Legislative Link - United Way of Florida

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Issue #10 July 8, 2010

What a Session

Last week, the budget and bills passed by the 2010 Florida Legislature went in to effect. Both reflect a session that was fraught with political infighting and focused largely on money.

Beginning with a whimper (House Speaker Ray Sansom resigns and is subsequently indicted) and a chuckle (Republican Legislators mock Republican Governor Charlie Crist’s rosy budget forecast), session dynamics quickly turned to the most important issues of the day: erasing a $3.2 billion budget deficit and positioning for upcoming elections.

Legislators struggled to fund priority programs without raising taxes. While the $70.4 billion 2010-2011 budget provides funding for many more services than advocates had hoped for before session began, there are notable exceptions.

United Way of Florida Priority Issues

While the United Way of Florida monitors and advocates for – and against – numerous health and human service, education, income, and non-profit issues, the following issues were the organization’s top 2010 legislative priorities. Here’s what happened:

Healthy Families Florida – Healthy Families Florida (HFF) is the state’s premier child abuse and neglect prevention program. In Florida, where a child dies of abuse or neglect every 4 days, HFF is proven to be 98% effective in eliminating child abuse and neglect among high risk families. Even so, the Senate initially proposed erasing the entire $27 million dollar program budget. The final budget approved by both Houses contains a $10 million cut to HFF, which results in 3,500 families, including 6,000 children, not receiving services.

Children’s Services Councils – CS/CS/CS SB 2014 was a comprehensive early learning bill into which provisions changing referendum requirements applicable to Children’s Services Councils (CSCs) were incorporated. The original CSC bills (SB 1216 and HB 1227) would have fundamentally altered the Children’s Services Council governance structure and required each CSC to be put up for referendum every six years, among others. In the end, compromise provisions were incorporated into CS/CS/CS SB 2014 that will require CSCs go back to referendum in the following time frames:

• By 2014 for Martin, St. Lucie, and Okeechobee Counties;
• By 2016 for Broward, Hillsborough, Palm Beach and Pinellas Counties; and
• By 2020 for Miami/Dade County.

Referenda language can establish future referenda dates or can include reauthorization in perpetuity. If the referenda language does not define the terms for reauthorization, then the CSC will be required to go back to the voters for approval every twelve years.

Affordable Housing – SB 262 would have removed the $243 million cap that was put on affordable housing trust funds in 2007 and provided for the trust funds to be used as intended – for affordable housing. The bill also would have helped thousands of Floridians renovate and improve existing properties so Florida's 300,000 empty-house-inventory could be sold-down, helping the construction industry - one of Florida’s main economic drivers – get back on track. The bill died on the final day of session when an unrelated amendment was tacked onto it by the bill’s sponsor. The amendment killed the bill. Affordable housing ended up receiving a $37.5 million appropriation, but $174 million was swept from the State Housing trust fund and the local government trust fund, basically cleaning them out.

Early Steps/Part C – We know that if young children are provided the support and nurturing they need in their earliest years, they are much more likely to realize their full potential. The Early Steps Program provides almost 42,000 children at risk for and with developmental delays with services that often change their lives forever and reduces the need for expensive future state services. In order to continue to draw down millions of federal dollars to serve these children, the Department of Health identified $3.6 million to replace non-recurring TANF from this year's budget, which was appropriated by the Legislature.

Medicaid Reform – Florida will spend around $19 billion – about one-in-four state budget dollars – on Medicaid next year, and funding for the program that serves 2.7 million Floridians accounted for about half of next year’s $3.2 billion budget shortfall. Consequently, Legislators are looking for ways to reduce Medicaid costs.

Numerous studies have been unable to document that Florida’s experiment with Medicaid reform has saved state money, and all have documented more problems with quality and access to services in reform areas. All, that is, except one; one requested by the Legislature by a firm doing work for Medicaid HMOs and released earlier this year.

While the study provided some momentum to Medicaid reform expansion efforts and Medicaid reform was subject to major consideration, expansion was not approved by the 2010 Legislature.

Healthy Start – The ability of the state’s premier program that protects the health and welfare of pregnant women and at-risk newborns would have been significantly undermined by a House budget proposal to completely eliminate Healthy Start Coalitions and shift service dollars and responsibilities to local County Health Departments. The cut would have saved the state $4 million, but would have resulted in loss of $32 million that the Coalitions leverage in additional community funds. Access to prenatal care through established provider networks would also have been negatively impacted and successful universal risk screening for pregnant women and infants jeopardized. The final 2010-2011 budget passed by the Legislature keeps the Healthy Start Coalitions in place, but cuts funding for Healthy Start services by $4.7 million.

