Admin
Legislative Report, Jan. 13-17
Posted on 01/20/2020

General Information

This report contains pertinent information presented and discussed during the first week of the regular 2020 legislative session. Both the House and Senate held meetings in both chambers, which consisted of legislative bills and member projects. 

 

Senate

Senate Education Committee – Chair Senator Manny Diaz

SB 62 by Senator Stargel related to K-12 Education

View the bill analysis.

 

SB 536 by Sen. Diaz related to Charter Schools

The bill amends s. 1002.33, F.S., relating to charter schools and establishes a High-Performing Charter School Council to review and recommend approval or denial to the State Board of applications submitted by high-performing charter schools and high-performing charter school systems. The Commissioner must appoint a sufficient number of council members to ensure a fair and impartial review of applications. One-half must represent currently operating charter schools and one-half must represent sponsors. At least one member representing charter schools must be from a high-performing charter school system. The Commissioner or named designee chairs the council. Council members earn travel and per diem.

Applications must comply with the application format developed by DOE and the applicant must provide a copy of the application to the sponsor within three days after it is submitted to the council. The council must use the statutory criteria in making its recommendation for approval or denial.

The council must review applications using the evaluation instrument developed by the department. Applications must be received on or before Feb. 1 for schools to be opened 18 months later at the beginning of the district’s school year, or to be opened at a time determined by the applicant. The council may choose to receive an application after Feb.1. A sponsor may provide input to the council within 15 days after receiving a copy of the final application and the council must consider such input. The sponsor must articulate in writing the specific reasons for its recommendation for denial or approval of the application and must provide supporting documentation. The input provided by the sponsor must be included in the application that is provided to the state board.

The council must recommend approval or denial by a majority vote no later than 30 calendar days after the final application is received, unless a postponement is mutually agreed upon. If the council fails to act on the application within 30 days, the application must be submitted to the State Board of Education.

The council must submit a written recommendation to the State Board as to whether the application should be approved or denied within 10 days after its decision. The council’s recommendation is not subject to ch. 120, Florida Statutes.

The State Board must accept or deny the recommendation of the council by majority vote no later than 60 calendar days after it receives the council’s recommendation. If the State Board approved the application, the sponsor must begin development of the charter within 30 days. If the State Board denies an application, it must identify the specific reasons in writing. Such decision is final action subject to judicial review in the district court of appeal. The decision of the State Board is not subject to chapter 120, Florida Statutes.

The sponsor and applicant may provide input to the State Board regarding the council’s recommendation no later than 30 days after receipt of the council’s decision.

An application may be recommended for denial by the council or denied by the State Board only if it is demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that specified statutory requirements are not materially met, the proposed charter school does not substantially replicate one of the schools; a material misrepresentation has been made, etc.

The bill passed the Senate Education Committee favorably.


SB 1088 by Sen. Diaz related to Teacher Salary Enhancement

The bill establishes a new teacher salary enhancement operating categorical fund to increase teacher salaries as prescribed by the Legislature annually in the General Appropriations Act. In addition to establishing this new operating categorical fund, the bill:

·       Requires each school district to use the appropriated funds to increase teacher salaries as prescribed by the Legislature in the GAA.

·       Requires funds provided in the teacher salary enhancement allocation to move into the Florida Education Finance Program base student allocation in the subsequent fiscal year.

·       Allows a school district that meets the teacher salary enhancement requirements specified in the GAA to use any additional funds provided in the allocation for any district operating expenditure. 

·       Requires each school district to report to the Department of Education the amount expended for teacher salary increases and the amount expended for any other operating expenditures by Jan. 1 of any fiscal year in which the teacher salary enhancement is appropriated.

Establishing a new categorical fund within the FEFP specifically for teacher salary increases may improve teacher compensation. Increasing teacher compensation may incentivize more people to choose the teaching profession and may improve teacher retention.

The bill passed the Senate Education Committee favorably.


SB 1218 by Sen. Diaz related to Anti-bullying and Anti-harassment in Schools

The bill enhances student safety by extending requirements related to bullying and harassment policies in public schools to private schools participating in a state educational scholarship program (private scholarship schools). The bill also requires private scholarship schools to:

·       Meet with a student and his or her parent or guardian prior to enrollment to review information about the private scholarship school; and

·       Publish on the school’s website and provide in a written format information regarding the school, including the code of student conduct, ethical conduct policies, and bullying and harassment policies.

