Staff Reports
As expected, Gov. Rick Scott signed bills into law that will place a statue of Florida educator and civil-rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune in the U.S. Capitol, and create a slavery memorial at the state Capitol.
Those two measures were among 30 the governor signed Monday that were passed during the 2018 Legislative Session.
Florida will be making history: Bethune will be the first African-American woman to get her own likeness in in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall in its 154-year history. She founded what is now known as Bethune-Cookman University, a historically black university in Daytona Beach.
The statue of Bethune, a child of former slaves, will replace a likeness of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, who has represented Florida for decades in the Capitol.
The measure creating a slavery memorial at the Capitol calls on the Department of Management Services to develop a plan after receiving recommendations from the Florida Historical Commission. That plan would then be submitted to the governor and legislative leaders.
The full list of bills signed Monday, along with summaries provided by the Governor’s Office, are below:
| SB 146 | Appointment of Attorneys for Dependent Children with Special Needs – This bill requires certain court costs be paid by the state when pro bono attorneys represent special needs children in dependency proceedings. |
| SB 220 | Bankruptcy Matters in Foreclosure Proceedings – This bill authorizes documents filed in a federal bankruptcy proceeding to be admitted as evidence in a foreclosure. |
| SB 268 | Public Records/Public Guardians/Employees with Fiduciary Responsibility – This bill creates a public record exemption for former and current public guardians and employees with fiduciary responsibility. |
| SB 386 | Consumer Finance – This bill provides additional repayment schedule options for consumer finance loans and sets a maximum delinquency charge of $15 per calendar month for each loan payment in default. |
| SB 394 | Fire Safety – This bill requires the Division of State Fire Marshal to establish specified courses as a part of firefighter and volunteer firefighter training and certification. |
| SB 472 | National Statuary Hall – This bill directs the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to replace the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith in the National Statuary Hall Collection with a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune. |
| SB 498 | Office of Public and Professional Guardians Direct-Support Organization – This bill repeals the sunset date for the Foundation for Indigent Guardianship. |
| SB 510 | Reporting of Adverse Incidents in Planned Out-of-Hospital Births – This bill requires that adverse incidents of planned births that occur outside of hospitals be reported to the Florida Department of Health. |
| SB 512 | Homestead Waivers – This bill provides language that can be included in a deed to waive spousal homestead rights. |
| SB 568 | Telephone Solicitation – This bill expands the ‘Do Not Call’ list to include direct to voicemail sales calls. |
| SB 622 | Health Care Facility Regulation – This bill amends numerous provisions related to the regulation of health care facilities. |
| SB 660 | Florida Insurance Code Exemption for Nonprofit Religious Organizations – This bill expands the nonprofit religious organizations’ insurance code exemption to include people sharing a common set of ethical or religious beliefs. |
| SB 920 | Deferred Presentment Transactions – This bill creates a new type of small loan up to $1,000. |
| SB 1132 | Vessel Safety Inspection Decals – This bill provides an expiration date for vessel safety inspection decals. |
| SB 1712 | Postsecondary Revenue Bonds and Debt – This bill allows Florida A&M University to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program. |
| HB 21 | Controlled Substances – This bill takes significant steps to combat opioid abuse in Florida. |
| HB 41 | Pregnancy Support and Wellness Services – This bill codifies the Pregnancy Support Services Program in Florida Statute. |
| HB 53 | Coral Reefs – This bill creates the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Ecosystem Conservation Area. |
| HB 67 | Florida Slavery Memorial – This bill establishes the Florida Slavery Memorial to honor the nameless and forgotten men, women, and children for their contributions to the United States. |
| HB 85 | Voter Registration List Maintenance – This bill enhances the Florida Department of State’s ability to prevent voter fraud by joining a nongovernmental organization with other states to verify voter registration information. |
| HB 87 | Public Records/Statewide Voter Registration System – This bill creates a public records exemption for voter registration information received by the Florida Department of State from another state in which the information is confidential or exempt. |
| HB 405 | Linear Facilities – This bill provides legal certainty for decisions made under the Power Plan Siting Act and Transmission Line Siting Act. |
| HB 413 | Trusts – This bill updates and revises provisions of the Florida Trust Code relating to revising trust decanting procedures, electronic delivery of trust documents, and trust accounting. |
| HB 429 | Donation and Transfer of Human Tissue – This bill requires the Florida Department of Health to develop and publish on its website educational information relating to tissue transplants. |
| HB 623 | Out-of-Country Foreign Money Judgments – This bill increases protections from unjust foreign court judgments. |
| HB 6021 | The Guardian Ad Litem Direct-Support Organization – This bill continues the Direct Support Organization for the Guardian ad Litem Office. |
| HB 6515 | The Relief of Cathleen Smiley by Brevard County – This bill directs Brevard County to provide $25,000 in relief to Ms. Cathleen Smiley for injuries caused by a county bus. |
| HB 7029 | A Review Under the Open Government Sunset Review Act/Human Trafficking Expunction – This bill continues the public record exemption of criminal history records relating to a victim of human trafficking. |
| HB 7031 | A Review Under the Open Government Sunset Review Act/Criminal Justice Commission – This bill continues the public meeting exemption of a criminal justice commission while members discuss active criminal intelligence or investigative information. |
| HB 7035 | Ratification of St. Johns River Water Management District Rules – This bill ratifies a St. Johns River Water Management District rule for Silver Springs. |
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Background provided by The News Service of Florida.
