Bill Amendment: FL S1122 | 2024 | Regular Session

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List
Bill Title: Protection of Historic Monuments and Memorials

Status: 2024-03-08 - Died in Fiscal Policy [S1122 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S1122-Senate_Committee_Amendment_551576.html
       Florida Senate - 2024                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1122
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì551576BÎ551576                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       The Committee on Community Affairs (Martin) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Historic Florida
    6  Monuments and Memorials Protection Act.”
    7         Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 267.0612, Florida
    8  Statutes, is amended to read:
    9         267.0612 Florida Historical Commission; creation;
   10  membership; powers and duties.—In order to enhance public
   11  participation and involvement in the preservation and protection
   12  of the state’s historic and archaeological sites and properties,
   13  there is created within the Department of State the “Florida
   14  Historical Commission.” The commission shall serve in an
   15  advisory capacity to the director of the Division of Historical
   16  Resources to assist the director in carrying out the purposes,
   17  duties, and responsibilities of the division, as specified in
   18  this chapter.
   19         (4) The commission shall meet upon the call of the
   20  presiding officer or Secretary of State, which shall occur at
   21  least quarterly. Members shall serve without pay, but shall be
   22  entitled to reimbursement for their expenses in carrying out
   23  their official duties, as provided in s. 112.061. The commission
   24  shall take minutes of each meeting as required by s. 286.011(2)
   25  and shall post such minutes on the Division of Historical
   26  Resources website within 30 days after the meeting. Minutes of
   27  the commission which have not been adopted or which are still in
   28  draft form must be so labeled when posted.
   29         Section 3. Section 267.201, Florida Statutes, is created to
   30  read:
   31         267.201Protection of historic monuments and memorials.—
   32         (1)DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
   33         (a)“Historic Florida military monument or memorial” means
   34  a monument or memorial on public property that has been
   35  displayed for at least 25 years which features a historic
   36  person, entity, event, or series of events and which honors or
   37  recounts the military service of any past or present military
   38  personnel, including any armed conflict since settlers from
   39  other countries came to what is now the United States. The
   40  Department of Veterans’ Affairs shall use this definition in
   41  consulting with the Secretary of State, the State Historic
   42  Preservation Officer, or the Florida Historical Commission on
   43  any historic Florida monument or memorial.
   44         (b)“Historic Florida monument or memorial” means a
   45  permanent statue, marker, plaque, flag, banner, cenotaph,
   46  religious symbol, painting, seal, tombstone, or display
   47  constructed and located on public property which has been
   48  displayed for at least 25 years, with the intent of being
   49  permanently displayed or perpetually maintained, and which is
   50  dedicated to any person, place, or event that was important in
   51  the past or that is in remembrance or recognition of a
   52  significant person or event in state history.
   53         (c)“Local government” means any city, county, school
   54  district, state college, state university, or any other
   55  political subdivision of the state and its agencies.
   56         (2)POLICY AND INTENT.—
   57         (a)It is the intent of this section to provide statewide
   58  uniformity through the Florida Historical Commission and to
   59  declare void all ordinances, regulations, and executive actions
   60  regarding the removal, damage, or destruction of historic
   61  Florida monuments or memorials or historic Florida military
   62  monuments or memorials which have been enacted by any local
   63  government.
   64         (b)It is further the intent of this section to deter and
   65  prevent any future violations of this section by the abuse of
   66  official authority that may occur when a local government
   67  enactment is passed, or when an action is taken by a local
   68  government official or employee in violation of this section.
   69         (c)It is the intent of the Legislature that the state act
   70  to protect each historic Florida monument and memorial or
   71  historic Florida military monument or memorial from removal,
   72  damage, or destruction. The Legislature finds that an accurate
   73  and factual history belongs to all Floridians and future
   74  generations and that the state has an obligation to protect and
   75  preserve such history. The Secretary of State and the State
   76  Historic Preservation Officer are responsible to work actively
   77  to protect, preserve, and ensure that each historic Florida
   78  monument or memorial is not removed, damaged, or destroyed,
   79  regardless of the location of such monument or memorial in this
   80  state. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs shall have these same
   81  responsibilities for historic Florida military monuments and
   82  memorials.
