CFO Jimmy Patronis Highlights ‘Keep Florida Free’ 2023 Legislative Victories
~ Applauds Governor DeSantis and the Florida Legislature for Standing Up for the American Dream ~

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis highlighted his 2023 “Keep Florida Free” Legislative Victories. The CFO’s top legislative victories this year included protecting taxpayer dollars from the cult of Environmental, Social, Governance policies or ESG, protecting data from Big Tech overreach, preventing fraud and protecting consumers through transparency, bolstering the department’s mediation services and consumer hotline to better aid policyholders, supporting first responders with funding and resources, and banning TikTok in Florida’s schools.

CFO Jimmy Patronis said, “The 2023 Legislative Session was a huge win for Floridians across our great state. Every year as your CFO, I have worked with the Legislature to support measures that help Florida families and businesses thrive, and this year was no different. We passed historic legislation to ban ESG in the state of Florida to protect your investments, and businesses, from financial activism and woke political ideology. We locked TikTok out of our kids’ classrooms so they can focus on learning and further protect our data. We passed consumer protection measures to put policyholders first and stop bad actors following hurricanes and disasters. We also passed vital measures to support Florida’s brave first responders so they have the tools needed to protect our communities and save lives. I want to thank all of our bill sponsors for their hard work on behalf of Floridians. While we made great strides this session, the work doesn’t stop. We will continue to stand with Governor DeSantis and the Florida Legislature to fight for policies that Keep Florida Free and allow Floridians to live the American Dream.”

CFO Jimmy Patronis’ 2023 “Keep Florida Free” Legislative Victories

Protecting Florida Consumers & Taxpayers

CFO Patronis has made it his mission to protect Florida's taxpayer dollars from the cult of Environmental, Social, Governance policies or ESG. This year, CFO Patronis supported successful measures, outlined by Governor DeSantis, to prohibit financial institutions from discriminating against consumers for their beliefs, barring the considering "ESG Credit Scores'; and permanently prohibiting SBA fund managers from considering ESG factors when investing the state's money.

House Bill 3 has been signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis.
Thank you to Senator Grall and Representative Rommel for your support.

The CFO supported insurer accountability measures this year to bolster the ability for DFS to deliver effective mediation services and alleviate workload challenges to better aid policyholders. This bill will also provide OIR with more tools to hold insurers accountable. With higher fines, tighter timelines, and greater reporting requirements, Florida is holding carriers' feet to the fire to ensure they are being responsive to the needs of policyholders.

Senate Bill 7052 (Sen. Hutson) Insurer Accountability
House Bill 7065 (Rep. Duggan) Insurer Accountability

This year, CFO Patronis supported measures to amend Florida's Uniform Commercial Code to expressly prohibit the use of a Centralized Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The CFO opposes a digital currency maintained by a federally controlled and centralized government bank. It is just another way for Floridians to have their vital financial information surveilled without their permission and consent.

Senate Bill 7054 (Sen. DiCeglie) Central Bank Digital Currency

House Bill 7049 (Rep. Duggan) Central Bank Digital Currency

Social media applications like TikTok are addicting and robbing students of valuable learning and social skills needed to succeed. CFO Patronis supported legislation to ban TikTok in Florida K-12 schools and require schools to educate students on social media safety and how it can be utilized in personal and professional life. The legislation also requires school districts to prohibit students from accessing other social media platforms through the use of school internet access.

Senate Bill 52 (Sen. Burgess) Student Use of Social Media
House Bill 379 (Rep. Yeager) Student Use of Social Media

Florida made history this year. After years of battling Big Tech, the Legislature secured data privacy protections for Florida consumers. In 2020, the world turned upside down and more consumers were pushed toward using online applications more than ever. Now there’s a law curtailing the ability of billion dollar corporation’s collection of certain information without consent.

Senate Bill 262 (Sen. Bradley) Technology Transparency
House Bill 1547 (Rep. McFarland) Technology Transparency

Every year, CFO Patronis has worked to protect Florida consumers, especially following a hurricane or disaster. Crowdfunding sites allowed charity scams to run rampant across the internet, stealing money from people trying to help a good cause. This legislation prevents fraud through transparency by requiring crowdfunding sites report a campaign's account transactions online for everyone to see.

