It looks like legislation to revise Florida’s rules for payouts in government negligence lawsuits will reach the House floor for the second consecutive year.

Members of the House Budget Committee voted 22-2 for a bill ( HB 145 ), which would raise the state’s existing payout caps on awards against government entities to $500,000 for one person and $1 million per incident, up from $200,000 and $300,000, respectively.

Those elevated caps would raise again in five years to $600,000 and $1.2 million.

HB 145, which still pends a Senate companion, would adjust the statute of limitations so victims would have the same amount of time to bring claims against governments as they would private entities. It would also provide governments the option to settle claims above the caps without ac

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