The bill requires a private scholarship school to adopt policies that comply with the bullying and harassment definitions, responsibilities, protections, and reporting required of public schools. The bill also adds to the existing private scholarship school requirements by requiring that the private scholarship school must publish on the school’s website and provide in a written format additional information including the school’s code of student conduct, policies related to ethical conduct for school personnel, and policies related to bullying and harassment.

The bill requires a private scholarship school principal or the principal’s designee to meet with a student and his or her parent or guardian before the student’s enrollment in the private scholarship school to review information about the school. The information reviewed must include the school’s academic programs and services, customized educational programs, code of student conduct, attendance policies, bullying and harassment policies, and ethical conduct policies.

The bill requires the Department of Education to include data on bullying and harassment in private scholarship schools in the DOE’s annual reports on bullying and harassment and private school accountability required pursuant to existing law

Extending requirements related to bullying and harassment policies to private scholarship schools pursuant to this bill may enhance student safety and reduce incidents of bullying and harassment in private scholarship schools. Requiring private scholarship schools to provide additional information and meet with a student and his or her parent or guardian prior to enrollment may assist students and parents in making informed decisions regarding school choice.

The bill passed the Senate Education Committee favorably.


SB 1164 by Sen. Perry related to Gardiner Scholarship

The bill revises eligibility requirements for the Gardiner Scholarship Program (scholarship). Specifically, the bill:

·       Allows a student with a disability who turns 3 years of age after Sept. 1 to be determined eligible for the scholarship.

·       Provides that scholarship funds may be spent for tuition and fees associated with programs relating to art, music, or theater in which the instructor meets specified criteria.

·       Clarifies the conditions under which a student’s account must be closed and funds revert to the state

The bill authorizes a student with a disability who turns 3 years of age after Sept. 1 to be determined to be eligible for the scholarship on or after his or her third birthday if scholarship funds are available and there are no other students on the wait list.

The bill modifies the authorized uses of scholarship funds for transition services; art, music, or theater classes or lessons; and summer and after-school education programs. The bill specifies that transition services that may be funded through the scholarship include a coordinated set of activities that are focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the student to facilitate his or her movement from school to post-school activities and are based on the student’s needs. Transition services may be, but are not required to be, provided by job coaches.

The bill adds tuition and fees associated with a student’s participation in a series of classes or lessons relating to art, music, or theater to the list of authorized uses of scholarship funds. The bill specifies that the instructor of the classes or lessons must:

·       Hold a valid or expired Florida educator’s certificate in art, music or theater;

·       Have 3 years of employment experience in art, music, or theater, as demonstrated by employment records;

·       Hold a baccalaureate degree or higher from a postsecondary educational institution with a major in music, art, theater, or drama; or

·       Hold a certification or national accreditation in music, art, theater, or drama.

The bill removes the requirement that summer and after-school programs be specialized programs to qualify as eligible uses of scholarship funds. Removing this requirement may provide additional flexibility for parents to use scholarship funds.

The bill also reduces the number of consecutive fiscal years an account must be inactive before a student’s scholarship account must be closed from three consecutive fiscal years to two consecutive fiscal years. The bill requires that a parent must annually renew participation in the scholarship for a student to be eligible to receive funding. A student whose participation in the scholarship is not renewed may continue to spend scholarship funds that are in his or her account from prior years unless the account is closed due to fraud or abuse, lapse of enrollment, or inactivity of the account.

The bill passed the Senate Education Committee favorably.


SB 836 by Sen. Simmons related to Funds for the Operations of Schools

The bill provides for school districts to receive additional funding through the Florida Education Finance Program for each student who receives an Advanced Placement Capstone Diploma and meets the requirements for a standard high school diploma. The bill requires that a value of 0.3 full-time equivalent student membership be calculated for each student who receives an AP Capstone Diploma. Such value must be added to the total FTE in basic programs for grades 9 through 12 in the subsequent fiscal year.

In effect, the bill provides the same additional FTE funding for each student who receives an AP Capstone Diploma as a student who receives an International Baccalaureate or Advanced International Certificate of Education diploma. The bill may result in more districts offering, and more students earning, the AP Capstone Diploma.

The bill passed the Senate Education Committee favorably.


Senate Infrastructure and Security Committee – Chair Senator Tom Lee

SB 70 by Sen. Book related to Panic Alarms in Public Schools

The bill names the act (newly created s. 1013.373, F.S.) “Alyssa’s Law.”

