Florida SB 828: Florida ABLE Program

Bill Text

828 
Sovereign Immunity for Public Transit Contractors 
2026-02-11T05:43:01Z 
Providing that contractors providing public transit services and their employees or agents are deemed agents of the state for purposes of sovereign immunity, etc. 
Committee Substitute 1 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
c1 

 Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 828 

 By the Committee on Transportation; and Senator Leek 

 596-02688-26 2026828c1 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to sovereign immunity for public 
 3 transit contractors; amending s. 768.28, F.S.; 
 4 providing that contractors providing public transit 
 5 services and their employees or agents are deemed 
 6 agents of the state for purposes of sovereign 
 7 immunity; defining the term “public transit”; amending 
 8 s. 766.1115, F.S.; conforming a cross-reference; 
 9 providing an effective date. 
 10 
 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 12 
 13 Section 1. Present paragraphs (f) through (l) of subsection 
 14 (10) of section 768.28, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as 
 15 paragraphs (g) through (m), respectively, a new paragraph (f) is 
 16 added to that subsection, and paragraph (b) of subsection (9) of 
 17 that section is amended, to read: 
 18 768.28 Waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions; 
 19 recovery limits; civil liability for damages caused during a 
 20 riot; limitation on attorney fees; statute of limitations; 
 21 exclusions; indemnification; risk management programs.— 
 22 (9) 
 23 (b) As used in this subsection, the term: 
 24 1. “Employee” includes any volunteer firefighter. 
 25 2. “Officer, employee, or agent” includes, but is not 
 26 limited to, any health care provider when providing services 
 27 pursuant to s. 766.1115; any nonprofit independent college or 
 28 university located and chartered in this state which owns or 
 29 operates an accredited medical school, and its employees or 
 30 agents, when providing patient services pursuant to paragraph 
 31 (10)(g) (10)(f); any public defender or her or his employee or 
 32 agent, including an assistant public defender or an 
 33 investigator; and any member of a Child Protection Team, as 
 34 defined in s. 39.01, or any member of a threat management team, 
 35 as described in s. 1006.07(7), when carrying out her or his 
 36 duties as a team member under the control, direction, and 
 37 supervision of the state or any of its agencies or subdivisions. 
 38 (10) 
 39 (f) For purposes of this section, a contractor or any of 
 40 its employees or agents providing public transit services under 
 41 a contract with a state agency or subdivision is considered an 
 42 agent of the state while acting within the scope of and pursuant 
 43 to guidelines established in such contract or by rule. For 
 44 purposes of this paragraph, the term “public transit” has the 
 45 same meaning as in s. 341.031(6). 
 46 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (12) of section 
 47 766.1115, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 
 48 766.1115 Health care providers; creation of agency 
 49 relationship with governmental contractors.— 
 50 (12) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to incidents 
 51 occurring on or after April 17, 1992. This section does not: 
 52 (b) Apply to any affiliation agreement or other contract 
 53 that is subject to s. 768.28(10)(g) s. 768.28(10)(f). 
 54 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.