Lawsuit abuse reform and business rent tax relief were among this year's wins
NFIB State Executive Bill Herrle says Florida’s small business community achieved some big victories in this year’s session of the state legislature, which gaveled to a close this morning.
“Our members really stepped up and engaged with their legislators, and their legislators listened,” Herrle said. “They passed a number of important bills that are going to have a big impact on small businesses, and they avoided some bad bills that would have interfered with small businesses’ ability to grow and create jobs.”
This year’s small business victories include:
- Lawsuit abuse reform. This was NFIB’s top legislative priority. House Bill 837 will reduce lawsuit abuse by repealing one-way attorney fees in most cases, undercutting “you don’t pay if we don’t win” advertising claims; stopping plaintiffs from collecting an award if they are found to be more than 50% responsible for their own injuries; and requiring “truth in damages” to stop bad doctors from colluding with unscrupulous trial lawyers to inflate medical damages.
- Business rent tax relief. House Bill 7063 provides over $300 million in business rent tax relief to businesses during the 2023-2024 fiscal year by reducing the business rent tax from 5.5% to 4.5%. The bill will also provide a series of sales tax holidays and permanently removes sales taxes on specific items.
- Environmental, social, and governance credit score prohibition. House Bill 3 prevents lenders from using ESG credit scores when deciding whether to lend money to small businesses.
- Pharmacy benefits reform. “This is something that Florida’s small businesses desperately needed,” Herrle said. Senate Bill 1550 helps control prescription costs and protects independent pharmacies from predatory practices that caused them to actually lose money when filling certain prescriptions.
Click here for a full roundup of bills affecting Florida’s small businesses.
