State legislators brief Highland Beach on session: sovereign immunity, preemption and the Haven Act

State Senator Lori Berman and State Representative Peggy Gossett‑Seidman on April 7 updated the Town Commission on key outcomes and pending work from the 2026 legislative session that will affect local governments.

Senator Berman told commissioners she has represented Highland Beach for eight years and said this was her final legislative session. She described a legislative calendar still in flux and highlighted bills that change municipalities’ legal and administrative environment. "So, um as you I'm sure you've heard, we have one job and we didn't do it," she said, referring to the unfinished budget and special‑session timing.

Berman told the Commission she expects municipalities to see several substantive changes. She described a change to sovereign immunity limits, stating the new caps are now $350,000 per person and $500,000 per incident; she said the change will likely affect litigation exposure and insurance costs. She also summarized preemption actions that restrict local regulation in several areas (for example, limitations on restricting fuel types for leaf blowers) and noted changes to building‑code administrative processes and time limits.

Representative Peggy Gossett‑Seidman described bills she helped pass, including the Haven Act, which she said will allow some victims of domestic violence to use a special device or phone feature that sends texts and video directly to police instead of routing through a call center. "This way they can hit a button ... and get instant help," she said, describing the policy rationale as a life‑saving enhancement for people who cannot place a verbal call. She also said the Legislature passed a bill allowing Special Olympics participation to satisfy certain physical‑education graduation requirements for students with IEPs, including band and art participation in some cases.

Gossett‑Seidman also noted Highland Beach requested $375,000 for a pedestrian safety and traffic improvement project; she said the House secured roughly half of that amount in its version of the budget and the final amount will depend on the budget completion and conference negotiations.

Both legislators warned that House Bill 1329 will require local governments to post more data to their websites and complete a mandated cost‑cutting exercise (described in the session as a 10% exercise, an analytic exercise rather than an immediate budget cut). Berman said some of those mandated exercises are procedural and that municipalities must be prepared to respond to the new reporting requirements.

Commissioners thanked the legislators for their service and asked a few follow‑up questions about specific local projects (A1A repaving, the Marine Dock), which the legislators said they had assisted in moving through state channels.