   83         (d)This section applies to the removal, damage, or
   84  destruction of any historic Florida monument or memorial or
   85  historic Florida military monument or memorial that has been
   86  removed, damaged, or destroyed on or after July 1, 2018.
   87         (3)PREEMPTION.—The state occupies the whole field of
   88  historic Florida monuments or memorials and historic Florida
   89  military monuments or memorials to the exclusion of any existing
   90  or future local government ordinance or any administrative
   91  regulation or rule, or any action by a local government official
   92  or employee, and any such ordinance, regulation, rule, or action
   93  is void.
   94         (4)PROHIBITIONS; PENALTIES.—
   95         (a)A person, a county, an agency, a municipality, a
   96  district, or another entity that violates the Legislature’s
   97  occupation of the whole field of removal, damage, or destruction
   98  of historic Florida monuments or memorials or historic Florida
   99  military monuments or memorials by enacting or enforcing any
  100  local ordinance or administrative regulation or rule impinging
  101  upon such exclusive occupation of the field is liable as
  102  provided in this subsection.
  103         (b)If a local government violates this section, the court
  104  must declare the ordinance, regulation, or rule invalid and
  105  issue a permanent injunction against the local government
  106  prohibiting it from enforcing such ordinance, regulation, or
  107  rule. The local government may not claim as a defense that
  108  enacting the ordinance, regulation, or rule was in good faith or
  109  upon the advice of counsel.
  110         (c)If the court determines that the violation was
  111  committed knowingly and willfully, the court must assess a civil
  112  fine of up to $1,000 against the elected or appointed local
  113  government official or administrative agency head under whose
  114  jurisdiction the violation occurred.
  115         (d)Except as required by applicable law, public funds may
  116  not be used to defend or reimburse the unlawful conduct of a
  117  person found to have knowingly and willfully violated this
  118  section.
  119         (e)A knowing and willful violation of this section by a
  120  person acting in an official capacity for an entity enacting or
  121  enforcing any ordinance, regulation, or rule prohibited under
  122  paragraph (a) or otherwise under color of law may be cause for
  123  termination of employment or contract or removal from office by
  124  the Governor.
  125         (f)A person or an organization described in subsection (6)
  126  may file suit against the county, agency, municipality,
  127  district, or other entity in any court of this state having
  128  jurisdiction over the defendant to the suit for declaratory and
  129  injunctive relief and for actual damages, as limited herein,
  130  caused by the violation. A court shall award a prevailing
  131  plaintiff in any such suit:
  132         1.Reasonable attorney fees and costs in accordance with
  133  state law, including a contingency fee multiplier, as authorized
  134  by law; and
  135         2.The actual damages incurred, not to exceed $100,000.
  136         (g)For a historic Florida monument or memorial or historic
  137  Florida military monument or memorial described in paragraph
  138  (2)(d) which has been removed from its original location to
  139  another location or to storage, the responsible local government
  140  has until December 31, 2024, to notify the Department of State
  141  and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs on a prescribed form of
  142  the following:
  143         1.The specific name of each historic Florida monument or
  144  memorial or historic Florida military monument or memorial that
  145  has been removed from its original location to another location
  146  or to storage.
  147         2.Whether the monument or memorial was damaged or
  148  destroyed in the process of removal or while in storage.
  149         3.A timeline to relocate the monument or memorial and a
  150  good faith estimate of the cost to relocate the monument or
  151  memorial to its original location or, if that is not possible,
  152  to a nearby site of similar prominence, honor, visibility, and
  153  access, with the consultation of the Department of State, the
  154  Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and the Florida Historical