The bill creates s. 1013.373, F.S., to:

·       Define “panic alarm” to mean a silent security system signal generated by the manual activation of a device or an alternative mechanism intended to communicate a lifethreatening or emergency situation that requires a response from law enforcement; 

·       Define “public school building” to include all buildings on a public elementary, middle, or high school campus where instruction takes place or where students are present during the school day; and 

·       Require each public school building to be equipped with at least one panic alarm for use in a school security emergency, including, but not limited to, a non-fire evacuation, lockdown, or active shooter situation. The panic alarm must be directly linked to the local law enforcement agencies that are designated as first responders to the school’s campus and must immediately transmit a signal or message to those authorities upon activation.

The bill passed the Senate Infrastructure and Security Committee favorably.


SB 788 by Sen. Book related to Statewide Active Shooter Response Planning

The bill creates s. 943.688, F.S., requiring the FDLE, in consultation with law enforcement agencies throughout the state and considering the unique needs of different geographic regions where those agencies are located, to establish a uniform statewide rule on minimum standards and requirements for how each law enforcement agency in the state must prepare and respond to active shooter situations within their jurisdictions. At a minimum, the uniform statewide rule must address the following:

·       Detailed procedures for how to respond to a report of an alleged active shooter;

·       Detailed procedures for how communications and notifications will be handled with all affected parties and the media;

·       Detailed procedures indicating who from the appropriate law enforcement agency will respond and how they will do so, including having a designated person and an alternate person who have been trained or certified on how to handle active shooter situations; and

·       Primary and alternate routes to potential targets within each law enforcement agency’s jurisdiction.

Each law enforcement agency in the state will be required to enact a policy or rule on active shooter preparedness and response no later than Jan.1, 2021. At a minimum, each such policy or rule must include the uniform statewide rule adopted by FDLE.

The bill also requires the FDLE to adopt rules to administer statewide active shooter response planning.

Having a statewide active shooter response plan may help to improve response times to emergency calls reporting shooting incidents, and may help to further provide guidance on how to best respond to emergency calls with limited resources and limited information on an active shooter incident.

The creation and adoption of a uniform statewide rule on preparing for and responding to active shooter situations by law enforcement may address some of the deficiencies observed by the MSD Commission.

The bill passed the Senate Infrastructure and Security Committee favorably.


SPB 7030 by the Infrastructure and Security Committee related to Public Records/Active Threat Assessments and Threat Management Records

View the SPB 7030 bill analysis.

 

House 

House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee - Chair Chris Latvala

During the House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, Chair Latvala reviewed the results of the committee’s Base Budget Reprioritization Exercise.

The following documents provide additional information:

·       2020 Regular Session Fiscal Information – developed by Jim Hamilton

·       Revenue Estimating Conference for the General Revenue Fund& Financial Outlook Statement

·       EDR’s Economic Overview

·       House Proposal on Teacher Salaries (Tampa Bay Times)

 

HB 641 by Rep. Plasencia related to Funds for the Operations of Schools

The bill provides for school districts to receive additional funding through the FEFP for each student who receives an AP Capstone Diploma in addition to a standard high school diploma.

The bill passed the House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee favorably.

 

HB 7011 by PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee related to K-12 Student Athletes

To better protect student athletes participating in athletics during hot weather and to avoid preventable injury or death, the bill requires the FHSAA to:

·       make training and resources available to each member school for the appropriate environment monitoring procedures using WBGT and heat index levels;

·       establish WBGT and heat index levels at which a school must implement a cooling zone for each outdoor athletic contest, practice, workout, or conditioning session;

·       require member schools to use environment monitoring and modify athletic activities, including suspending or moving activities, based on WBGT and heat index levels;

·       establish hydration guidelines, including appropriate introduction of electrolytes after extended activities or when there are multiple activities in a day;

·       establish requirements for cooling zones at athletic activities, including, at a minimum, the immediate availability of cold water immersion tubs or equivalent materials to rapidly cool internal body temperature when a student exhibits symptoms of EHS and the presence of an employee or volunteer trained to implement cold water immersion;

·       require each school’s emergency action plan to include a procedure for onsite cooling using cold water immersion or its equivalent before a student is transported to a hospital for EHS; and

·       notify member schools in writing within 30 days if it does not adopt a policy change as recommended by the SMAC and the rationale for not adopting the policy recommendation.

