2019 Florida Legislative Session Small Business Report

Date: May 04, 2019

2019 Florida Legislative Session Small Business Report

The legislature just wrapped up their extended legislative session after a short budget-related delay extended the normal 60-day session by one day. We are still tallying the final number of bills passed by the legislature, but we do know there were a record number of bills filed this year topping out at 3,491. Of those bills filed, small business owners had quite a few wins with the legislature moving to reduce your taxes, reduce your healthcare costs, and reduce insurance rates. We were also able to fight off several bills that sought to increase regulations and increase your litigation costs.

Here’s a brief summary of just some of the bills we were actively lobbying:

  • House Bill 7123 – This was a broad-based tax bill that, among other things, reduced the business rent tax from 5.7% to 5.5%. That provision accounted for more than $40 million in savings. Passed
  • House Bill 7 – This bill expanded direct primary care to include other specialty services which will now permit doctors to enter into private contracts with patients. This will give you more options for getting healthcare services as more doctors enter this field. Passed
  • House Bill 21 – This bill repeals the “certificate of need” requirements that businesses must get approval for prior to build any new hospitals or healthcare facilities. This will remove protection for state-created monopolies that have been using the certificate of need process to make sure competing healthcare facilities are barred from opening in the same market. Passed
  • House Bill 207 – This bill prohibits local governments from using your local construction impact fees to fund other areas of government that don’t directly relate to the reason you were charged the fee. This bill also requires local governments to issue a building permit at the same time the fee is charged. Passed
  • House Bill 771 – This bill prohibits local governments from creating or enforcing plastic straw regulations on small businesses for five years. This was just one provision of a larger environmental regulation bill. Passed
  • House Bill 6053/Senate Bill 1390 – This bill would have allowed local governments to pass regulations forcing landlords to reduce the prices of their rental units. We killed this bill this year, but we expect to be fighting it again next year. Failed
  • House Bill 945/Senate Bill 946 – This bill would have created a “gotcha” provision that would allow prospective employees to sue employers who ask about the applicant’s criminal history. We killed this bill this year, but we expect to be fighting it again next year. Failed
  • House Bill 1059/Senate Bill 794 – This bill would have required plaintiffs in lawsuits to disclose if a litigation financing company was financing their lawsuit against businesses. This was the first year that we’ve aired this bill out and we will be bringing it back again next year. Failed
  • Senate Bill 1636 – This bill would have restored caps on attorney’s fees in the workers’ compensation system which would have reduced your workers’ compensation rates. Failed

We now shift gear to start lobbying the Governor to ask him to sign these pro-small business bills into law. Thank you to everyone who took time this year to contact your legislators. I can’t stress enough just how important those emails and phone calls are to getting good legislation passed.

Please contact me if you have any questions at [email protected] or 850-681-0416.

Tim Nungesser
Legislative Director
NFIB in Florida

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