceeds the cap without the need for the state legislature to pass a special claims bill.