---
type: "Bill"
title: "Servicemembers Civil Relief Act"
description: "Servicemembers Civil Relief Act; Provides certain state laws relating to children do not supersede Servicemembers Civil Relief Act; requires DCF to ensure the act is observed in certain cases."
jurisdiction: "us/states/fl"
legislature: "Florida Legislature"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 197"
citation: "Florida HB 197 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
chapter_law: "2020-65"
primary_sponsors: ["Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee", "Local"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 32
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2019-09-18"
last_action: "2020-06-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/eae97e53-60d1-438c-a698-e436f38224f5"
source_url: "http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2020/197/ByCategory"
source_hash: "73ba9f9f1064c979ed0ba214dacf7caeb06f4cc76bb12eb0e355120396e59fd3"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-fl"]
---

# Florida HB 197 (2020) — Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act; Provides certain state laws relating to children do not supersede Servicemembers Civil Relief Act; requires DCF to ensure the act is observed in certain cases.

**Enacted** — Laws of Florida, Chapter 2020-65.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **H 197 Filed** (filed) — [source](http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2020/197/BillText/Filed/PDF)
2. **H 197 c1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2020/197/BillText/c1/PDF)
3. **H 197 er** (enrolled) — [source](http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2020/197/BillText/er/PDF)

## Votes

- Favorable With Committee Substitute (Local, Federal & Veterans Affairs Subcommittee) — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Passage, Third Reading — **118–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Favorable (Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee) — **14–0** (pass) · lower
- Favorable (Health & Human Services Committee) — **17–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee — primary (person)
- Local — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-09-18** Filed `filing`
- **2019-09-25** Referred to Children, Families and Seniors Subcommittee; Local, Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee; Health and Human Services Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-10-31** On Committee agenda-- Children, Families and Seniors Subcommittee, 11/07/19, 9:00 am, 12 HOB
- **2019-11-07** Favorable by Children, Families and Seniors Subcommittee; YEAS 14 NAYS 0 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-11-08** Now in Local, Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee
- **2019-12-04** On Committee agenda-- Local, Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee, 12/11/19, 9:00 am, 12 HOB
- **2019-12-11** CS by Local, Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee; YEAS 10 NAYS 0
- **2019-12-12** Pending review of CS under Rule 7.18(c)
- **2019-12-16** Now in Health and Human Services Committee
- **2020-01-14** On Committee agenda-- Health and Human Services Committee, 01/16/20, 12:30 pm, Morris Hall
- **2020-01-14** Introduced `introduction`
- **2020-01-14** CS by Local, Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee read 1st time
- **2020-01-16** Favorable by- Health and Human Services Committee; YEAS 17 NAYS 0 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-01-16** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-01-16** Placed on Special Order Calendar, 01/22/20
- **2020-01-22** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-22** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2020-01-22** CS passed; YEAS 118 NAYS 0 `passage`
- **2020-01-29** In Messages
- **2020-02-05** Referred to Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; Judiciary; Rules `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-06** Received
- **2020-03-03** Withdrawn from Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; Judiciary; Rules `withdrawal`
- **2020-03-03** Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading
- **2020-03-03** Substituted for CS/SB 604
- **2020-03-03** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2020-03-03** Placed on 3rd reading
- **2020-03-04** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-04** CS passed; YEAS 40 NAYS 0 `passage`
- **2020-03-04** Ordered enrolled
- **2020-06-11** Signed by Officers and presented to Governor
- **2020-06-20** Approved by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2020-06-22** Chapter No. 2020-65

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/eae97e53-60d1-438c-a698-e436f38224f5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Florida legislature records).