Opinion ID: 1817818
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: reconciling the provisions

Text: According to the majority, see majority op. at 365, a conflict exists between subsection (6) (requiring the bond to warn of the statutory deadlines) and subsection (4) (providing that the deadlines apply regardless of the form of the bond). I disagree. Rather, subsection (4) actually resolves a potential conflict. That conflict is between subsection (2), which establishes the statutory deadlines, and subsection (6), which requires the bond to warn about those deadlines. What happens when, as occurred here, the bond fails to warn of the deadlines and the claimant fails to meet them? Subsection (4) answers that question: the statutory deadlines apply regardless of the form of the bond. When confronted with an issue of statutory construction, as in this case, we are guided by legislative intent. See State v. Rife, 789 So.2d 288, 292 (Fla.2001). This intent must be determined primarily from the language of the statute. Overstreet v. State, 629 So.2d 125, 126 (Fla.1993). The legislative intent being plainly expressed, so that the act read by itself or in connection with other statutes pertaining to the same subject is clear, certain and unambiguous, the courts have only the simple and obvious duty to enforce the law according to its terms.... Even where a court is convinced that the Legislature really meant and intended something not expressed in the phraseology of the act, it will not deem itself authorized to depart from the plain meaning of the language which is free from ambiguity. Forsythe v. Longboat Key Beach Erosion Control Dist., 604 So.2d 452, 454 (Fla.1992) (quoting Van Pelt v. Hilliard, 75 Fla. 792, 78 So. 693, 694-95 (1918) (quoting 2 J.G. Sutherland, Statutes and Statutory Construction § 366 (1904))). Thus, [i]f the language of the statute is clear and unequivocal, then the legislative intent must be derived from the words used without involving incidental rules of construction or engaging in speculation as to what the judges might think that the legislators intended or should have intended. Tropical Coach Line, Inc. v. Carter, 121 So.2d 779, 782 (Fla.1960). In this case, the statutory language itself answers the question. As the Fifth District Court of Appeal has recognized, subsection (4), which requires compliance with the deadlines regardless of the form of the bond, constitutes a clear and unambiguous abrogation of common law payment bonds on public works projects. See Fla. Crushed Stone Co. v. Am. Home Assurance Co., 815 So.2d 715, 716 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002). Subsection (4) makes the payment provisions of all [public works] bonds into statutory bond provisions and therefore subject to subsection (2). There are no exceptions. Regardless of means without taking into account. Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 981(10th ed.1993). Thus, the phrase emphasizes the absolute and all-inclusive reach of the subsection. Viewing subsections (4) and (6) in pari materia with the rest of the statute leads to the same conclusion. See Forsythe, 604 So.2d at 455 (It is axiomatic that all parts of a statute must be read together in order to achieve a consistent whole.). Subsection (2), which establishes the forty-five-day, ninety-day, and one-year deadlines, warns expressly that (1) [n]o action may be brought unless both notices have been given and that (2) [n]o action may be brought on the payment bond more than one year after performance of the contract. § 255.05(2), Fla. Stat. (1995). That subsection contains no exceptions, either. If the notices are not timely provided, relief is barred. A claim is also barred if not brought within the one-year statute of limitations. Under subsections (4) and (2), then, the statute clearly provides that all bond payment provisions are statutory and all are subject to these deadlines. In this case, Plaza Materials failed to comply with the statute's notice requirements and did not file its claim within the one-year period. See Am. Home Assurance Co. v. Plaza Materials Corp., 826 So.2d 358, 359 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). Accordingly, under these two provisions alone, its action is barred. An examination of the other relevant subsections of section 255.05 reinforces this conclusion. Subsection (6) requires that all bonds refer to section 255.05 and to the deadlines in the statute. Subsections (1) and (6) have two things in common. First, they both specify required information for the contents of the bond. Second, neither subsectionnor any other part of the statuteprescribes a consequence for failing to comply with these requirements. In contrast, subsection (4) provides that all bonds regardless of form are subject to the deadlines of subsection (2). That subsection, in turn, provides that a claim is barred if notice is not given or if brought after the one-year statute of limitations has run. § 255.05(2), Fla. Stat. (1995). The lack of any sanction for noncompliance in subsections (1) and (6), combined with the unequivocal regardless of form language of subsection (4) referring to subsection (2) and the equally unequivocal language of subsection (2), demonstrates that the Legislature intended to enforce the statutory deadlines regardless of whether the bond referred to them. We have held that the absence of a sanction for noncompliance with a statutory provision evidences a legislative choice about the primacy of that provision vis-a-vis other, conflicting