Sen. Don Gaetz

Veterans Affairs; Revising the admissions process for veterans treatment court programs; authorizing the multidisciplinary team to determine eligibility for veterans treatment court programs; authorizing sentencing courts to divert defendants to veterans treatment court programs under certain circumstances; requiring that a defendant’s satisfactory completion of the program be a condition of the defendant’s probation or community control, etc.

Mental Health; Citing this act as the “Tristin Murphy Act”; expanding the programs and diversion initiatives supported by implementation or expansion grants to include training for 911 public safety telecommunicators and emergency medical technicians for certain purposes and to include veterans treatment court programs; encouraging communities to apply for specified grants to establish misdemeanor or ordinance violation mental health diversion programs; encouraging communities to apply for specified grants to establish pretrial felony mental health diversion programs; expanding eligibility for the Forensic Hospital Diversion Pilot Program to include Hillsborough County, etc. APPROPRIATION: $794,880

Regulation of Presidential Libraries; Preempting to the state all regulatory authority over the establishment, maintenance, activities, and operations of presidential libraries; defining the term “presidential library”; prohibiting counties, municipalities, or other political subdivisions from enacting or enforcing any ordinance, resolution, rule, or other measure regarding presidential libraries unless authorized by federal law, etc.

Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Inc.; Requiring the board of directors of the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Inc., rather than the Board of Governors, to authorize the creation of a subsidiary of the corporation; revising the composition of the board of directors of the corporation; authorizing subsidiaries of the corporation to enter into certain affiliation agreements, etc.

Insurance Practices; Revising the calculation that the Chief Financial Officer performs to set the rate of interest payable on judgments or decrees; requiring the Office of Insurance Regulation of the Financial Services Commission to create specified reports on related entities and compensation of executive officers for insurers, licensees, and registrants; revising the facts the office must consider in determining whether a rate is excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory; requiring insurers to send policyholders a written estimate of the amount of loss under certain circumstances, etc.

Tax Exemptions for Surviving Spouses of Quadriplegics; Authorizing the surviving spouses of certain quadriplegics to carry over a certain tax exemption in certain circumstances; authorizing the Department of Revenue to adopt emergency rules, etc.

Licensure Requirements for Surveyors and Mappers; Requiring the Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers to establish and administer the 1st Step Florida Surveyors and Mappers Credentialing and Licensing Protocol as an alternative pathway to temporary licensure; providing requirements for eligibility to take the surveyor and mapper licensure examination under the protocol; providing for the expiration of licenses granted pursuant to the protocol, etc.

Office Surgery Standards of Practice; Citing this act as "Hillary's Law"; prohibiting physicians from performing level II or level III surgeries on immediate family members in an office surgery setting, with exceptions; specifying requirements for health care professionals performing duties at a registered office which require licensure or certification; requiring office surgeries to report adverse incidents to the Department of Health within a specified timeframe, etc.

Specific Medical Diagnoses in Child Protective Investigations; Providing an exception to the requirement that the Department of Children and Families immediately forward certain allegations to a law enforcement agency; requiring Child Protection Teams to consult with a licensed physician or advanced practice registered nurse when evaluating certain reports; authorizing, under a certain circumstance, a parent or legal custodian from whom a child was removed to request specified examinations of the child, etc.

Campaign Communications; Prohibiting campaign-related telephone calls and text messages to specified voters; requiring candidates and other persons or organizations to cease immediately all communications with certain voters; specifying how a voter indicates that he or she no longer consents to such communications; authorizing a voter to bring a certain action in a court of competent jurisdiction, etc.