Today, thanks to the more than 100 local chambers who joined the Florida Chamber coalition in support of COVID-19 liability protections, the Florida House passed the business COVID-19 liability protections bill, HB 7 by Representative McClure, with a bipartisan vote of 83-31. This bill sends a signal of confidence for businesses that are doing their part to keep employees and customers safe that they will not be party to litigation. The Florida Chamber thanks Representative Lawrence McClure and Speaker Chris Sprowls for ensuring this bill passed the House during the first week of the 60-day legislative session.

COVID-19 continued to dominate discussions before the legislature this week with all four COVID-19 liability protection bills seeing movement this week:

• SB 72 by Senator Jeff Brandes, the Senate companion of HB 7, passed the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee and has one stop remaining before it heads to the Senate Floor.
• SB 74, by Senator Jeff Brandes, protects health care providers from COVID-19 related claims and passed the Senate Health Policy Committee.
• HB 7005, the House companion of SB 74 by Representative Colleen Burton, passed the House Pandemics & Public Emergencies Committee.

The Florida Chamber was proud to stand in support of these important bills in each committee and fight accusations from trial lawyer interest groups that lined up against these commonsense protections for our local businesses.

Both SB 74 and HB 7005 have one committee hearing remaining before they are ready to be heard by their respective chambers on the floor.

The Florida Chamber has continued to make these bills a top priority of the legislative session. If you have feedback on any of these issues, please contact Carolyn Johnson at cjohnson@flchamber.com.