 The bill specifies that these requirements apply during and outside of the school year.

The bill also specifies that the requirement that a student complete an annual medical evaluation before participating in any athletic activity applies to conditioning and to activities that take place outside of the school year.

Additionally, the bill requires all athletic coaches and sponsors of extracurricular activities involving outdoor practices or events to complete annual training in EHS identification, prevention, and response, including effective administration of cooling zones.

Beginning June 1, 2021, the bill requires an employee or volunteer with current CPR and AED training to be present at each athletic event during and outside of the school year, including practices, workouts, and conditioning sessions. All employees or volunteers who are reasonably expected to use an AED must complete training and must be notified annually of the location of each AED on school grounds. Additionally, the bill requires each school’s AED to be available in a clearly marked and publicized location for each athletic contest, practice, workout, or conditioning session, including those conducted outside of the school year.

The bill passed the House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee favorably.

 

House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee - Chair Ralph Massullo

HB 523 by Rep. DiCeglie related to Master-based Education

In 2016, the Legislature created the Competency-Based Education Pilot Program within the Department of Education (DOE) to allow students to progress to higher levels of learning based upon the mastery of concepts and skills. Under the program, the State Board of Education may allow the Commissioner of Education to waive rules relating to student progression and awarding of credits. Participation in the voluntary pilot program is limited to the P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School and the Lake, Palm Beach, Pinellas, and Seminole County school districts. The pilot program is set to expire at the end of the 2020-21 school year.

The bill:

·       Renames the Competency-Based Education Pilot Program as the Mastery-Based Education Program.

·       Allows developmental research schools and any public school district in the state to submit an application to DOE to participate in the program.

·       Authorizes participating lab schools and school districts to approve and use an alternative interpretation of letter grades to measure student success in grades 6 through 12; however, school districts must continue to use a 4-point scale for calculating a student’s grade-point average.

·       Provides that students who earn high school credit through a mastery-based education program have fair and equitable access to postsecondary education.

 The bill passed the House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee favorably.

 

HB 953 by Rep. McClain related to Charter Schools

The bill authorizes state universities and FCS institutions to solicit applications and sponsor charter schools upon approval by the DOE. A state university or FCS institution may, at its discretion, deny an application for a charter school. The bill provides that a state university-sponsored charter school may serve students from multiple school districts to meet regional education or workforce demands. Additionally, an FCS institution-sponsored charter may exist in any county within its service area to meet workforce demands; however, a charter school currently operated by an FCS institution is not eligible to be sponsored by an FCS institution until its existing charter with the school district expires. An FCS institution-sponsored charter may offer postsecondary programs leading to industry certifications for eligible charter school students.

Since the bill authorizes state universities and FCS institutions to sponsor charter schools that serve students across multiple school districts, the bill specifies that a charter’s racial/ethnic balance must reflect that of nearby public schools rather than public schools located geographically within the district.

The bill deletes the limitation that a FCS institution that operates an approved teacher preparation program operate no more than one charter school, allowing a FCS institution to operate additional charter schools that serve students in kindergarten through grade 12, and providing that the students served may be in any school district within the service area of the FCS institution. The requirement that the school implement an innovative blended learning instructional model for students in kindergarten through grade 8 is deleted.

The bill prohibits an FCS institution from reporting FTE for any students participating in FCS-sponsored charter schools who receive FTE funding through the FEFP.

The bill specifies that a board of trustees of a sponsoring state university or FCS institution is the local education agency for all charter schools it sponsors. As the local education agency, the sponsor may receive federal funds and accepts full responsibility for local education agency requirements and the schools it oversees. A student is enrolled in a charter school that is sponsored by a state university or FCS institution may not be included in the calculation of the school district’s grade.

To provide accountability for all charter school operators, the bill requires the DOE, in collaboration with charter school sponsors and operators, to develop a sponsor evaluation framework that must address, at a minimum:

·       a sponsor’s strategic vision for charter school authorizing and progress towards that vision;

  • alignment of the sponsor’s policies and practices to best practices for charter school authorizing;

·       academic and financial performance of all operating charter schools overseen by the sponsor; and

·       the status of charter schools authorized by the sponsor, including approved, operating and closed schools.

The bill requires DOE to compile the results of the evaluation framework, by sponsor, and add them to its annual charter school sponsor report.

