Legislation clearing the remainder of a $4.3 million settlement between Miami-Dade and a man who lost one of his legs after a county bus struck him in late 2021 is two floor votes away from passage.
Twin bills (SB 14, HB 6521) just advanced through their final Committee stops in the Senate and House with unanimous support.
Both now await full votes in their respective chambers.
The bills stem from a Dec. 16, 2021, crash in which a Metrobus driver drove into Jose Correa while he was legally using a crosswalk at the intersection of Bird Road and LeJeune Road.
The crash resulted in catastrophic injuries, including a below-the-knee amputation.
SB 14 and HB 6521 are claims bills, a special classification of legislation intended to compensate a person or entity for injury or loss due to the negligence or error of a public officer or agency.
Claims bills arise when the damages a claimant seeks are above the thresholds set in Florida’s sovereign immunity law, which today caps payouts at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident.
Correa, who qualified for the former cap, sued Miami-Dade after the accident, and the parties later reached a $4.3 million settlement.
Lawmakers this year are again working to raise the sovereign immunity caps. A House measure to do so passed on the floor last month 104-7.
SB 14 and HB 6521 — sponsored, respectively, by Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez and Rep. Omar Blanco, both Miami Republicans — would authorize the county to pay the remaining $4.1 million. It also limits attorneys fees and lobbying fees tied to the award to 25% of the total compensation.
“The county is not only neutral; they are supportive of this bill,” Blanco told members of the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday ahead of a 17-0 vote.
The upper-chamber version of the legislation passed in the Senate Rules Committee 24-0.
