Deadline Wednesday for Barahona, records bills

Gov. Rick Scott faces deadlines Tuesday and Wednesday for taking action on 17 bills, including a measure (SB 18) that calls for paying $3.75 million in the 2011 child-abuse death of Nubia Barahona and injuries suffered by her twin brother, Victor.

Lawmakers pointed to failures by the Florida Department of Children and Families as they approved the bill, sponsored by Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, during the legislative session that ended May 8.

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The decomposing body of Nubia Barahona was found in February 2011 in the bed of her adoptive father's pickup truck parked off Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County.

Her brother, Victor, was alive, but authorities said he had been doused with toxic chemicals.

Scott faces a Wednesday deadline to sign, veto or let the bill become law without his signature.

Among the other bills with a Wednesday deadline is a measure (SB 80), sponsored by Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, that seeks to end a debate about attorney fees in public-records lawsuits.

State law requires judges to award attorney fees to people who successfully file lawsuits against government agencies that have improperly withheld public records.

But local governments have contended in recent years that the law is being abused by people who inundate government agencies with public-records requests as a strategy to file lawsuits and receive attorney fees or settlements.

The bill would keep in place the requirement that agencies pay attorney fees if they improperly withhold records.

But it also includes changes, such as requiring that notice be given at least five days before lawsuits are filed, that could help agencies avoid potential litigation.