Governor Crist vetoes Senate Bill 1964

On June 1, 2010 Governor Crist vetoed Senate Bill 1964. This bill was quite controversial as it limited the tort liability of design professionals for economic damages resulting from their design defects. In essence, S.B. 1964 was legislatively overruling the Florida Supreme Court's decision of Moransais v. Heathman, 744 So.2d 973 (Fla. 1999). The Moransais decision held that the "economic loss rule" does not prevent a cause of action for negligence against a design professional. S.B. 1964 would have affected engineers, architects, surveyors interior designers and landscape architects. Governor Crist concluded that the proposed limit of liability would have granted unique privileges and advantages to design professionals by removing a consumer's right to bring a tort cause of action against them. Since errors in design may create severe economic damages, Governor Crist was concerned that this bill failed to provide any alternate remedies and shifted the losses on to consumers.