Legislation Watch
- HB 7097 Taxation: On Friday the House of Representatives moved to advance the taxation package, featuring sales tax breaks before the hurricane season and before the new school year. The package also features cuts on commercial lease taxes, cell phones and other communications services. It is the first of its kind to tie water quality to tourism by allowing tourist development tax revenues to be used for water quality projects. Read more here
- SB 1084 Emotional Support Animals: This week the Florida Senate passed SB 1084, prohibiting landlords from disallowing emotional support animals. The bill would require tenants with emotional support animals to provide documentation proving the need for the animal. There has been an increase in fraudulent claims of the need for support animals and this bill would also create penalties of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine for false claims. Read more here
- HB 737 Moments of Silence in Public Schools: This week the House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would require public schools to hold moments of silence at the beginning of each school day. The Senate version is waiting to be heard on second reading on the Senate Floor. Sponsors of the bill say the mandatory moment of silence would give children an opportunity to reflect before beginning their day. Read more here
- HB 713 Department of Health: On Thursday the House of Representatives approved an amendment to HB 713 that would create a 10% cap on medical marijuana flower and derivatives for patients under 21-years-old. Terminally ill patients would be able to make a case for exclusion. Under the bill, the use of THC-P would be prohibited; THC-P is a genetically modified variant more than 10 times stronger than THC. Read more here
Scope of Practice Bills Progress
Three Scope of Practice Bills with similar Senate companions are moving through the Florida Legislature. Scope of practice is a term that refers to the activities that healthcare providers are authorized to perform and is generally outlined in the law. These bills would widen the scope of practice for healthcare professions such as pharmacists, nurses and certified nursing assistants.
- HB 389: Practice of Pharmacy. This bill would permit pharmacists to provide testing and treatment for the flu and strep throat. Under this bill, pharmacists would also be allowed to manage defined “chronic” health conditions, these include asthma, diabetes and hypertension. Read more here
- HB 7053: Direct Care. This bill would expand the scope of practice for advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants, allowing them to practice autonomously, independently of physicians if the person has at least 2,000 hours of supervised practice, a graduate course in pharmacology, and no adverse incident. Read more here
- HB 607: Healthcare Practitioners. This bill would allow advanced practice registered nurses to admit to, handle care in or discharge patients from facilities. Read more here
Consumer Protection:
SB 1492, Consumer Protection is aimed at amending current law to protect consumers by cutting down on insurance claim delays. This bill is a priority of CFO Jimmy Patronis, changing multiple insurance laws including a requirement for companies to settle claims in 90 days. Other provisions in the bill would hold unlicensed insurance agents accountable and not allow insurance companies to mention Medicare if their policies are not related to the program. Under the bill, insurance companies would be required to send policyholders a “Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights” annually highlighting hurricane coverage included in the policy. This comes after Hurricane Michael in which there was a surge of claims delays in the aftermath. Read more here
State Budget Watch
The Florida Legislature has just four days to reconcile differences in the state budget. Session is scheduled to end March 13, but the budget must be completed by March 10 due to a 72 hour “cooling off” period before both chambers can vote on it. Senate President Bill Galvano told reporters on Thursday that he expected budget conferencing to begin this weekend. The Senate proposed $92.83 billion in spending, while the House proposed $91.37 billion in spending. Big differences in the budget stem from these issues: state worker and teacher compensation, spending of affordable-housing, funding for Florida Forever, Visit Florida, and hospitals.
For Further Information
- Keep up-to-date with our Legislative Session 2020 Weekly Updates: Subscribe now
- Learn more about our Government Affairs Practice.