Constitutional Amendments on November Ballot

As this Legislative Link went to press, nine proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution had been certified to appear on the November ballot. Ranging from reducing the requirements of the class size amendment to thumbing Florida’s collective nose at federal health care legislation to Hometown Democracy, each could have major impacts on Floridians. The proposed amendments and the names under which they will appear on the November ballot are:

1. Repeal Of Public Campaign Financing Requirement
2. Homestead Ad Valorem Tax Credit For Deployed Military Personnel
3. Property Tax Limit For Nonhomestead Property; Additional Homestead Exemption For New Homestead Owners
4. Referenda Required For Adoption And Amendment Of Local Government Comprehensive Land Use Plans.
5. Standards For Legislature To Follow In Legislative Redistricting
6. Standards For Legislature To Follow In Congressional Redistricting
7. Standards For Legislature To Follow In Legislative And Congressional Redistricting (on July 8, ordered removed from the ballot by lower court .....ultimately headed to the Supreme Court)
8. Revision Of The Class Size Requirements For Public Schools
9. Health Care Services.

To read the actual language of the proposed amendments and their summaries, visit the Secretary of State’s website.

2010 - 2011 Florida Budget

Legislative sessions are often dominated by the machinations that go into crafting the state budget. 2010 was no different. However, the intrigue and unknowns surrounding the budget-building process this year were extraordinary.

Kicking off this year’s process was Governor Crist, who was derided by his own party – he was still a Republican at the time - for being unrealistically optimistic about 2010-2011 revenues. He proposed a $69.2 billion 2010-2011 budget. In the end, the Legislature passed a $70.4 billion budget, $1.2 billion more than the Governor had proposed and 5.7% larger than this year’s budget.

Will Congress send $1 billion to Florida in Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) money next year? This question dominated budget considerations the entire session. Every time Congress appeared ready to pass the money down, the deal fell through. Should budget writers include money-not-in-hand in the budget? Strong opinions rested on both sides of the argument. Ultimately, the Legislature did include the FMAP money in the budget, as did 29 other states. However, in order to prevent a campaign-disrupting special session, the Florida Legislature was one of only 9 states that included contingency plans that will take effect if FMAP funds do not materialize. This translates into cuts to a variety of state services.

The other big issue the 2010 Legislature faced was how to erase a $3.2 billion budget deficit consistent with House and Senate leaders’ vows that it would be done without raising taxes. They did so by:

• including $2.3 billion in stimulus funds – funds that will not be available next year;
• including $260 million of anticipated FMAP money (The remaining $730 million will go into reserves, if Congress provides it.);
• passing a long-awaited Seminole Gaming Compact worth $435 million this year and at least $1 billion over the next five years;
• sweeping more than $500 million from agency trust funds (including $160 million from the state’s road-building fund, which was vetoed by Governor Crist); and
• cutting numerous services.

The Legislature also socked away an additional $1.8 billion into reserves (which will be supplemented by the FMAP money if it comes down) to address potential bumps along the 2010-2011 budget highway and to help off-set a looming $5-$6 billion 2011-2012 budget deficit. Here are just a few snapshots of what happened with budget items impacting the state’s young, old and disabled:

Voluntary Prekindergarten and School Readiness
• School Readiness funding maintained - $615.4 million
• VPK increased - $37.6 million (covers an additional 8,895 projected enrollees).
• VPK Base Student Allocation reduced from $2,575 to $2,562 per student for the school year and from $2,190 to $2,179 for the summer program.
• Early Learning Coalition administration reduced from 4.85% to 4.5%.

Agency for Health Care Administration
• Nursing Home Rates reduced by 7% - $199.4 million
• Hospice Rates reduced by 7% (dropping to 5% if FMAP arrives) - $17.5 million
• Medically Needy Program funded through June 30, 2011 - $817.2 million
• Meds AD Program funded through June 30, 2011 - $626.5 million

Agency for Persons with Disabilities - Developmental Disabilities Home and Community Based Services (DD/HCBS) Waiver:
• Establishes Tier 1 Expenditure Cap at $150,000 – $1.4 million reduction
• Reduces Expenditure Caps on Tiers 2, 3, & 4 by 2.5% - $4.2 million reduction (Tier 2 goes from $55,000 to $53,625; tier 3 goes from $35,000 to $34,125 and tier 4 goes from $14,792 to $14,422.)