  155  Commission. The local government has until July 1, 2027, to
  156  relocate the historic Florida monument or memorial or historic
  157  Florida military monument or memorial.
  158         (h)The State Historic Preservation Officer or, for a
  159  historic Florida military monument or memorial, the executive
  160  director of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, shall take any
  161  issue regarding protecting or preserving a historic Florida
  162  monument or memorial or relocating a historic Florida monument
  163  or memorial or a historic Florida military monument or memorial
  164  to the Florida Historical Commission for authorization,
  165  regardless of his or her recommendation as to whether action
  166  needs to be taken. A historic Florida monument or memorial or a
  167  historic Florida military monument or memorial may be
  168  temporarily relocated by a local government as a result of a
  169  construction or infrastructure project to a site of similar
  170  prominence, honor, visibility, and access within the same county
  171  or municipality in which the historic Florida monument or
  172  memorial or the historic Florida military monument or memorial
  173  was originally located. Upon completion of the construction or
  174  infrastructure project, the historic Florida monument or
  175  memorial or historic Florida military monument or memorial must
  176  be relocated to its original location or, if that is not
  177  possible, to a nearby site with similar prominence, honor,
  178  visibility, and access within the same county or municipality
  179  with the consultation of the Department of State or the
  180  Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Florida Historical
  181  Commission.
  182         (i)If a historic Florida monument or memorial or a
  183  historic Florida military monument or memorial is removed,
  184  damaged, or destroyed by a local government, the local
  185  government is liable for restoring such monument or memorial to
  186  its original condition or as close as possible to the original
  187  condition within 3 years. If the local government does not have
  188  the necessary funds, the state must restore such monument or
  189  memorial; the Department of State shall withhold from the local
  190  government all arts, cultural, and historic preservation funding
  191  until the local government reimburses the state for the cost of
  192  restoring such monument or memorial; and all such funds shall
  193  again be available to the local government once the state is
  194  repaid. The local government may not retroactively collect any
  195  of the Department of State funds that otherwise would have been
  196  received during the period that state funds were withheld.
  197         (j)The minutes of the commission must record any vote and
  198  the reasons of the commission for the authorization to take
  199  action, to defer making a decision, or to not make a decision.
  200  The State Historic Preservation Officer shall make a written
  201  record of his or her recommendation, whether to take action, to
  202  defer making a decision, or to not make a decision, and the
  203  reasons therefor in consultation with and to the Florida
  204  Historical Commission.
  205         (k)The executive director of the Department of Veterans’
  206  Affairs shall make a written record of his or her recommendation
  207  of whether to take action, to defer making a decision, or to not
  208  make a decision, and the reasons therefor in consultation with
  209  and to the Florida Historical Commission.
  210         (5)TEMPORARY REMOVAL.—
  211         (a)A local government may only remove a historic Florida
  212  monument or memorial or historic Florida military monument or
  213  memorial on public property temporarily due to construction,
  214  expansion, or alteration of a public building, road, street, or
  215  highway; for military necessity; or for any construction or
  216  infrastructure project.
  217         (b)The local government proposing to remove the historic
  218  Florida monument or memorial or a historic Florida military
  219  monument or memorial shall put into an escrow account the good
  220  faith estimate of the funds necessary to replace or relocate
  221  such monument or memorial.
  222         (c)A local government must notify in writing the State
  223  Historic Preservation Officer or the executive director of the
  224  Department of Veterans’ Affairs of the temporary relocation of a
  225  historic Florida monument or memorial or a historic Florida
  226  military monument or memorial within 10 days, on a form
  227  prescribed by the Department of State and the Department of
  228  Veterans’ Affairs.
  229         (d)The State Historic Preservation Officer and the
  230  executive director of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs must
  231  be notified within a reasonable time, but not more than 30 days,
  232  that the construction project is completed, on a form prescribed
  233  by the Department of State in consultation with the Department
  234  of Veterans’ Affairs. The historic Florida monument or memorial
  235  or the historic Florida military monument or memorial must be
  236  placed back at the original location or, if that is not
  237  possible, at a nearby site with similar prominence, honor,
  238  visibility, and access within the same county or municipality as
  239  determined in consultation with the Florida Historical
  240  Commission or, for a historic Florida military monument or
  241  memorial, as determined by the executive director of the
  242  Department of Veterans’ Affairs after consultation with the
  243  Florida Historical Commission. A historic Florida monument or
  244  memorial or a historic Florida military monument or memorial
  245  temporarily relocated for such purpose must be relocated to a
  246  site of similar prominence, honor, visibility, and access within
  247  the same county or municipality in which the monument or
  248  memorial was originally located.
