Florida SB 134: Beverage Law

Bill Text

134 
Telephone Solicitation 
2025-10-08T04:22:40Z 
Revising the definition of the terms “telephone solicitor” and “telephonic sales call”; revising the conditions for awarding attorney fees in civil actions relating to telephone solicitation, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 134 

 By Senator Polsky 

 30-00110-26 2026134__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to telephone solicitation; amending s. 
 3 501.059, F.S.; revising the definition of the terms 
 4 “telephone solicitor” and “telephonic sales call”; 
 5 revising the conditions for awarding attorney fees in 
 6 civil actions relating to telephone solicitation; 
 7 making technical changes; providing construction and 
 8 retroactive application; reenacting s. 517.0615(2)(c), 
 9 F.S., relating to solicitations of interest, to 
 10 incorporate the amendment made to s. 501.059, F.S., in 
 11 a reference thereto; providing an effective date. 
 12 
 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 14 
 15 Section 1. Paragraphs (i) and (j) of subsection (1) and 
 16 paragraphs (a), (d), and (e) of subsection (11) of section 
 17 501.059, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 
 18 501.059 Telephone solicitation.— 
 19 (1) As used in this section, the term: 
 20 (i) “Telephone solicitor” means a natural person, firm, 
 21 organization, partnership, association, or corporation, or a 
 22 subsidiary or affiliate thereof, doing business in this state, 
 23 who makes or causes to be made a telephonic sales call, 
 24 including, but not limited to, calls made by use of automated 
 25 dialing or recorded message devices. The term does not include a 
 26 tax-exempt nonprofit organization or a person or an organization 
 27 acting on its behalf. 
 28 (j) “Telephonic sales call” means a telephone call, text 
 29 message, or voicemail transmission to a consumer for the purpose 
 30 of soliciting a sale of any consumer goods or services, 
 31 soliciting an extension of credit for consumer goods or 
 32 services, or obtaining information that will or may be used for 
 33 the direct solicitation of a sale of consumer goods or services 
 34 or an extension of credit for such purposes. A phone call, text 
 35 message, or voicemail transmission is not considered a 
 36 telephonic sales call if it is made by a tax-exempt nonprofit 
 37 organization for a religious, charitable, political, or 
 38 educational purpose. 
 39 (11)(a) In a any civil action alleging litigation resulting 
 40 from a transaction involving a violation of this section, the 
 41 prevailing party, after judgment in the trial court and 
 42 exhaustion of all appeals, is entitled to if any, shall receive 
 43 his or her reasonable attorney fees and costs from the 
 44 nonprevailing party. 
 45 (d) An Any award of attorney fees or costs becomes shall 
 46 become a part of the judgment and is subject to execution as the 
 47 law allows. 
 48 (e) In a any civil action litigation initiated by the 
 49 department or the Department of Legal Affairs, the court may 
 50 award to the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees and costs 
 51 if the court finds that there was a complete absence of a 
 52 justiciable issue of either law or fact raised by the losing 
 53 party or if the court finds bad faith on the part of the losing 
 54 party. 
 55 Section 2. The amendments made by this act to s. 501.059, 
 56 Florida Statutes, are remedial in nature and apply 
 57 retroactively. 
 58 Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 
 59 made by this act to section 501.059, Florida Statutes, in a 
 60 reference thereto, paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 
 61 517.0615, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: 
 62 517.0615 Solicitations of interest.— 
 63 (2) Before any offers or sales are made in connection with 
 64 an offering, communications by an issuer or any person 
 65 authorized to act on behalf of the issuer are not deemed to 
 66 constitute general solicitation or general advertising if the 
 67 communication is solely for the purpose of determining whether 
 68 there is any interest in a contemplated securities offering. 
 69 Requirements imposed under this chapter on written or oral 
 70 statements made in the course of such communication may be 
 71 enforced as provided in this chapter. The solicitation or 
 72 acceptance of money or other consideration or of any commitment, 
 73 binding or otherwise, from any person is prohibited. 
 74 (c) A communication in accordance with this subsection is 
 75 not subject to s. 501.059, regarding telephone solicitations. 
 76 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.