provisions. See Dept of Bus. Regulation v. Hyman, 417 So.2d 671, 673 (Fla.1982) (Although section 120.59(1) says that final orders shall be rendered within 90 days, it does not specify any sanction for violation of the time requirement. Other parts of chapter 120, however, do provide sanctions or other consequences where there is a failure by either an agency or an affected party to act within the prescribed time limits.). Further, not every statutory violation carries a civil remedy. See, e.g., Villazon v. Prudential Health Care Plan, Inc., 843 So.2d 842, 852 (Fla.2003) (noting that [t]he [Health Maintenance Organization] Act does not specifically provide a private right of action for damages based upon an alleged violation of its requirements); Mantooth v. Richards, 557 So.2d 646, 646 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990) (holding that a violation of a criminal statute did not afford a civil remedy); see also Gunn v. Robles, 100 Fla. 816, 130 So. 463, 463 (1930) (Where a particular remedy is conferred by statute, it can be invoked only to the extent and in the manner prescribed.); Sylvester v. City of Delray Beach, 584 So.2d 214, 215 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) (holding that the exclusive remedy for violation of a statute was injunctive relief); City of Miami v. Cosgrove, 516 So.2d 1125, 1127 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (holding that a statute granting a right to injunctive relief did not thereby grant a right to collect damages); cf. 48A Fla. Jur.2d Statutes § 227 (2000) (In general, a statute that does not purport to establish a civil liability, but merely makes provision to secure the safety or welfare of the public as an entity, will not be construed as establishing a civil liability.). Had the Legislature intended to punish the omission of the information subsection (6) requires, it could have so provided. I find it significant that the Legislature added subsections (4) and (6) at the same time, in 1980. See Ch. 80-32, § 1 Laws of Fla. Had the Legislature wanted to enforce subsection (6), it could have excepted from the deadlines in subsection (2) any bond not complying with subsection (6). It did not do so, and in fact added subsection (4) as well. Thus, the Legislature emphasized that the failure to comply with subsection (6) would not affect a claimant's obligation to comply with the deadlines in subsection (2). I also find it significant that when the Legislature amended the statute to add subsections (4) and (6), it did not also amend subsection (3). See Ch. 80-32, § 1, Laws of Fla. Subsection (3) provides a form for a public construction bond, but this approved bond does not refer to the statutory deadlines. § 255.05(3), Fla. Stat. (1995). The subsection specifies that the bond required in subsection (1) may be in substantially the following form. Id. Thus, the Legislature obviously approves the use of its model bond. If it had deemed essential the references to the statutory deadlines, it would have amended its model form when it added subsection (6). It also would have tempered the regardless of form language in subsection (4). The fact that it did not supports the conclusion that subsection (4) was designed to enforce the statutory deadlines even if the bond failed to refer to them. Under the majority's decision, however, even a bond that copies verbatim the statute's model form could lose the statutory protections. In this case, American Home issued the bond using a standard Department of Transportation bond that closely parallels the model bond. Like the model bond, American Home's refers to section 255.05 generally (thus placing claimants on notice of the statute), but does not refer specifically to the deadlines. Further support for my reading of the statute is the fact that subsection (6) merely requires a redundant actthat is, notice of what the statute already says and what claimants are legally presumed to know. In the area of bonds in particular, courts have held that the provisions of [section 255.05] become a part of the bond or the bond should be construed in light of the statute. Fuller Indus., Inc. v. R. Terry Blazier & Son, Inc., 188 So.2d 2, 3 (Fla. 2d DCA 1966). More generally, the public is on constructive notice of statutory requirements. See, e.g., Ellis v. State, 762 So.2d 912, 912 (Fla.2000) (recognizing that publication in the Laws of Florida or the Florida Statutes gives all citizens constructive notice of the consequences of their actions); In re Will of Martell, 457 So.2d 1064, 1068 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984) (recognizing that each person is presumed to know the law); Guemes v. Biscayne Auto Rentals, Inc., 414 So.2d 216, 218 n. 4 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982) (same); Hart v. Hart, 377 So.2d 51, 52 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979) (All citizens are presumed to know the law.); cf. Health Care & Ret. Corp. of Am. v. Dep't of Health & Rehab. Servs., 463 So.2d 1175, 1177 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984) (noting that an applicant for a certificate of need is presumed to know the applicable law). Many cases have recognized the maxim, as old as the law itself, that ignorance of the law is no excuse. See, e.g., Fla. Bar v. Dubow, 636 So.2d 1287, 1288 (Fla.1994); D.F. v. State, 682 So.2d 149, 152 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); Reason v. Motorola, Inc., 432 So.2d 644, 645 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Thus, Plaza Materials is presumed