Legislation filed in the Florida House on Friday would modify state law governing lawsuits against government entities, increasing liability limits and shortening the time allowed to file claims.
House Bill 145, filed by Rep. Fiona McFarland, would amend existing state law to raise the maximum amount that may be recovered from a public entity to $500,000 per person and $1 million per incident for causes of action accruing on or after October 1, 2026.
Beginning in 2031, those limits would increase to $600,000 per person and $1.2 million per incident. The current limits of $200,000 and $300,000 would remain for claims arising before October 2026.
The proposal additionally authorizes local governments and other state subdivisions to settle claims exceeding those amounts without requiring further action by the Legislature while also prohibiting insurance contracts from conditioning payment of benefits on the passage of a claims bill.
The measure would reduce the time for filing a written claim with the appropriate agency and the Department of Financial Services from three years to 18 months, and agencies would have four months to respond before a claim is considered denied.
The statute of limitations for negligence claims against the government would be reduced from four years to two.
