During the 2016 session, the Florida Legislature passed several bills that affect how administrative rules are challenged and reviewed. One bill, House Bill 183, allows people to challenge rules when they are being punished by a state agency. This bill also speeds up the process for getting a hearing when applying for temporary special events permits. Another bill, House Bill 981, sets a time limit for agencies to consider the economic impact of new rules. Two other bills, House Bills 307 and 1313, make it easier to get medical marijuana and could affect lawsuits about medical marijuana. Lastly, House Bill 7099, the annual tax package includes rules that could impact recent lawsuits about taxes. Some bills didn’t pass but might come back in the future, like one that would have made agencies review their rules periodically. A new law, H.B. 183, allows people to challenge a government agency’s actions by claiming that the agency’s rules are invalid. It also allows people to bring a separate challenge to a rule. This could give people more power to challenge government decisions. Newly created defense and collateral rule challenge option give petitioners ways to fight against unfair rules. If successful, petitioners may get their costs and attorney fees covered. Agencies must also make a list of minor violations by July 1, 2017 and can only give a warning for these minor violations without fines or penalties. This law says that anyone can ask a government agency to change a rule. The agency has to respond to the request within 30 days. If they agree to make a new rule, they have to let the public know about it. The law also requires agencies to tell people about any new rules using email. There’s also a new rule that says if someone challenges a permit for a temporary structure in the water, there has to be a quick hearing within 30 days. This is to make sure the challenge doesn’t delay the event. The 2015 bill included a proposal to extend the time to file an appeal if a party did not receive timely notice of an administrative order. However, this proposal was vetoed because it could create more legal issues and raised concerns about separation of powers. Currently, civil courts have a rule to address untimely notice, but it doesn’t apply to administrative actions. The new law became effective on July 1, 2016. House Bill 981 clarifies the requirements for estimating the costs of new rules. If a rule isn’t fully put into effect right away, the costs of the rule must also include any additional costs that will happen within five years after the full implementation. The law became effective on July 1, 2016.
House Bills 307 & 1313 relate to the approval process for using medical marijuana. There were delays in approving organizations to sell medical marijuana due to legal challenges. The new bills aim to speed up the approval process so that patients can get the help they need more quickly. Section 3 of the bill makes it easier for medical marijuana dispensaries to get approval from the Department of Health. It also helps applicants who were disqualified for failing a background check. The bill also says that if a dispensary was rejected and then wins a legal case, they can still get approved. The bill became law on March 28, 2016. Another bill, H.B. 7099, makes changes to tobacco taxes in Florida. It addresses issues related to the pricing of certain tobacco products and whether cigar wraps should be taxed. There were some court cases and changes to the law about how much tax tobacco companies have to pay. One case said that some charges shouldn’t be included in the tax, but then the law was changed to say that they should be. Another case was about whether cigar wraps should be taxed like other tobacco products, and the court said they shouldn’t be. In the end, the law was changed to make cigar wraps taxable. House Bill 1361 sets deadlines for when the government must make a final decision on a proposed change to the community’s growth plans. If they don’t make a decision in time, the proposed change becomes final. The law went into effect on July 1, 2016.
House Bill 5101 exempts certain Medicaid hearings from following all the rules in the Administrative Procedures Act. This makes it easier for the government to handle these types of hearings. H.B. 5101 changes where appeals related to Medicaid in Florida must be directed, and how they are heard. It also exempts Medicaid hearings from certain legal rules and procedures. The law went into effect on July 1, 2016. Another bill, H.B. 953/S.B. 1150, which would have created a review process for agencies’ rulemaking authority, did not pass. H.B. 437 tried to get rid of the rules that hospitals need to follow when they want to expand or add services. S.B. 516 wanted to make special transit districts subject to certain rules. H.B. 7099 tried to change how counties can use tourist tax money, but it didn’t pass with the extra rules that were added. The Board of Medicine made a rule about how much doctors can charge for copies of medical records. The rule had to be approved by the legislature, but it wasn’t. Now there’s a legal challenge about it. During 2016, the legislature considered a lot of laws that might change how administrative law works. Some of them passed and might lead to lawsuits, and some didn’t pass but might come up again. The new rule defense will only apply to a specific case, not all cases. An example of this is the case Department of Financial Services v. Soler and Son Roofing. The agency still has final authority over other parts of the case. The rule was changed by H.B. 435 in 2015. The law now allows for expedited hearings for certain projects. The Florida Constitution gives the Supreme Court the power to make rules for court procedures. These are references to legal cases and laws in Florida. They discuss rules for relief from judgment, agency authority to correct errors in their orders, and amendments to the Administrative Procedure Act. They also mention petitions related to compassionate use of medical marijuana, and a new test for evaluating those petitions. This is a list of legal cases and orders from the Department of Health and the Department of Business & Professional Regulation. It also mentions a law passed by the Florida legislature. The last section includes information about the authors of the column.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/the-2016-amendments-to-the-apa-say-goodbye-to-united-wisconsin-and-more/
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