Department of Children and Family Services
• Children’s Mental Health cut - $3 million
• Community Adult Mental Health Program cut - $5.3
• Healthy Families cut - $10.0
• Mental Health and Substance Abuse Projects increase - $15.3 million
• Maintenance Adoption Subsidies Restoration - $12.9 million
• Mental Health Restoration - $10.2 million
• Homeless Prevention Grants funded - $8.6 million
• Adult Mental Health Services funded - $1.5 million

Department of Elder Affairs
• Aged/Disabled Medicaid Waiver increased - $8.3 million
• Community Care for the Elderly maintained - $49,093,317
• Home Care for the Elderly maintained - $3,951,679
• Alzheimer's Respite Care & Memory Disorder Clinics maintained - $11,790,148
• Aged and Disabled Medicaid Waiver maintained - $626,501,893

Department of Health
• Healthy Start Services cut - $4.7 million
• County Health Departments cut - $10.5 million
• Early Steps/Part C Early Intervention Program maintained
• Children’s Medical Services increase cut - $11 million (not including KidCare increases)
• KidCare/Healthy Kids increased - $7.5 million (allowing 9% expansion of 22,374 children)

Criminal and Civil Justice
• Grant funding to small counties for detention services in the Department of Juvenile Justice - $5.5 million
• CINS/FINS, PACE Center for Girls, and Associated Marine Institutes funding maintained
• Department of Juvenile Justice residential programs reduced - $7 million (reduction of approximately 50 secure and 128 non-secure beds).
• Juvenile Assessment Centers maintained - $4.7 million

BILLS THAT PASSED

Crimes Against Homeless Persons

Currently, s. 775.085, F.S., provides that the penalty for any felony or misdemeanor offense must be reclassified if the commission of the offense evidences prejudice based on the race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, mental or physical disability, or advanced age of the victim. This is commonly known as the “hate crime” statute.

HB 11 provides that the penalty for any felony or misdemeanor offense must be reclassified if the commission of the offense evidences prejudice based on the homeless status of the victim. (ch. 10-46, LOF)
Read the bill.

Health Care Services

CS/CS/HJR 37 proposes, among others, to amend the Florida Constitution to prohibit any person, employer, or health care provider from being compelled to participate in any health care system. The joint resolution authorizes any person or employer to pay directly for health care services and provides that persons or employers shall not incur a penalty or fine for direct payment. Once passed and incorporated into the Constitution, the provision could be over-ridden by a general law passed by a two-thirds vote of the membership of each house, provided that the law states with specificity the public necessity justifying the exemption.

The joint resolution was approved by three-fifths vote of the membership of each house; thus it will be presented to the electors of Florida at the November 2, 2010 general election. Approval requires a favorable vote from 60 percent or more of the electors voting on the measure.
Read the bill.

Adult Protective Services

Among others, CS/HB 91 replaces the terms “disabled adult” and “elderly persons” with the term “vulnerable adult,” and adds “sensory” to the term “vulnerable adult.” The bill creates a definition for “activities of daily living” that conforms the phrase with its use in Part II of ch. 429, F.S., relating to adult family-care homes.

The bill provides that the central abuse hotline must transfer to the appropriate county sheriff’s office reports of known or suspected abuse of a vulnerable adult involving a person other than a relative, caregiver, or household member. This change aligns the abuse of vulnerable adult reporting requirements with the abuse of children reporting requirements. The bill provides the Department with access to records of the Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles for use in conducting protective investigations.

The bill also authorizes the Department of Children & Families (Department), upon a good faith belief that a vulnerable adult lacks the capacity, to file a petition to determine capacity in emergency and nonemergency adult protective proceedings and prohibits the Department from serving as guardian or providing legal counsel to the guardian once such petition has been filed. (ch. 10-31, LOF)
Read the bill.

Sexual Offenders and Predators

CS/CS/HB 119 creates restrictions for a person convicted of an offense listed in the sexual offender statute where the victim was under the age of 18. Among many others, the bill makes it a first degree misdemeanor if a person convicted of such an offense: 1) commits loitering or prowling within 300 feet of a place where children were congregating; 2) knowingly approaches, contacts or communicates with a child under 18 years of age in any public park building or on real property comprising any public park or playground with intent to engage in conduct of a sexual nature or to make a communication containing content of a sexual nature; 3) knowingly be present in any child care facility or pre-K-12 school or on real property comprising any child care facility or pre-K-12 school when the child care facility or school is in operation unless the offender has provided written notification of his or her intent to be present to the school board, superintendent, principal or child care facility owner; 4) fail to notify the child care facility owner or the school principal’s office when he or she arrives and departs the child care facility or school; or 5) fails to remain under the direct supervision of a school official or designated chaperone when present in the vicinity of children. (ch. 10-92, LOF)
Read the bill.

