HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/CS/HB 959 Department of Financial Services
SPONSOR(S): Commerce Committee, Finance & Facilities Subcommittee, Insurance & Banking
Subcommittee, LaMarca
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/SB 1874
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Insurance & Banking Subcommittee 16 Y, 0 N, As CS Herendeen Luczynski
2) Finance & Facilities Subcommittee 18 Y, 0 N, As CS Lloyd Lloyd
3) Appropriations Committee 24 Y, 0 N Lee Pridgeon
4) Commerce Committee 19 Y, 0 N, As CS Herendeen Hamon
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The bill makes changes to programs of the Department of Financial Services (DFS):
 Amends several laws related to a multi-year upgrade to the state’s financial systems, known as the
PALM Project (Planning, Accounting, and Ledger Management).
 Makes employees of the Division of Rehabilitation and Liquidation part of the State Group Insurance
Program.
 Transfers the Stop Inmate Fraud Program from the Division of Public Assistance Fraud to the
Department of Economic Opportunity.
 Reduces penalties and creates educational tools within the Division of Workers’ Compensation:
o Provides an exemption from the legislative rule ratification process for reimbursement manuals that
govern payments to ambulatory surgical centers, healthcare providers, and hospitals;
o Changes the definition of “employer” used in workers’ compensation law;
o Requires an online tutorial for persons seeking an exemption from the workers’ compensation law;
o Lengthens a deadline for non-compliant employers to submit payroll records for penalty calculation;
o Reduces penalties for employers with no prior incidents of non-compliance;
o Provides that a required notice of rights may be sent to employees by mail or email; and
o Eliminates a requirement for in-person payroll audits of some construction businesses.
 In the Division of State Fire Marshal, the bill updates boiler regulations and deletes a $50 exam fee;
changes the certification requirements for firefighters and fire safety inspectors; permits the use of grant
funding to pay for tools and protective clothing; and increases penalties for violations of laws related to
fire protection systems.
 Amends licensing requirements for embalmers and funeral directors regulated by the Division of
Funeral, Cemetery, and Consumer Services.
 Makes process served upon the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) binding on an insurer when DFS notifies
the insurer that process is available on a secure online portal.
 Amends laws of the Division of Insurance Agent and Agency Services to:
o Add an exemption to the examination requirement for the all-lines adjuster license;
o Provide additional authority for investigation of licensees;
o Allow unaffiliated insurance agents to adjust claims without surrendering their appointments;
o Revise statutes related to the use of fingerprints in background checks, to comply with federal law;
o Create notice requirements for insurance agencies that stop doing business; and
o Modifies existing laws for public adjuster compensation, qualifications and bonding requirements.
 Transfers the Florida Patient’s Compensation Fund to the CFO until dissolution by December 31, 2023.
The bill has an indeterminate fiscal impact on state and local government and the private sector. The bill
provides an effective date of July 1, 2022; except otherwise provided.
FULL ANALYSIS
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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 I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Planning, Accounting, and Ledger Management (PALM) Project
Since 2014, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) has been upgrading its financial systems,
known as the Cash Management Subsystem (CMS) and the Florida Accounting Information Resource
subsystem (FLAIR), which were developed in the 1970s and implemented in the 1980s. 1
Effect of the Bill
Amendments reflect the transition to the new financial system, called Florida PALM (Planning,
Accounting, and Ledger Management) which has begun. A task force that developed a business plan
for the new financial and cash management system is disbanded. Technical changes are made
because agencies will no longer need to post a journal transfer to notify the Chief Financial Officer
(CFO) that a charge-back is needed. The term “Cash Management Subsystem” is replaced with
“Financial Management Subsystem.” 2
Division of Rehabilitation and Liquidation
The DFS Division of Rehabilitation and Liquidation serves as the receiver whenever an insolvent
Florida insurer is ordered into rehabilitation or liquidation. The division has 51 employees and 14
retirees who participate in the Florida Retirement System; these persons have not been part of the
State Group Insurance Program (SGI Program), because their salaries and benefits are funded by
assets managed by the division rather than state appropriations. To be eligible for participation in the
SGI Program, an employee must be paid by a state warrant. The SGI Program includes health and
welfare insurance benefits for active and retired state employees and their families, including: health
insurance; flexible spending and health savings accounts; life insurance; and dental, vision, and
supplemental insurance products.3
Effect of the Bill
The bill makes full- and part-time state employees, retired employees, and surviving spouses of
employees of the Division of Rehabilitation and Liquidation eligible for the SGI Program, beginning with
the 2023 plan year.