  249         (6)STANDING.—The following have standing to bring a civil
  250  action in the circuit court in the county in which the monument
  251  or memorial was located for any violation of this section:
  252         (a)A group involved in the design, erection, or care of
  253  the monument or memorial or a member of such a group.
  254         (b)A group or person regularly using the monument or
  255  memorial for remembrance.
  256         (7)RULEMAKING.—The Department of State and the Department
  257  of Veterans’ Affairs may adopt rules to implement this section.
  258         Section 4. If any provision of this act or its application
  259  to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity
  260  does not affect other provisions or applications of this act
  261  which can be given effect without the invalid provision or
  262  application, and to this end the provisions of this act are
  263  severable.
  264         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.
  265  
  266  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  267  And the title is amended as follows:
  268         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  269  and insert:
  270                        A bill to be entitled                      
  271         An act relating to protection of historic monuments
  272         and memorials; providing a short title; amending s.
  273         267.0612, F.S.; requiring the Florida Historical
  274         Commission to take minutes of its meetings and post
  275         such minutes on a specified website within a specified
  276         timeframe; requiring that certain minutes have a
  277         specified label when posted; creating s. 267.201,
  278         F.S.; defining terms; providing legislative policy and
  279         intent; providing for retroactive application;
  280         preempting regulation of specified monuments and
  281         memorials to the state; prohibiting persons and
  282         specified entities from taking certain actions
  283         relating to historic monuments and memorials on public
  284         property; requiring courts to declare certain
  285         ordinances, regulations, and rules of a local
  286         government to be invalid and issue permanent
  287         injunctions against the local government; prohibiting
  288         the local government from using specified defenses;
  289         requiring a court to assess civil fines against
  290         specified local government officials and
  291         administrative agency heads; prohibiting the use of
  292         public funds to defend or reimburse unlawful conduct
  293         of certain persons; providing that specified persons
  294         may be terminated or removed by the Governor for
  295         specified violations; authorizing specified persons
  296         and organizations to file suit against specified
  297         entities for injunctive relief and actual damages;
  298         requiring the court to award prevailing plaintiffs
  299         specified fees and damages; requiring specified local
  300         governments to notify the Department of State and the
  301         Department of Veterans’ Affairs on a certain form of
  302         specified information; requiring certain local
  303         governments to relocate specified monuments before a
  304         specified date; requiring the State Historic
  305         Preservation Officer or the executive director of the
  306         Department of Veterans’ Affairs to take certain issues
  307         to the Florida Historical Commission for authorization
  308         to take specified actions; authorizing local
  309         governments to temporarily relocate certain monuments
  310         and memorials under specified conditions; requiring
  311         that such monuments and memorials be relocated to
  312         their original location or another location that meets
  313         certain requirements; providing that certain local
  314         governments have a specified timeframe to restore a
  315         monument and memorial that was damaged, removed, or
  316         destroyed; requiring the state to provide funds for
  317         such restoration if the local government does not have
  318         adequate funding for the restoration; providing that
  319         certain funds be withheld until a certain condition is
  320         met; prohibiting such local governments from
  321         retroactively collecting the withheld state funds;
  322         requiring that the minutes of meetings held by the
  323         Florida Historical Commission record any vote and
  324         reasons of the commission making decisions related to
  325         issues brought by the State Historic Preservation
  326         Officer; requiring the State Historic Preservation
  327         Officer and the executive director of the Department
  328         of Veterans’ Affairs to make a certain written record;
  329         providing that local governments may remove certain
  330         monuments and memorials only for specified reasons;
  331         requiring such local government to place funds in
  332         escrow for a specified purpose; requiring local
  333         governments to notify in writing on a specified form
  334         the State Historic Preservation Officer or the
  335         executive director of the Department of Veterans’
  336         Affairs of the temporary relocation of certain
  337         monuments and memorials within a specified timeframe;
  338         requiring that the State Historic Preservation Officer
  339         or the executive director of the Department of
  340         Veterans’ Affairs be notified within a reasonable
  341         timeframe that the construction project is complete;
  342         providing that specified monuments and memorials must
  343         be placed in their original location or a location
  344         meeting specified requirements; providing for standing
  345         to bring civil actions; providing for rulemaking;
  346         providing severability; providing an effective date.

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