School Food Service Programs

CS/SB 140 creates the Florida Farm Fresh Schools Program within the Department of Education (DOE) to develop school food services policies that:
• Encourage school districts to buy fresh and high-quality foods grown in the state, when feasible;
• Encourage Florida farmers to sell their products directly to school districts and schools; and
• Encourage school districts and schools to demonstrate a preference for competitively priced organic food products.
School districts and schools are required to make reasonable efforts to select foods based on a preference for those that have maximum nutritional content. The bill directs DOE to work collaboratively with Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to provide outreach, guidance, and training to school districts, school food service directors, parent and teacher organizations, and students about the benefits of fresh food products from Florida farms. The Florida Farm Fresh Schools Program must maintain compliance with the regulations of the National School Lunch Program. (ch. 10-183, LOF)
Read the bill.

Suicide Prevention Education

CS/CS/SB 434 amends district school board duties relating to student discipline and school safety to require each board, beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, to provide access to suicide prevention educational resources to all instructional and administrative personnel as part of the school district’s professional development system. District school boards must use resources approved by the Statewide Office of Suicide Prevention. (ch. 10-204, LOF)
Read the bill.

Treatment of Diabetes

CS/CS/HB 747 prohibits school districts from restricting the assignment of a student who has diabetes to a particular school on the basis that the student has diabetes, that the school does not have a full-time nurse, or that the school does not have trained diabetes personnel. The bill permits diabetic students, whose parent and physician provide their written authorization to the school principal, to carry diabetic supplies and equipment on their person and to manage and care for their diabetes while in school, participating in school-sponsored activities, or in transit to or from school or school-sponsored activities to the extent authorized by the parent and physician and within the parameters set forth by State Board of Education (SBE) rule.

The SBE, in cooperation with the Department of Health (DOH), must adopt rules for the management and care of diabetes by students in schools, which must include provisions to protect the safety of all students from the misuse or abuse of diabetic supplies or equipment. The SBE, in cooperation with the DOH, must also adopt rules to encourage every school in which a student with diabetes is enrolled to have personnel trained in routine and emergency diabetes care. (ch. 10-57, LOF)
Read the bill.

Cooperation Between Schools & Juvenile Authorities

Florida law requires a state attorney, upon formally charging a child with a felony or a delinquent act that would be a felony if committed by an adult, to notify the superintendent of the school district in which the child attend school that such charges have been filed. The superintendent must notify the appropriate school personnel, including the child’s school principal, within 48 hours. In turn, the principal must immediately notify the child’s classroom teachers.

CS/CS/SB 1058 adds requirements for the superintendent to notify the school district director of transportation and for the principal to notify the child’s assigned bus driver and any other school personnel whose duties include direct supervision of the child.

The bill re-establishes the authorization for an educational agency, public K-12 school, center, or institution; the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind; and the Florida Virtual School to disclose student education records, without prior consent, to parties to an interagency agreement among the Department of Juvenile Justice, the school, law enforcement authorities, and other signatory agencies. The purpose of such an agreement and information sharing is to reduce juvenile crime, truancy, in school and out-of-school suspensions, and expulsions.(ch. 10-192, LOF)
Read the bill.

Persons with Disabilities

Among others, CS/CS/HB 1073 & HB 81 establishes requirements for the use, monitoring, and documentation and reporting of seclusion and restraint of students with disabilities. For example, school personnel are prohibited from using a mechanical restraint or manual physical restraint that restricts a student’s breathing and are also prohibited from closing, locking, or physically blocking a student in a room that is unlit and does not meet State Fire Marshal rule requirements.

The bill requires that a school prepare an incident report within 24 hours after a student is released from restraint or seclusion. The reports must be provided to school and school district administrative personnel and the DOE each month the school is in session. Each time a student is restrained or secluded, the school must notify the student’s parent, in writing, before the end of the school day and obtain the parent’s signed acknowledgement that he or she was so notified.

The bill requires that the continuing education and in service training curriculum for instructional personnel must incorporate the Commissioner of Education’s recommendations regarding the instruction of students with autism spectrum disorder (autism) and other developmental disabilities.

The bill also expands Florida’s bill of rights for persons with developmental disabilities to include the right to be free from all abuse, neglect, and exploitation, regardless of the setting. Subject to the Governor’s veto powers, the effective date of this bill is July 1, 2010. (ch. 10-224, LOF)
Read the bill.

