Sen. Keith Truenow

Manufacturing; Revising the duties of the Department of Commerce; establishing the Chief Manufacturing Officer among the senior leadership of the department for a specified purpose; creating the Florida Manufacturers’ Workforce Development Grant Program within the department; providing that the grant program is under the direction of the Chief Manufacturing Officer in consultation with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership organization in this state; requiring the department to administer the grant awards from the Economic Development Trust Fund, etc.

Maddy summarySB 378 removes a Florida statute (Section 189.0694) that required special districts to meet specific performance measures and standards. This procedural bill affects local special districts - such as water management or fire protection agencies - by eliminating an existing reporting requirement. The bill simply repeals the outdated provision without creating new rules or changing how districts operate. It has no direct impact on residents or new policy obligations.

Bail Bonds; Decreasing the duration of in-person classroom-instruction basic certification courses required to be considered for approval and certification as an approved limited surety agent and professional bail bond agent prelicensing school; requiring, rather than authorizing, that any monetary or cash component of any form of pretrial release be met by specified means; requiring the clerk of the court, upon the court’s entry of an order to revoke pretrial release and order pretrial detention in certain circumstances, to discharge any bond previously posted as a condition of pretrial release without further order of the court; requiring that a signed certification containing certain information accompany or be included on a specified notice, etc.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance; Specifying that an insurer may use excess rates only under certain circumstances; revising the composition of the board of directors of the Florida Workers’ Compensation Insurance Guaranty Association, etc.

Golf Courses; Creating the “Golf Course Best Management Practices Certification Act”; providing legislative findings and intent regarding golf course best management practices certification; providing for a type two transfer of the Golf Course Best Management Practices Certification program in the Department of Environmental Protection to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, etc.

Landscape Irrigation; Creating the “Landscape Irrigation Standards and Watering Restrictions Act”; prohibiting a person from taking certain actions regarding a landscape irrigation system unless such person is a licensed irrigation contractor or the property owner; specifying that only a licensed irrigation contractor may connect an irrigation system to a water supply; providing a purpose for landscape irrigation system standards; creating a landscape irrigation watering schedule; providing for the enforcement of the act, etc.

Products Liability Actions Under the Florida Pesticide Law; Prohibiting a pesticide-related products liability action based on a manufacturer’s failure to warn if the pesticide’s label meets specified conditions, etc.

Public Records/Private Investigators; Providing an exemption from public records requirements for the personal identifying and location information of current and former private investigators licensed by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the spouses and children of such private investigators; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing for retroactive application; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.

Physician Assistants; Providing for the registration of physician assistants to engage in practice without physician supervision; providing financial responsibility requirements for registered physician assistants; specifying activities registered physician assistants may engage in without physician supervision; requiring registered physician assistants to provide new patients with specified information either before or during the initial patient encounter, etc.

Local Business Taxes; Repealing provisions relating to local business taxes; authorizing certain municipalities to continue to impose a business tax; authorizing such municipalities to revise the definition of the term “merchant” in a specified manner, etc.