The bill amends the definitions for full- and part-time state employees, retirees, and surviving spouses
to make such persons eligible for benefits even though employees of the Division of Rehabilitation and
Liquidation are not paid by state warrant. The cost of employee health insurance would continue to be
paid by estates that are liquidated by the division; therefore, no state appropriations are needed. The
division would no longer have the administrative burden of procuring health insurance on its own in the
private market.
The division would be responsible for paying the monthly premiums that currently apply to early
retirees, as follows:
1 S. 17.0315, F.S.
2 Florida Department of Financial Services, Florida PALM, https://www.myfloridacfo.com/floridapalm/ (last visited Feb. 14,
2022).
3 S. 110.123, F.S.
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 Current Premiums for "Early Retirees"4 Monthly Cost
High Deductible Plan – Individual $736.80
High Deductible Plan – Family $1,632.05
Standard Plan – enhance benefits – Individual $805.12
Standard Plan – enhance benefits – Family $1,801.08
Division of Accounting and Auditing
Every state and local government entity provides its financial information to DFS annually, so DFS can
prepare annual financial statements for the state of Florida and provide an online clearinghouse for the
financial statements of every county, municipality, and special district in Florida. The Florida Open
Financial Statement System is open to public inspection. 5
Effect of the Bill
The bill changes the name of the state’s annual report from “comprehensive annual financial report 6” to
“annual comprehensive financial report.” The bill also specifies the electronic file format (XBRL) local
governments must use to file audits and financial reports with the Florida Open Financial Statement
System. This is intended to create efficiencies in local government financial reporting and implement
the recommendations of the OPPAGA Local Efficiency Task Force. 7
Division of Public Assistance Fraud
Since 2011, DFS has been responsible for investigations of public assistance fraud. 8
The Stop Inmate Fraud Program provides for the sharing of correctional records that are open to public
inspection with state agencies involved in fraud detection, so the state can compare correctional
records with records of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Department of
Economic Opportunity (DEO), to identify inmates receiving benefits or reemployment assistance. 9
Correctional records may also be matched against the client files of any other state or local agency as
needed to identify persons who are wrongfully receiving benefits. 10
Florida law directs DFS to establish procedures and implement the record-sharing program, conduct
database searches, and share relevant results with counties where benefits such as food stamps,
Medicaid, and cash assistance originate.11 Results may also be shared with the Child Support
Enforcement Program of the Department of Revenue to locate persons who are not paying child
support, and to the Social Security Administration, to reduce federal entitlement fraud in Florida. 12
The DFS Division of Public Assistance Fraud (PAF) receives corrections data and transmits the data to
the agencies listed in s. 414.40, F.S., as part of an interagency agreement. DCF performs the initial
screening of incarceration status of persons receiving public assistance. Investigators employed by the
PAF act on referrals from DCF. Investigators can obtain the incarceration status of individuals under
investigation from the website of the Department of Corrections. DFS has not promulgated rules for the
Stop Inmate Fraud Program and does not anticipate any costs associated with the transfer to DEO.
4 Ch. 2021-36, Laws of Fla., pp. 425-426.
5 S. 218.32(1)(h), F.S.
6 S. 216.102(3)(b), F.S.
7 Department of Financial Services (DFS), Agency Analysis of 2022 CS/CS/House Bill 959, pg. 6 (Feb. 1, 2022).
8 SB 2156 (2011) moved the Stop Inmate Fraud Program from the Department of Law Enforcement to the Department of
Financial Services.
9 S. 414.40, F.S.
10 S. 414.40(2)(d), F.S.
11 S. 414.40(2), F.S.
12 S. 414.40(2)(e), F.S.
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 Florida law provides two methods for reorganizations within the executive branch: 1) An existing
agency or department may be transferred to another agency or department; or 2) A unit of an existing
agency or department may be merged into another agency or department. Any funds allocated to the
agency, department, or program being transferred move to the agency or department accepting the
transfer. Applicable administrative rules remain in effect until they are changed by rulemaking
promulgated by the agency that accepted the transfer. 13
Effect of the Bill
The bill transfers the Stop Inmate Fraud Program from PAF to DEO by merging the record-sharing
program into the DEO. The bill states that a type two transfer is intended and directs DEO to implement
the Stop Inmate Fraud Program and share the results of data-matching with counties where such
benefits originated. In addition to sharing results with the Child Support Enforcement Program and the
Social Security Administration, DEO may share results with PAF.
