Florida House To Vote On Auto Glass Repair Bill With ‘Steering’ Amendment

Championed by industry groups and CFO Jimmy Patronis, a bill curbing auto glass repair lawsuits sped through its last committee stop in the House and now awaits a full chamber vote.

The measure (HB 541) advanced with bipartisan support and amended language addressing concerns small auto shops raised about alleged self-dealing by auto glass giant Safelite, which in many cases answers claim calls on behalf of insurers.

The House Commerce Committee overwhelmingly backed the bill, with only Democratic Reps. Kristen Arrington and Jennifer Harris voting ‘no.’

Florida has a ‘litigation problem,’ said Panama City Republican Rep. Griff Griffitts, the bill’s sponsor. He again cited 37,000 auto glass lawsuits in 2022 -- a 6,000% increase from 2011 -- as evidence.

‘Although we’ve corrected some of the problems (with litigation) in the past few months,’ he said, referring in part to a sweeping tort reform measure Gov. Ron DeSantis signed March 24, ‘this bill will take one more avenue of frivolous litigation off the table.’