Medicaid

CS/CS/SB 1484 amends multiple sections of Florida Statutes relating to Medicaid. Among numerous others, it:

Amends s. 409.912, F.S., allowing a provider service network to provide behavioral health services in addition to physical health services in areas of the state not under Medicaid reform and conforming provisions to changes made by the act;

Amends s. 409.91212, F.S., requiring each Medicaid managed care plan to adopt an anti-fraud plan to address overpayment, abuse, and fraud in the provision of Medicaid services and to submit the plan for approval to the Office of Medicaid Program Integrity with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA);

Creates ss. 624.35 and 624.351, F.S., establishing the “Medicaid and Public Assistance Fraud Strike Force” (Strike Force) within the DFS to develop a statewide strategy and coordinate state and local efforts and resources to prevent, investigate, and prosecute Medicaid and public assistance fraud; and

Creates an undesignated section of law transferring all powers, duties, functions, records, offices, personnel, property, pending issues and existing contracts, administrative authority, administrative rules, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds relating to public assistance fraud in the FDLE to the Division of Public Assistance Fraud in DFS. (ch. 10-144, LOF)
Read the bill.

Education Programs for Children with Disabilities

The Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program is a free, educational program for four-year olds. VPK is offered by public and private school providers as a school-year or summer program. The bill establishes a specialized instructional services program for children with disabilities as an option under the VPK Program. Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, a child who has a disability is eligible for specialized instructional services if the child is eligible for the VPK Program and has a current Individual Education Plan (IEP) developed by the district school board.

The bill permits the parent of a child who is eligible for the VPK Program option for children with disabilities to select one or more specialized services that are consistent with the child’s IEP. Those services include applied behavior analysis, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. Specialized instructional services must be delivered according to accepted professional standards and VPK Program performance standards adopted by the Department of Education (DOE). (ch. 10-227, LOF)
Read the bill.

Early Learning

CS/CS/CS/SB 2014 revises the duties of Early Learning Coalitions (ELC) and the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) to streamline administration of the School Readiness Program. The bill requires the Governor to designate AWI as the lead agency for administering the federal Child Care and Development Fund. AWI must establish a formula for allocating state and federal school readiness funds. The formula is subject to review and revision by the Legislature.

The bill directs AWI to uniformly implement the School Readiness Program and expands its rulemaking authority regarding various program requirements. Additionally, AWI must administer the statewide electronic data system; adopt a standard school readiness provider contract for use by ELCs; and adopt specific system support services for implementing the School Readiness Program. ELCs must amend their school readiness plans to conform to adopted system support services.

The bill requires AWI, the Department of Education, and ELCs to coordinate with the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to avoid duplication of interagency activities. The bill transfers from DCFS to AWI the authority to administer the statewide toll-free Warm-line; authorize transportation services for children served by school readiness programs; and set reimbursement rates for providers of federally funded child care programs.

The bill increases the statutory limit on the number of ELCs from 30 to 31 and eliminates provisions stating that ELCs for Sarasota, Osceola, and Santa Rosa counties are not to be counted within the limit. The bill requires AWI to waive the merger requirement for ELCs that fall below minimum service levels, provided that certain criteria are met.

The bill revises the membership and term requirements for ELCs and subjects ELCs to procurement procedures developed by AWI, rather than those generally applicable to state agencies. The bill eliminates limits on the duration of ELC commodities and services contracts and provisions requiring certain ELCs to designate a fiscal agent.

The bill requires AWI to review ELC school readiness plans every two years, rather than annually, and revises several plan requirements. The bill specifies that ELCs must implement school readiness programs in accordance with AWI rules governing performance standards, outcome measures, and system support services.

The bill specifies a more clearly defined child eligibility sequence; effectively eliminates ELC discretion to establish local child eligibility priorities; and specifies child discipline standards for school readiness programs. The bill specifies that legally operating child care providers may receive referrals from the statewide child care resource and referral network and adds the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program and School Readiness Program as services for which referrals may be made.

Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program
Currently, a VPK provider designated as low-performing for four consecutive years becomes ineligible to offer VPK, without exception. The bill authorizes the State Board of Education to grant a good cause exemption, on an annual basis, to an otherwise ineligible VPK provider, provided that certain criteria are met; e.g., the provider serves at least twice the statewide percentage of children with disabilities or children identified as limited English proficient. Under current law, holding accreditation from an approved accrediting association is one way a private prekindergarten provider may gain eligibility to offer VPK. The bill specifies additional accrediting associations from whom a private prekindergarten provider may receive accreditation. Finally, the bill specifies required child discipline standards for VPK providers.

Child Care Provider Regulation
The bill expressly establishes the Gold Seal Quality Care program within DCFS, requires DCFS rulemaking to establish Gold Seal accreditation standards, and establishes standards for approving accrediting associations for participation in the program. The bill adds DCFS authority to collect licensing and registration fees from registered family day care homes, licensed family day care homes, and licensed large family child care homes and deletes several references to obsolete programs.

