Sen. Gayle Harrell

Social Work Licensure Interstate Compact; Creating the Social Work Licensure Interstate Compact; specifying requirements for state participation in the compact; requiring member states to designate the categories of social work licensure which are eligible for issuance of a multistate license in such states; providing for the renewal of multistate licenses; specifying the consequences and parameters of practice for a licensee whose multistate license or multistate authorization to practice is encumbered, etc.

Public Records and Meetings/Social Work Licensure Interstate Compact; Providing an exemption from public records requirements for certain information held by the Department of Health or the Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling pursuant to the Social Work Licensure Interstate Compact; providing an exemption from public meetings requirements for certain meetings or portions of certain meetings of the Social Work Licensure Compact Commission or its executive committee or other committees; providing an exemption from public records requirements for recordings, minutes, and records generated during the exempt meetings or portions of such meetings; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemptions; providing statements of public necessity, etc.

Maddy summarySB 64 revises Florida's definition of "medical review committee" to include more healthcare entities like mental health facilities, substance abuse programs, pharmacy quality committees, and insurer review groups. It clarifies that committee proceedings and records generally cannot be used as evidence in malpractice lawsuits against healthcare providers, protecting confidentiality during peer reviews. The bill also specifies that information already available from other sources remains discoverable, and committee members cannot be questioned about their committee testimony in court. This applies to committees evaluating care quality, treatment appropriateness, or cost reasonableness across hospitals, clinics, and health systems. The changes take effect July 1, 2026.

Local Government Cybersecurity; Creating the Local Government Cybersecurity Protection Program within the Florida Digital Service; requiring the grant program to be administered by the Florida Digital Service; requiring the Florida Digital Service to enter into certain data-sharing agreements with local governments for a specified purpose; requiring the Florida Digital Service to contract for information technology commodities and services and award such commodities and services to local governments, etc.

Health Care Patient Protection; Requiring hospitals with emergency departments to develop and implement policies and procedures and conduct training; authorizing a hospital with an emergency department to conduct the National Pediatric Readiness Project’s Open Assessment under certain circumstances; requiring the Agency for Health Care Administration to adopt certain rules for comprehensive emergency management plans, etc.

Clerks of the Court; Authorizing the cumulative excess of funds to be used in the development of the total combined budgets of the clerks of the court; requiring that a court use certain sale procedures in a foreclosure action; providing that only a clerk of court may conduct a foreclosure sale, etc.

Vertiports; Revising the definition of the term “airport infrastructure”; authorizing the Department of Transportation to fund up to specified percentages of public vertiport project costs, etc.

Health Care Coverage; Establishing the Joint Legislative Committee on Medicaid Oversight for specified purposes; revising encounter data reporting requirements for prepaid Medicaid plans; requiring managed care plans to report to the agency and the Office of Insurance Regulation the existence of and specified details relating to certain affiliations by a specified date and annually thereafter; revising requirements for contracts between a pharmacy benefit manager and a participating pharmacy; revising and specifying additional practices pharmacy benefit managers are prohibited from engaging in, etc.

Maddy summarySB 624 allows batterers' intervention programs in Florida to offer supplemental faith-based activities to participants, such as religious counseling or support groups. Participation in these optional activities cannot be required as part of the program. The bill amends Florida Statute 741.325 to clarify that programs may provide these supplemental activities while ensuring individuals are not forced to engage in them. The law takes effect on July 1, 2026.

Waterbody Designations/Andrew “Red” Harris Spoil Island; Designating the Andrew “Red” Harris Spoil Island; directing the Department of Environmental Protection to erect specified suitable markers, etc.