There is no funding from either DFS or DEO associated with the transfer, and PAF has not promulgated
rules for the record-sharing program. However, the transfer is proposed in connection with a
recommended appropriation in the Governor’s proposed budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year14 of $4.2
million in recurring contracted services.
DEO proposes to use a single vendor to monitor state correctional and county jail data for state
agencies that are affected by benefit fraud, including the Agency for Health Care Administration
(Medicaid), DCF (SNAP and TANF), DEO (Reemployment Assistance), and Child Support Enforcement
(Department of Revenue).
Division of Workers’ Compensation
Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system that provides medical benefits and compensation for lost
wages when an employee is injured or killed in the course of employment. Employers must secure
coverage, and may do so by purchasing insurance from an authorized carrier or through an employee-
leasing agreement, qualifying as a self-insurer, or purchasing coverage from the Florida Workers’
Compensation Joint Underwriting Association, Inc. (FWCJUA)15, which is the state-sponsored insurer of
last resort. In return for providing compensation, the employer is relieved of liability for workplace
injuries and may only be sued for intentional acts that result in injury or death. 16
13 S. 20.06, F.S.
14 Freedom First Budget for Fiscal Year 2022-23, Department of Economic Opportunity, Stop Inmate Fraud Program,
http://www.freedomfirstbudget.com/web% 20forms/Budget/BudgetIssueDetail.as px?p=Stop% 20inmate%20fraud&AgencyT
itle=ECONOMIC%20OPPORTUNITY% 20%3E%20WORKFORCE%20SERV ICES%20(P rogram)%20%3E%20REEMPLO
YMENT%20ASSISTANCE%20PROGRAM%20% 3E%20&si=40200200&pc=1102000000&icd=8100850&title=S TOP%20I
NMATE%20FRAUD%20P ROGRAM (last visited Feb. 14, 2022).
15 S. 627.311(5)(a), F.S.
16 Ss. 440.015, 440.09, 440.10, 440.38, and 627.313, F.S.
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 Definition of Employer
Chapter 440, F.S., includes a specific definition of “employer” for the purposes of workers’
compensation, at s. 440.02(16)(a), F.S., which states:
“Employer” means the state and all political subdivisions thereof,
all public and quasi-public corporations therein, every person
carrying on any employment, and the legal representative of a
deceased person or the receiver or trustees of any person.
“Employer” also includes employment agencies, employee leasing
companies, and similar agents who provide employees to other
persons. If the employer is a corporation, parties in actual control
of the corporation, including, but not limited to, the president,
officers who exercise broad corporate powers, directors, and all
shareholders who directly or indirectly own a controlling interest in
the corporation, are considered the employer for the purposes of
ss. 440.105, 440.106, and 440.107.
The meaning of the words “similar agents” was disputed in a lawsuit brought against the FWCJUA,
which refused to issue a policy to an out-of-state talent agency doing business in Florida because the
talent agency was not licensed in Florida as an employee leasing company.
The question of whether the FWCJUA was required to issue a policy to the talent agency was not
resolved, but the First District Court of Appeal held that the use of the words “similar agents” in the
definition of employer supported the conclusion that the talent agency was an employer subject to the
workers’ compensation law, even though the talent agency was not an employee leasing company
subject to licensure in Florida.17
Effect of the Bill
The bill deletes the works “similar agents” and rephrases the statutory definition of employer used in the
Workers’ Compensation Law.18 The new definition, in relevant part, states:
The term also includes employee leasing companies, as defined in s.
468.520(4), and employment agencies that provide their own employees
to other persons.
Exemptions
All private sector non-construction businesses with four or more employees must have workers’
compensation coverage for employees, and may provide coverage by purchasing insurance or
qualifying as a self-insurer. In the construction industry, coverage is required for every employee, even
if a business consists of a sole proprietor.19
Corporate officers identified in a charter or articles of incorporation filed with the Division of
Corporations of the Department of State may elect an exemption from Florida’s Workers’
Compensation Law20 by electronically submitting a form and paying a $50 fee to the DFS Division of
Workers’ Compensation (DWC). By doing so, the exempt officer indicates that he or she is not covered
by workers’ compensation insurance, and not entitled to benefits in the event of injury. In the
construction industry, no more than three corporate officers may elect such exemptions. 21
17 Florida Work ers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association, Inc. v. American Residuals and Talent, Inc. , 284 So.3d
1115, 1119 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019).
18 See ch. 440, F.S.
19 S. 440.02(17)(b)2, F.S.
20 Ch. 440, F.S.
21 Ss. 440.02(15)(a) and 440.05, F.S.
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