Children’s Services Councils
The bill requires a county governing body to hold a referendum to reauthorize or dissolve a Children’s Services District with voter-approved taxing authority in accordance with a prescribed referendum schedule. A referendum to reauthorize or dissolve an existing Children’s Services District or to create a new district with taxing authority after July 1, 2010, may specify whether or not the district is subject to future reauthorization by referendum. If this information is not specified, a subsequent referendum on reauthorization must be held in 12 years.

VPK Exemption
The State Board of Education is authorized, upon the request of a private prekindergarten provider or public school that has been on probation for 2 years, to grant the provider or school a one year exemption from being determined ineligible to deliver VPK services and receive state funds for the program if, among others, the provider or public school documents achievement and progress of the children served and serves at least twice the statewide percentage of children with disabilities or children identified as limited English proficient. (ch. 10-210, LOF)
Read the bill.

Consumer Debt Collection

Part VI of ch. 559, F.S., regulates consumer collection agencies and protects consumers from certain debt collection practices that involve fraud, harassment, threats, and other unscrupulous activities. Current Florida Statutes designate the Department of Financial Services (DFS) as the registry for consumer complaints, while the Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) is responsible for registration of consumer collection agencies. Among others, this bill:

• Increases the maximum administrative fine from $1,000 to $10,000 for an out-of-state consumer debt collector that collects or attempts to collect debt in Florida prior to registering with the OFR;

• Authorizes the Attorney General to take action on behalf of the state against an out-of-state consumer debt collector in any state court of competent jurisdiction;

• Authorizes the Attorney General to take action against in-state debt collectors for any violations of the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act;

• Eliminates the requirement that there must be at least five, unresolved, sworn complaints filed by five different consumers within a 12-month period against a consumer collection agency prior to the OFR initiating action to investigate a complaint;

• Requires that registrants maintain books and records for three years and provides that OFR will have access to those records; and

• Authorizes the OFR to issue subpoenas, and cease and desist orders. (ch. 10-127, LOF)
Read the bill.

Medicaid Services

HB 5301 is a conforming bill to the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for FY 2010-2011 and contains various statutory revisions to conform to budget adjustments in the area of health care. Among many others, the bill:

• modifies nursing home staffing requirements to allow for a combined direct care staffing requirement of 3.9 hours per resident per day; and

• extends the date that the Medicaid Aged and Disabled (MEDS-AD) and Medically Needy programs are set to sunset to June 30, 2011. (ch. 10-156, LOF)
Read the bill.

Agency for Persons with Disabilities

HB 5303 makes statutory changes to conform to the funding decisions included in the General Appropriations Act, for FY 2010-2011. Among others, the bill:

• Specifies the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) use an assessment instrument that the agency deems to be reliable and valid, but not limited to, the Department of Children and Family Services’ Individual Cost Guidelines or the Questionnaire for Situational Information for determining the tier to which the client should be assigned;
• Specifies that age is a client characteristic in assigning clients to a tier;
• Adjusts annual client expenditure caps for each of the four tier waiver services;
• Specifies that individuals enrolled in tier four on July 1, 2007, are assigned to that tier without the need for any further assessment;
• Creates s. 393.0662, F.S., relating to individual budgets or iBudgets to improve the financial management of waiver services;
• Amends s. 393.125, F.S., to specify conditions for requesting APD Medicaid fair hearings and requires hearings to be provided by the Department of Children and Families; and
• Creates the Services for Children with Developmental Disabilities Task Force to develop a plan for the creation of, and enrollment in, the Developmental Disabilities Savings Program. (ch. 10-157, LOF)
Read the bill.

Child Welfare

HB 5305 conforms statutes to the funding decisions for child welfare included in the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) for FY 2010-2011. Among others, the bill:

• authorizes DCF to adopt rules regarding payments under the Independent Living Transition Services program; and
• Provides for total elimination of funding for adoption benefits for qualifying adopting employees of state agencies.
• Authorize to carry community-based care lead agency forward documented unexpended funds from one FY to the next limited to 8 percent of total funds, but must return any unexpended funds that remain at the end of the contract period. Funds carried forward may be retained through any contract renewals and any new procurement as long as the same community-based care lead agency is retained by the department;
• Authorizes DCF to provide dependent children family-centered, cognitive-behavioral interventions designed to mitigate out-of-home placements as an alternative to therapeutic residential or group care.
(ch. 10-152, LOF)
Read the bill.