The bill repeals the requirement that a charter school sponsor report on draft applications it receives and revises the date by which a sponsor must annually report the number of applications it receives from August 31 to November 1. Accordingly, the bill revises the date by which DOE annually reports the number of applications on its website from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15.

The bill repeals an obsolete August 1 application deadline and specifies that each sponsor’s report to DOE must reflect the applications it receives by the February 1 deadline, which became effective in 2018. Since the law allows an applicant to determine the time at which the charter school will open, the bill deletes conflicting language that requires the school’s opening to coincide with the beginning of the school district’s school calendar.

The bill provides that students enrolled in a charter school sponsored by a state university or FCS institution be funded as if they are in a basic program or a special program in the school district. The bill establishes funding for these students as the sum of the total operating funds from the FEFP for the school district in which the school is located and the General Appropriations Act, including gross state and local funds, discretionary lottery funds, and funds from each school district’s current operating discretionary millage levy; divided by total funded weighted FTE students in the school district; and multiplied by the FTE membership of the charter school. The DOE is required to develop a tool that each state university or FCS institution sponsoring a charter school must use for purposes of calculating the funding amount for each eligible charter school student. The total obtained by the calculation must be appropriated from state funds in the GAA to the charter school.

In addition, the bill establishes a capital outlay funding formula for charter schools sponsored by a state university or FCS institution.

The bill also authorizes charter schools to provide career and professional academies.

The bill passed the House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee favorably.

 

HB 957 by Rep. Shoaf related to Designation of School Grades

The bill specifies that a high school student may be included in the college and career acceleration component of the school grades calculation if he or she earns 300 or more clock hours through career dual enrollment courses identified by the State Board of Education.

The bill passed the House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee favorably.

 

House Local, Federal & Veterans Subcommittee – Chair Bobby Payne

HB 637 by Representative DiCeglie related to Impact Fees

The bill requires counties, municipalities, and special districts that adopt an impact fee to require the calculation of the impact fee be based on the most recent and localized data and exclude any cost that does not meet the definition of capital asset under generally accepted accounting principles for local governments. The cost per student station established in school impact fee calculations may not exceed the statutory total maximum cost per student established in statute. The entity must segregate the revenues and expenditures of any impact fee that addresses the local governmental entity’s infrastructure needs in a separate impact fee trust fund.

The bill requires the local government to prepare an annual financial report for each impact fee trust fund, which must include the following information:

·       An auditable schedule of impact fee collections;

·       The balance of the trust fund at the beginning and end of the fiscal year;

·       The amount of interest or other earnings on the monies in the trust fund for the fiscal year; and

·       An auditable schedule of impact fee expenditures.

 

Annual Financial Report

Within 90 days following the end of each fiscal year, the entity must post the financial report for each impact fee trust fund on its website and make copies available to the public on request.

 

Financial Statement Audits 

Audits of financial statements required by statute and filed with the Auditor General must include an affidavit signed by the chief financial officer of the local government or school board stating that the reporting entity complied with the requirements of the impact fee statute. The bill requires this affidavit also to confirm the reporting entity complied with the spending period provision in the local ordinance.

 

Impact Fee Credits

The bill provides that impact fee credits are assignable and transferable at any time after establishment from one development or parcel to another within the same impact fee jurisdiction for the same type of public facility for which the impact fee is applicable.

 

Impact Fee Review Committee 

The bill requires each county or municipality assessing impact fees to establish an impact fee review committee. The committee is composed of the following members appointed by the county or city commission:

·       Two members employed by the local government;

·       Two members representing the business community;

·       Two members who are local residential contractors;

·       One at-large member

The county or city commission shall appoint three alternate members, consisting of one representative from each of the categories described above, who shall serve in the absence of their respective member.

Committee members must adhere to the following requirements:

·       Be a qualified elector of the county for at least two years before their appointment;

·       Serve at the pleasure of the local government and shall serve until replaced;

·       The Committee meeting must be duly noticed;

·       A quorum must be present (alternate members count toward the quorum when a regular member is absent);

·       A member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings, or fails to attend two-thirds of the meetings within a calendar year, automatically forfeits the appointment and the county or city commissioners shall promptly fill the vacancy; and

·       Committee members serve without compensation

The Committee shall meet as needed to:

·       Establish policy and methodology for determining impact fees on new developments;

·       Review the proposed impact fee on each new development before the fee becomes final;

·       Submit recommendations made by the impact fee consultant to the county commission or city commission, as applicable;

·       The recommendations must be presented at the meeting when the impact fee on the new development will be discussed and voted upon; and

·       After each impact fee is adopted by the local government, review all proposed expenditures of that impact fee to ensure the fee is used for capital projects within the jurisdiction.