to know the operative law affecting its rights and obligations. I note that the bond in this case expressly cited section 255.05. Thus, Plaza Materials was warned to read it. Further underscoring this conclusion is the fact that a contractor is not required to provide claimants a copy of the bond. § 255.05(1), Fla. Stat. (1995). Rather, the claimant must request a copy from the governmental entity in charge of the public works project. See id. Unless the claimant specifically requests a copy of the bond when it begins work, it will not even see the references to the statutory deadlines until it files a claim. For these reasons, I conclude that although the Legislature apparently found it important to require that bonds refer to the deadlines of subsection (2), the language of subsection (4)providing that, regardless of form, all bonds remain subject to the requirements of subsection (2)demonstrates that it did not grant the requirement of notice of the deadlines coequal status with the deadlines themselves. So far, my discussion has focused on the statute's plain language. But the majority also examines the legislative staff analyses in an attempt to divine the intent behind the Legislature's silence on the enforcement of subsection (6). See majority op. at 368 (citing, for example, staff analyses and concluding that [b]efore the bill was passed, the legislative intent shifted). In my view, this kind of analysis is neither compatible with our judicial responsibility of assuring reasoned, consistent, and effective application of the statutes . . ., nor conducive to a genuine effectuation of [legislative] intent. Blanchard v. Bergeron, 489 U.S. 87, 99, 109 S.Ct. 939, 103 L.Ed.2d 67 (1989) (Scalia, J., concurring in part and concurring in the judgment). This Court has stated that legislative staff analyses are not determinative of legislative intent, but are only one touchstone of the collective legislative will. White v. State, 714 So.2d 440, 443 n. 5 (Fla.1998) (quoting Sun Bank/South Florida, N.A. v. Baker, 632 So.2d 669, 671 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)). However, where the language is clear, courts need no other aids for determining legislative intent. See Tropical Coach Line, Inc., 121 So.2d at 782. Even if the language were not clear, legislative staff analyses add nothing to an investigation of legislative intent. Staff analyses are not written by legislators but, as the name implies, by staff that is unelected employees. The analyses thus provide scant evidence of even a probable or constructive legislative intent, because they are crafted by staff ... and are subject to packing via influence of interest groups and other legislative insiders. Foreman v. United States, 26 Cl.Ct. 553, 562 (Cl.Ct.1992), aff'd, 60 F.3d 1559 (Fed. Cir.1995). Another problem with relying on a staff analysis is that no evidence exists that any of the legislators who voted for the proposed bill even read the analysis, much less agreed with it. See Foreman, 26 Cl.Ct. at 562. Moreover, the staff analyses the majority cites came from only one house of the legislature, and again no evidence exists that the other house adopted it, agreed with it, or even read it. The fact is that even if all the legislators read the staff analysis of a bill, they could disagree with it and still vote in favor of the bill itself. See Bank One Chicago, N.A. v. Midwest Bank & Trust Co., 516 U.S. 264, 280, 116 S.Ct. 637, 133 L.Ed.2d 635 (1996) (Scalia, J., concurring in part and concurring in the judgment) (Moreover, even if subjective intent rather than textually expressed intent were the touchstone, it is a fiction of Jack-and-the-Beanstalk proportions to assume that more than a handful of those Senators and Members of the House who voted for the final version of the [legislation] ... were, when they took those actions, aware of the drafting evolution [of the bill] ...; and if they were, that their actions in voting for or signing the final bill show that they had the same `intent' which that evolution suggests was in the minds of the drafters.). The only text with which a legislator must agree is the text of the bill itself. See Crosby v. Nat'l Foreign Trade Council, 530 U.S. 363, 390-91, 120 S.Ct. 2288, 147 L.Ed.2d 352 (2000) (Scalia, J., concurring in the judgment) (The only reliable indication of that [legislative] intentthe only thing we know for sure can be attributed to all of themis the words of the bill that they voted to make law.); Deason v. State, 688 So.2d 988, 990 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997) (Allen, J., dissenting) (disagreeing with majority's reliance upon tidbits of legislative history to discern `legislative intent' and stating that the law means what its text most appropriately conveys), approved sub nom. Deason v. Dep't of Corrections, 705 So.2d 1374 (Fla.1998). [9] Even if staff analyses were potentially helpful in the abstract, in this case they provide no useful information. The staff analyses indicate that (1) the bond form in the statute would remain permissive; (2) regardless of form, the bonds shall be construed as statutory; and (3) the bond must refer to the statute's notice and time limitations. See majority op. at 368. All of this is contained in the statute itself, and none of it substantiates the majority's conclusion that it shows clear[ly] that the Legislature did not intend for either subsection (4) or (6) to have a completely preclusive effect. Majority op. at 368. The purported lamp of legislative history sheds no light on this issue.