Mental Health and Substance Abuse

HB 5307 makes statutory changes to conform to the funding decisions included in the House proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) for FY 2010-2011. The bill:

• Eliminates the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Corporation;
• Changes the Suicide Prevention Coordinating Council voting members from 28 to 27 and reduces the number of members appointed by the director of the Office of Drug Control from 14 members to 13 members;
• Requires the Department of Children and Family Services to be responsible for establishing a Statewide Grant Review Committee, which is renamed the “Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Statewide Grant Review Committee” along with revising the current committee structure and its responsibilities relating to developing criteria and review of grant applications; and
• Clarifies the submittal of an annual report by January 1 of each year on the activities associated with the Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Technical Assistance Center.
(ch. 10-159, LOF)
Read the bill.

Department of Health

HB 5311 conforms statutes to the funding decisions related to the Department of Health (DOH) in the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) for FY 2010-2011. Among many others, the bill:

• provides for the reorganization of the DOH, requires DOH to conduct an evaluation and justification review of each division, and report its findings and recommendations to the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, the chairpersons of the appropriate substantive and appropriations committees, the Legislative Auditing committee, the Governor and the State Surgeon General no later than March 1, 2011;

• removes the authority for the DOH division directors to appoint ad hoc advisory committees, prohibits the DOH from creating new programs without the express consent of the Legislative Budget Commission or the Legislature, and requires the DOH to notify the Governor and the Legislature before applying for any continuation or new federal or private grants for an amount of $50,000 or greater;

• The bill decreases the DOH’s environmental health food service responsibilities over facilities service inspections administered by the DOH;
(ch. 10-161, LOF)
Read the bill.

Background Screening

Florida law mandates criminal background screening of certain individuals applying to operate or to be employed in a business that deals primarily with vulnerable persons. Each provider, employee, or contractor required to submit to a criminal background screening may be subject to one of two types of screening requirements. A Level 1 screening simply requires a name search of state records, while a Level 2 screening requires a fingerprint search of state and national records. If a person’s screening results determine he or she is not qualified to work in a position of trust due to their criminal history, he or she may apply for an exemption from disqualification.

CS/HB 7069 substantially rewrites requirements and procedures for background screening of the persons and businesses that deal primarily with vulnerable populations. Among others, key changes made by the bill:

• Require that no person required to be screened may begin work until the screening has been completed;
• Increase all Level 1 screening to Level 2 screening;
• Require all fingerprints to be submitted electronically by July 1, 2012;
• Add additional serious crimes to the list of disqualifying offenses;
• Provide that an exemption for a disqualifying felony may not be granted until at least three years after the completion of all sentencing sanctions for that felony; and
• Authorize the Department of Children and Family Services to drug test a licensed foster parent if there is a reasonable suspicion that he or she is using illegal drugs.

The new screening requirements are prospective. Existing persons working with vulnerable populations are not required to be rescreened until such time they are otherwise required to be rescreened by existing law. (ch. 10-114, LOF)
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BILLS THAT DIED

Senior Services Special Districts

SB 146 would have authorized counties to create by ordinance an independent special district to provide senior services throughout the county. The special districts could also levy property taxes to fund those services if the majority of voters in the county approved doing so. The bill provides the membership of the governing council, powers and duties of the council, and reporting requirements.
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Booster Seats

Car crashes are the leading cause of child death. Current Florida law requires children three years of age or younger to be secured in a baby seat when riding in a car. Unfortunately, children older than three, who may be too big to fit in a car seat, are often secured in the car by a regular seatbelt. Because of their height and or weight, these children are subject to serious injury (primarily liver, spleen and spinal cord injury) and even death because the seatbelt does not fit appropriately. Booster seats have been shown to reduce serious injury by 59% for these children.

CS/CS/SB 316 required the operator of a motor vehicle who is transporting a child who is 7 years of age or younger and is less than 4'9" to protect the child by properly using a crash tested, federally approved child restraint device. The bill specifies the device must be appropriate for the height and weight of the child, and may include a vehicle manufacturer’s integrated child seat, a separate child’s safety seat, or a child booster seat. Under the provisions of the bill, motorists would no longer be permitted to transport children age 4-7 years old with only a safety belt used as protection.

An infraction would have been a moving violation punishable by a fine of $60.00 plus court costs and add-ons, and by assessment of three points against the driver’s license. The requirement to use a booster seat did not apply to a person transporting a child age 4-7 if the person transporting the child gratuitously in response to a declared emergency or immediate emergency involving the child or transporting a child whose medical condition necessitated an exception. Lastly, the bill required courts to dismiss a charge against the driver for a first violation upon proof of purchase of a federally approved child restraint device.
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Affordable Housing

HB 665 would have repealed the $243 million cap that the 2006 Legislature put on state and local affordable housing trust funds. Legislators appeared ready to pass the bill this year and target the trust funds to improvements on existing housing, resulting in the creation of nearly 15,000 Florida jobs and over $1.4 billion in economic activity. This would have also drawn down the inventory of over 300,000 empty houses that are on the market in Florida. Until the inventory is significantly reduced, experts predict that new construction will not rebound, and new construction has historically been one of the main drivers of Florida’s economy. Unfortunately, the bill died on the last day of session.
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Alzheimer’s Disease

There are an estimated 5.2 million Americans with Alzheimer’s disease, and the number is expected to go to 16 million by 2050. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, there are approximately 450,000 cases of Alzheimer’s disease in Florida.