The bill passed the House Local, Federal & Veterans Subcommittee favorably.


House Transportation & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee – Chair Jay Trumbull

HB 37 by Rep. Zika related to School Bus Safety

The bill increases the minimum civil penalty for failure to stop for a school bus from $100 to $200; and for a subsequent offense within five years, DHSMV must suspend the driver license of the driver for not less than six months and not more than one year. 

The bill also increases the minimum civil penalty for passing a school bus on the side that children enter and exit, from $200 to $400; and for a subsequent offense within five years, DHSMV must suspend the driver license of the driver for not less than one year and not more than two years.

The bill will likely have an indeterminate, positive fiscal impact on state and local government revenues as a result of increasing the civil penalties for failing to stop for a school bus and passing a stopped school bus. DHSMV estimates an insignificant negative impact to the Highway Safety Operating Trust Fund due to required programming and implementation costs.

The bill passed House Transportation & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee favorably.

 

House Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee – Chair Mel Ponder

HB 945 by Rep. Silvers related to Children’s Mental Health

The bill requires collaboration and planning between child-serving systems and other stakeholders to create a coordinated system of behavioral health care, facilitated by each managing entity, focused on services for children.

As it relates to schools, the bill requires the Louis de la Parte Institute within the University of South Florida to develop a model response protocol by August 1, 2020, for schools to use mobile response teams (MRT). When developing the protocol, the institute must, at a minimum, consult with:

·       School districts that effectively use mobile response teams and those districts that use mobile response teams less often;

·       School districts that effectively use mobile response teams and those districts that use mobile response teams less often;

  • DCF; 
  • Managing entities; and 
  • Mobile response team providers

The bill also revises the plan requirements that school districts develop in order to receive the mental health assistance allocation funding to include an interagency agreement or MOU with the Managing Entity that facilitates referrals of students to community-based services and coordinates care for students served by school-based and community-based providers. The agreement or MOU must address the sharing of records and information, as provided by law, to coordinate care and increase access to appropriate services.

The plans for funding must also include policies and procedures, including contracts with service providers, which will ensure that:

·       Parents are provided information about behavioral health services available through the students’ school or local providers, including MRTs. The bill allows schools to meet this requirement by providing information about and website addresses for web-based directories or guides of local services as long as they are easily navigable and provide contact information for local providers;

·       School districts use MRTs to the extent available and carry out the model response protocol; and

·       Referrals to behavioral health services through other delivery systems or payors are available to individuals or students living in the same house as a student who is receiving services, if those services appear to be needed or would contribute to the improved well-being of the student who is receiving services.

The bill passed the House Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee favorably as a committee substitute.

 

Higher Education & Career Readiness Subcommittee – Chair Cord Byrd

HB 725 by Rep. Robinson related to Workforce Education

The bill allows school district career centers, which have a workforce education program, to award Associate in Applied Science or Associate in Science in Nursing degrees. These degrees can only be awarded to graduates of the center’s licensed practical nurse program.

The bill passed the Higher Education & Career Readiness Subcommittee favorably.

 

House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee – Chair MaryLynn Magar

HB 81 by Rep. Andrade related to Medicaid School-based Services

The bill removes the requirement that Medicaid recipients receiving services through the Florida Medicaid Certified School Match Program qualify for Part B or H of the IDEA, or for exceptional student services, or have an IEP or IFSP. The change to Florida law reflects federal regulations allowing the provision of Medicaid school health services to the general population of Medicaid-eligible students.

The bill passed the Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee favorably.

            

HB 575 by Rep. Plasencia related to Applied Behavior Analysis Services

The bill would exempt group practices that provide ABA services from licensure under the Health Care Clinic Act.

The bill also amends S. 1003.572, F.S., to add paraprofessionals who practice under the supervision of either certified behavioral analysts or professionals licensed under ch. 490 or ch. 491, F.S., to the list of private instructional personnel who may provide ABA services in the classroom setting. This change would allow RBTs and other behavioral assistants to provide ABA services to students in a public K-12 school.

The bill passed the Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee favorably.