CFO Patronis also committed to protecting consumers from solar panel scams. Unscrupulous solar salesmen go door-to-door promising solar panels will save consumers thousands - not telling them the full story. This legislation requires important disclosures at the time of sale to ensure consumers know what they are buying and how it can impact their property insurance costs.

The legislation also further protects insurance consumers by improving communication with public adjusters through contract requirements and ensuring the financial motives of public adjusters are in-line with the consumer in their weakest moments.

Senate Bill 1398 (Sen. DiCeglie) Consumer Protection
House Bill 1185 (Rep. Giallombardo) Consumer Protection

This session, CFO Patronis supported the most comprehensive tort reform in decades to decrease frivolous lawsuits and prevent predatory practices of trial attorneys that prey on Floridians. The legislation includes measures to eliminate one-way attorney fees and fee multipliers for all lines of insurance, modernizing Florida's "bad faith" law, and protecting small businesses from paying exorbitant damages.

Senate 236 (Sen. Hutson) Civil Remedies
House Bill 837 (Rep. Gregory) Civil Remedies

CFO Patronis also supported legislation to expand eligibility for Florida Kidcare, the state supported health insurance program for children. The legislation installs a glide path to prosperity to ensure families who begin to earn more don't have their new income consumed by rises in health care costs.

Senate Bill 246 (Sen. Calatayud) Florida Kidcare Program Eligibility
House Bill 1245 (Rep. LaMarca) Florida Kidcare Program Eligibility

CFO Patronis supported measures to crack down on catalytic converter theft in Florida by stiffening penalties of suspects caught stealing the devices off of vehicles and require people to keep records about the sale or purchase of catalytic converters that have been removed.

Senate Bill 306 (Sen. Boyd) Catalytic Converters
House Bill 185 (Rep. Hawkins) Catalytic Converters

Supporting First Responders

This legislative session, CFO Patronis continued his mission to support first responders and emergency professionals by making it a priority to expand PTSD benefits to 911 dispatchers and Crime Scene Investigators. These heroes deal with unthinkable tragedies in their profession, and they need resources as they work to save lives.

Senate Bill 352 (Sen. Burgess) Workers' Compensation Benefits for PTSD
House Bill 337 (Rep. McFarland) Workers' Compensation Benefits for PTSD

Also included in this legislation are measures to allow for firefighters' charitable donations by creating a Direct Support Organization (DSO) to support financial efforts to protect their communities and provide life-saving equipment and resources.

Senate Bill 1158 (Sen. DiCeglie) Department of Financial Services
House Bill 487 (Rep. Salzman) Department of Financial Services

Fighting Back Against Fraud

This session, CFO Patronis worked with the legislature to crack down on Assignment of Benefits (AOBs) abuse within the automobile windshield repair and replacement industry to fight rising car insurance rates. This legislation ends the use of inducements or gift cards to unethically entice consumers and ensure that replacement windshields are recalibrated to original manufacture standards to ensure driver safety.

Senate Bill 1002 (Sen. Stewart) Motor Vehicle Glass
House Bill 541(Rep. Griffitts) Post-lost Benefit Assignments

Protecting 2nd Amendment Rights

To fight back against credit card companies who are targeting the 2nd Amendment rights of Floridians and protecting your right to privacy, CFO Patronis supported legislation that prohibits credit card companies from giving weapons and ammunition sales a specific code to identify their purchases.

Senate Bill 214 (Sen. Burgess) Sales of Firearms and Ammunition
House Bill 221 (Rep. Snyder) Sales of Firearms and Ammunition

Fortifying Florida Homes

Unfortunately, it's not if Florida will be impacted by another storm but when. That's why CFO Patronis has made the My Safe Florida Home program a priority, helping Floridians to fortify their homes against storms. This year, the CFO worked with the Legislature to expand program eligibility requirements and increase grant funding by another $100 million so more Floridians can protect their biggest investment against storms and reduce premium costs.

Senate Bill 748 (Sen. Boyd) My Safe Florida Home Program
House Bill 881 (Rep. LaMarca) My Safe Florida Home Program

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About CFO Jimmy Patronis  
Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis is a statewide elected official and a member of Florida’s Cabinet who oversees the Department of Financial Services. CFO Patronis works each day to fight insurance fraud, support Florida’s firefighters, and ensure the state’s finances are stable to support economic growth in the state. Follow the activities of the Department on Facebook (FLDFS) and Twitter (@FLDFS).