TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee passed legislation Wednesday that would limit COVID-19-related lawsuits against nursing homes and hospitals.

The measure, SB-74, would implement a one-year statute of limitations on COVID-19 negligence lawsuits. It would also bar suits against facilities over PPE shortages, which were widespread in the early days of the pandemic and may have contributed to virus outbreaks at nursing homes across the state. Facilities that can prove they followed government guidance on preventing the spread of the virus would be immune from litigation alleging complicity in an outbreak.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg), described it as a bulwark against an impending flood of frivolous lawsuits.

"I think we have to do everything we can to support our health care workers at this time," he said. "I think we have to understand that there's a fundamental shift that has occurred in this state over the last year. And if they're going to be there for us, we've got to be there for them."

But Democrats and consumer advocates have couched the legislation as another step by Tallahassee's Republican majority to limit the ability of Floridians to seek justice. Nursing homes, they argue, should be held accountable for the preventable loss of life.

"We expect people to be at their highest standard, and if we take away the possibility of them being called out on negligent action, then what's to stop them?" asked Sen. Tina Polsky (D-Boca Raton) before the committee's party-line vote to advance the bill.