HB 705 would have required the Department of Elder Affairs to develop a public education program regarding memory impairment screening, early diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. The bill authorized the Department to develop a grant program for entities that provide memory screening information and services. However, the Department informed the Legislature that without an appropriation it would be unable to implement the grant program, and funding was not contained in the final 2010-2011 budget. Lastly, the bill required the department to conduct or provide support for a study regarding memory impairment screening, including evidenced-based memory screening techniques and the availability of memory screening services.
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Child Care Facilities

CS/SB 834 amended the definition of family daycare home and large family child care home to require that household children be included in the household capacity calculation of licensed family daycare homes and large family child care homes, whether on the premises or on a field trip with children enrolled in child care. The bill also requires persons advertising or publishing an advertisement for a child care facility, family daycare home or large family child care home to include in the advertisement the state or local agency license number or registration number of the facility or home.
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Homelessness

HB 923 would have created and revised multiple sections of Florida law relating to homelessness, including:

• Authorizing the ability of drivers to make $1.00 voluntary contributions to aid the homeless on their applications and renewal forms for motor vehicle registrations and driver’s licenses ;
• Replacing the existing Emergency Financial Assistance For Housing Program with a Homeless Prevention Grant Program administered by local homeless continuums of care to provide emergency financial assistance to families facing the loss of their current home due to financial or other crisis;
• Limiting the amount a lead agency may spend on administrative costs under a Prevention Grant; and
• Eliminating the Housing First Program.
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Juvenile Justice

CS/SB 1072 would have made a number of changes to juvenile justice laws, along with conforming changes to other relevant statutes including the “Children and Families In Need of Services” (CINS/FINS) statute and the “Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Act” in an effort to enhance services for youth in the Juvenile Justice system. Among others, the bill:

• Encouraged the diversion of youth nine years of age or younger who are found by a court to pose no danger to the community and are unlikely to recidivate back into supervision;
• Expanded the definition of “child in need of services” and “family in need to services” to allow those youth to be served by the CINS/FINS network;
• Promoted the use of restorative justice practices to support victims of juvenile delinquency;
• Added counties, municipalities, and the Department of Juvenile Justice to the specified entities that are encouraged to create pre-arrest or post-arrest diversion programs for youth nine years of age or younger and youth who are first time misdemeanants;
• Prohibited a youth nine years of age or younger from being placed in secure detention unless the youth has been charged with a capital felony, a life felony, or a felony of the first degree; and
• Required the DJJ to create the Disproportionate Minority Contact Task Force as a way to address minority over-representation in the Juvenile Justice system.
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Child Care Facilities/Licensing Standards

CS/SB 1234 created minimum requirements for licensure of child care facilities relating to window blinds and other window coverings. The bill prohibits use of certain types of window blinds and other window coverings that pose a risk of strangulation to young children.
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Florida State Employees’ Charitable Campaign

SB 1312 would have deleted the power of local steering committees to direct the distribution of undesignated funds and required undesignated funds to be shared proportionally by the participating charitable organizations based on the percentage of designations in each area.
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Community-Based Services for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

House Memorial 1349 urged Congress to support the opportunity to provide increased access to community-based services for individuals with developmental disabilities. The memorial specifically encouraged Congress to support the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2009 and to support accounts created under the Act for individuals with developmental disabilities to assist them in paying for certain expenses including education, housing, transportation, employment support, medical care, and certain life necessities.
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Medicaid Buy-In Program

CS/SB 2038 established new Medicaid “buy-in” coverage for working disabled individuals ages 16 through 64 who would be eligible for Supplemental Security Income if their earnings equal to 250% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) are disregarded, and unearned income does not exceed 88% of the FPL. A participant would be charged a premium based on a sliding scale once his or her earned income exceeds 100% of the FPL. The bill designated the Agency for Health Care Administration as the agency responsible for establishing and administering the Medicaid buy-in program, and provided the Department of Children and Family Services with authority to adopt rules for determining eligibility. The Medicaid buy-in program would have been subject to federal authorization and the availability of state and federal funds, and the bill directed ACHA to seek amendments to existing Medicaid waivers that service persons with disabilities to allow eligible individuals to participate in the program.
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