WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Getting inked
TALLAHASSEE — Measures signed this week by Gov. Ron DeSantis will shutter Florida’s business-recruitment agency, allow cameras that could nab drivers illegally passing school buses and boost state oversight of the insurance industry.
The newly signed laws came out of the 2023 legislative session and are set to take effect in July. DeSantis OK’d the bills as he traveled the country in his bid for president.
Supporters of the insurance bill (SB 7052), including House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, said it will increase “accountability” in the industry.
“It not only empowers homeowners but also cultivates market-driven competition, ultimately leading to lower costs. By establishing clear standards, fostering consumer trust and promoting fair practices, we can pave the way for a resilient and affordable insurance landscape that benefits homeowners and their communities,” Renner said in a statement after DeSantis signed the bill Wednesday.
The bill will ramp up regulations, including increasing fines that regulators can slap on insurers, requiring property insurers to use claims-handling manuals and requiring that rate filings reflect changes in laws aimed at helping insurers.
The bill came amid widespread problems in the property-insurance market, and after lawmakers in recent months passed measures to help shield insurers from lawsuits.
DeSantis on Wednesday also signed a bill (HB 5) that will lead to the business-recruitment agency Enterprise Florida going the way of the dinosaur, while shifting contracts and more than 20 programs to the Department of Economic Opportunity.
The Department of Economic Opportunity also will get a rebrand as the Department of Commerce.
A news release from DeSantis’ office described the changes as an effort “to streamline and modernize Florida’s economic development agencies.”
The governor also announced that J. Alex Kelly, who has served as a deputy chief of staff to DeSantis, will lead the revamped Department of Commerce.
The commerce department will pick up 20 positions and $10 million a year as part of the shift.
Another measure (SB 766) that got ink from the governor’s pen Wednesday will allow school districts to use cameras designed to capture images of drivers who illegally pass school buses, potentially leading to $225 fines.
The bill will allow districts to contract with companies to install cameras on school buses. Each camera will have to be capable of producing a recorded video and two or more still images documenting infractions. The law also will prevent the contractors from getting paid based on the numbers of violations detected.
Districts will have to give notice to motorists of plans to install cameras, including by conducting 30-day public-awareness campaigns. And if that doesn’t get the word out, drivers likely will spot “high-visibility reflective signage” on buses with cameras.
The signs, in part, will have to say, “CAMERA ENFORCED.”
FAMU FIGHT
A potential class-action lawsuit alleging state discrimination against Florida A&M University appears poised to move forward.
But U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle told plaintiffs’ attorneys during a roughly hour-long hearing Thursday that they need to revise the case and provide more specific examples.
The lawsuit, filed in September on behalf of six FAMU students, contends the school — the only historically Black public university in the state — has faced discrimination in funding and programs.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys argue, in part, that decisions by the state violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and a federal anti-discrimination law known as Title VI. One key issue in the case is whether state decisions are “traceable” to de jure segregation — segregation sanctioned by law.
During Thursday’s hearing, Hinkle asked numerous questions and told plaintiffs’ attorneys they need to rework the lawsuit.
“You need to take your best shot at alleging how something on the ground today is traceable to de jure segregation,” Hinkle told plaintiffs’ attorney Josh Dubin.
Hinkle also asked numerous questions about arguments raised by the state’s lawyers, who had filed a motion to dismiss the case. He questioned a contention that plaintiffs lacked “standing” to sue DeSantis, the state university system’s Board of Governors, the State Board of Education, state university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues and state Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.
As an example of the state’s arguments, Anita Patel, a senior assistant attorney general, said the Legislature, not the governor and other defendants, controlled funding decisions that affect the university. The Legislature is not a defendant in the case.
Hinkle indicated he might find a lack of standing to sue some defendants, such as DeSantis, but took issue with the overall argument.
“If your argument is, ‘We can run a segregated system and there’s nothing you can do about it,’ that won’t wash,” he said.
While Hinkle did not immediately issue a formal ruling on the motion to dismiss the case, he gave plaintiffs’ attorneys 30 days to file a revised lawsuit.
COME ON DOWN
Visit Florida staff members have crafted a tourism-marketing plan intended to combat increased competition from states that in the past few years imposed tougher Covid-19 restrictions.
The plan comes as restrictions have been lifted nationally and eased internationally and as tourism-marketing dollars are up $30 million in Florida’s proposed budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
The Visit Florida Marketing Council rolled out plans Tuesday that, in part, would move up the start of winter and “families” advertising campaigns by a couple of months.
“We have moved these up to launch in October and March respectively, which we feel will position us to enter the travel discussion earlier in the decision process and maximize our traveler visitation,” Brett Laiken, Visit Florida’s vice president of marketing, said during a conference call.
The marketing efforts will continue to highlight beaches and theme parks, but also regional and outdoor activities.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Ron DeSantis this week signed a number of bills, including measures to boost state oversight of the insurance industry and allow “infraction detection” systems on school buses.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “This could have been a really fantastic opportunity for the trustees, for our interim president, to build relationships with the students. And that just did not happen.” — Grace Keenan, the New College of Florida Board of Trustees student member, on the process of selecting the school’s new mascot, the Mighty Banyans.