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Senate Commerce and Tourism Chairman Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, says the bill would most likely be considered at his committee’s next meeting March 2, the same day as the start of the legislative session.
Senate and House leaders have fast-tracked identical bills. The Senate version, however, was held up Monday when Senate Judiciary Chair Jeff Brandes was delayed in another meeting.
A scheduled committee vote on a high-profile bill that would protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits was delayed Monday after the measure’s primary sponsor, Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, was delayed in another meeting.
Senate Commerce and Tourism Chairman Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, told The News Service of Florida that the lawsuit-limitation bill (SB 72) would most likely be considered at his committee’s next meeting, now scheduled for March 2, the same day as the start of the 2021 legislative session.
Florida’s elected clerks have worked their way into the heart of the court system by acting as online cashier and collecting millions of dollars in “convenience” fees through a for-profit corporation that is owned by the clerks and avoids sunshine laws.
Florida clerks association and Civitek books show assets of $26 million.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CN) In a two-story brick building, sandwiched between a townhouse community and a small shopping plaza on the north side of Tallahassee, dozens of employees process hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of electronic payments coming through Florida’s vast court system.
Every time an attorney files a lawsuit, a couple submits divorce papers, or a parent makes a child support payment, and pays with a credit card, this company, CiviTek, charges a 3.5% convenience fee raking in tens of millions of dollars a year.
Listen to the story aired on WJCT News 89.9
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis has been travelling the state as part of his “Rally at the Restaurant” tour, calling on the creation of a bill in the 2021 legislative session to extend liability protections for small businesses from what he calls “frivolous litigation.”
These lawsuits could come from customers and employees alike, who may claim that businesses haven’t taken enough precautions to protect people from the coronavirus.
Speaking at Strings Sports Brewery Thursday morning, Patronis said if nothing is done in the Florida Legislature to protect small businesses, many will collapse and shut down.