Peter Schorsch
The Senate is primed to hear a bill that would repeal the cap on the amount of money tobacco companies have to put up as appellate bonds.
Sen. Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican, and Rep. Danny Burgess, a Zephyrhills Republican, have filed measures for their respective chambers for the 2017 Legislative Session.
Giving this bill a committee hearing is the latest indication that this Legislature has a soft spot for trial lawyers.
The Senate bill (SB 100) is teed up first in the Regulated Industries committee, records show. SB 100 effectively removes all of Section 569.23 from Florida Statutes.
What exactly does that section of state law do? Well, among other things it drastically capped the bond amount tobacco companies have to pay to appeal court ruling. When the law was OK’d in 2009, industry officials said it was for the good of the state. If companies were bankrupted by endless Florida lawsuits, officials argued at the time, they couldn’t make the payments to the state as part of a 1999 tobacco settlement.
The Florida Justice Association threw a fit when it was OK’d, and repealing the law, even if it is eight years later, would most definitely be considered a win.
Tobacco companies say a repeal would be unfair because, without a cap, bonds would fall under the “150 percent of judgment” rule.
With some verdicts in the billions of dollars, bonds could be unreasonably large under that standard, they say.
The Regulated Industries meets Jan. 26 at 10 a.m. in 412 Knott.
