In a first, Gov. DeSantis lets non-compete bill become law sans signature
For the first time since he took office in 2019, Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed legislation to become law without his signature.
Three bills became law without DeSantis' explicit approval at midnight of July 3. One of them, HB 1219 , is a measure pushed by big businesses – including GOP megadonor Ken Griffin's Citadel hedge fund.
The new law, named the Florida Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act, strengthens the enforcement of non-compete and "garden leave" clauses in employment contracts.
Groups of free market think tanks and labor law activists and professors spoke out against the bill and urged DeSantis to veto it.
"The CHOICE Act would codify one of the most anti-innovation, anti-startup, and anti-worker policies to be found anywhere in the country," John Lettieri, President and CEO of the Economic Innovation Group , a Washington D.C.-based public policy research and advocacy organization, said in May. "While dozens of other states are enacting limitations on the use of noncompete agreements, this legislation would take Florida in the opposite direction — locking in talent, stifling wage growth, and undermining efforts to build a cutting-edge startup ecosystem in the Sunshine State."
The new law extends the maximum time for a non-compete clause from two years to four years, barring a worker from leaving to work for a competing business for that span.
It also enables employers to more swiftly enforce those clauses because it requires courts to enjoin a worker from "providing services to any business, entity, or individual other than the covered employer." That will prevent workers from working for a competitor while the case is being litigated.
House records show lobbyists for Citadel, Griffin's hedge fund, and Associated Industries of Florida were registered to lobby the bill. Since 2018, Griffin has donated nearly $47 million to GOP political committees in Florida, including nearly $11 million to committees supporting DeSantis during his gubernatorial runs in 2018 and 2022.
The bill passed 28-9 in the Senate on a party line vote, with Democrats opposed, but passed 91-21 in the House, where it garnered votes from nine Democrats after it was amended to apply only to workers who make twice the average salary in their county and to explicitly exempt health care workers.
DeSantis, in a marked departure from his normal approach to taking action on bills, passively allowed the bill to become law. He also didn't release a letter explaining his action.
Under Florida law, the if the Governor doesn't act on a bill sent to his desk within 14 days it becomes law without his signature.
A DeSantis spokesman didn't respond to an email seeking comment.
The other two bills that became law in the same way, HB 677 and HB 6503 , didn't come with an explanation either.
Under HB 677, the state group health insurance program must cover fertility preservation services, including in vitro fertilization, for state workers diagnosed with cancer whose treatment carries the risk of infertility. The requirement takes effect Jan. 1, 2026.
The other bill, HB 6503, is a claims bill directing Sarasota County to pay nearly $2.3 million to Mande Penney-Lemmon for compensation for the traumatic brain injury and other damages she sustained when a county worker slammed her vehicle into hers in 2018.
Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@gannett.com . Follow him on X: @GrayRohrer .
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Gov. DeSantis lets three bills become Florida law without signature
