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Today, the House Judiciary Committee met and
passed H. 3489, our tort reform bill, as amended in
Constitutional Laws Subcommittee last week.
H. 3489 was the first bill on the agenda. House Judiciary
Committee Chairman Jim Harrison explained the compromise
amendment proposed by Speaker Harrell and himself.
Speaker Bobby Harrell watched the debate on H. 3489. Speaker
Harrell is the primary sponsor of the bill.
Rep. Todd Rutherford made a general statement expressing his
displeasure of having to deal with tort reform. He also
asked questions regarding the PARSA section of the bill
questioning the need to include solicitors in the PARSA
section.
Rep. Walt McLeod asked questions regarding the existence of
evidence to support the claims that the bill would benefit
economic development or lower insurance premiums. McLeod
stated he would vote for the bill.
Rep. James Smith raised concerns about the statute of repose
language but indicated he would vote for the bill.
Chairman Harrison addressed all three issues before the
committee voted on the Harrell-Harrison amendment.
The legislation passed on a voice vote. Reportedly, Rep.
Todd Rutherford was the only committee member to vote
against H. 3489.
The amendment which is now the bill includes 5 issues:
1) Punitive Damages - A limit of 3 times compensatory
damages or $350,000 whichever is greater on punitive damages
awards.
2) Private Attorney Retention Sunshine Act - establishes a
sliding scale ranging from 23% to 4% on the amount of
attorneys' fees that outside counsel receive when employed
by the Attorney General or a solicitor.
3) Appeal Bond - establishes a cap of $25 million for large
businesses and $1 million for small businesses on the amount
of bond a business must post to file an appeal in a civil
action.
4) Statute of Repose - the language assures that building
code violations do not constitute per se fraud, gross
negligence or recklessness, but such violations may be
introduced as evidence.
5) Admissibility of non-use of seat belts - the statutory
prohibition on the admissibility of failure to use a seat
belt is repealed in the bill.
H. 3489 is now headed to the House floor. The House calendar
has several important issues pending debate but we
anticipate a vote on our tort reform bill in early March.
We will make a PDF of H. 3489 as passed by
the House Judiciary Committee. Please let me know if you
need a copy and I'll be glad to email it to you. |