| Below are some highlighted bills that failed
RELOCATING THE CAPITOL Representative Bill Hager’s (R-Boca Raton) bill to study the feasibility of moving the State Capitol to a more central location in Florida fell flat as it did not get a committee hearing all session. VACATION RENTALS Several bills related to vacation rentals were introduced but none passed this year. Representative Mike LaRosa (R-St. Cloud) tried again to prohibit cities from establishing ordinances specific to short-term rentals. SEXUAL HARASSMENT The House and Senate ultimately could not agree on a final bill that would have created a task force on the prevention of sexual harassment and misconduct. The task force would have studied sexual harassment and misconduct, particularly dealing with public officers, candidates for public office, agency employees, and lobbyists. HUMAN TRAFFICKING Bills that would have allowed victims of human trafficking to sue hotels and motels failed. Senator Book was the primary sponsor and she worked until the last day of Session to get this bill through. Despite the lack of new legislation, the 2018-19 budget includes $6.2 million in new funding for the expansion of human trafficking services. Community service providers such as The Porch Light, Voices of Florida: Open Doors Outreach Network, Bridging Freedom, and Selah Freedom received funding for their initiatives. SANCTUARY CITIES The Rule of Law Adherence Act passed the House 71-35 but failed to be heard in any Senate committee. The bill would have prohibited cities from implementing sanctuary policies and required state and local governmental agencies to comply with and support enforcement of federal immigration law. GAMING In the last hours of the session, legislators were unable to craft a compromise for gaming. This was the only issue where a conference committee was created to iron out the differences between the Senate and House bills. Despite the inability to legislate, enough signatures were obtained through the citizen petition to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to regulate gaming.
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