Fw: Legislative Link 4 from United Way

[Guest guest]

----- Forwarded Message ----To: Autism-Florida Sent: Mon, March 29, 2010 10:35:09 AMSubject: [Autism-Florida] Fw: Legislative Link 4

When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal, you do not change your decision to get there.â€

From: Ted Granger <tgrangeruwof (DOT) org>Subject: Legislative Link 4To: " Ketring" <jennyo8873yahoo (DOT) com>Date: Friday, March 26, 2010, 11:06 AM

You're receiving this newsletter because you are a part of the One Voice for Children Communication NetworkHaving trouble reading this email? View it on your browser .

What's inside

Budgets Set For Floor Votes

TABOR Considered

A Hard Life Gets Harder

BILLS HEARD THIS WEEK

HJR 37 - Health Care Services

HB 107 - Autism

HB 285 - Parental Authority

HB 747 - Care of Public School Students with Diabetes

HB 923 - Homelessness

HB 1003 - Veterans/Nonprofits

HB 1073 - Relating to Education of Children with Disabilities

HB 1189 - Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment

SB 1312 - Florida State Employees’ Charitable Campaign

HM 1349 - Community-Based Services for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

HB 5303 - Agency for Persons with Disabilities

HB 5305 - Child Welfare

Favorite Links

United Way of Florida

Find your United Way

Online Sunshine

Bill Briefs (United Way of Florida bills of interest: action and tracking)

Join the One Voice Network

(To receive future issues of Legislative Link and other information about childrens' issues)

FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND

Issue #4 March 26, 2010 Budgets Set For Floor Votes

The House and Senate budget committees passed their respective proposed 2010-2011 budget bills this week, setting the stage for floor votes in both Houses. The biggest outcome was the Senate’s infusion of nearly $1 billion in anticipated Medicaid funding anticipated to be approved by Congress during the first two weeks of April. As a result, a multitude of programs that had been slated for elimination by the Senate – from libraries to Healthy Families Florida – will be substantially funded next year if Congress indeed sends the money, albeit with non-recurring funds. Next week, your Legislative Link will provide an overview of both proposed budgets.

Back to top TABOR Considered

On Tuesday the Senate Community Affairs Committee passed SB 2420, which would create a Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) in the Florida Constitution. The bill, filed by incoming Senate President, Mike Haridopolos, is fashioned after a bill passed in Colorado several years ago which has driven the state into an economic quagmire. No other state has adopted a TABOR. As originally filed, the bill would have capped state and local government revenue collections to those of the prior fiscal year plus the annual rate of inflation plus population growth. Under the TABOR it is projected that revenue increases will be limited to the low single digits. Because of huge opposition by cities and counties, the bill passed by the Community Affairs Committee excludes cities and counties from the revenue caps. Read the bill.

A TABOR proposal was defeated a couple of years ago by the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission. While likely not to pass this session – it has no House companion – it is probable that Senator Haridopolos will revive it again next year when he is Senate President. To find out more about TABOR, visit the website of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Back to top A Hard Life Gets Harder

On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Council on Education and Economic Development passed HB 5305. The bill amends several statutes to conform to the proposed House 2010-2011 state budget. The bill has some significant negative implications for the Road to Independence (RTI) program and the children who receive critical services through it. The young adults in the RTI program all come out of the foster care system. They have had extraordinarily difficult challenges to overcome in their young lives, and the RTI has - due to recent legislative support – provided them with many of the supports they need in order to go out on their own at age 18. Alone at 18. No family. Trying to go to school, hold down a job, pay rent, utilities, food, travel, and other expenses. This, after perhaps bouncing between numerous foster homes and schools. Daunting challenges if they are going to succeed and not fall prey to drugs, alcohol, and criminal activity to survive. HB 5305, which appears destined to pass, will eliminate several of the advances that have been made in recent years to help RTI youth succeed. Among others, the bill: • Replaces current language that caps the stipend for RTI participants at the equivalent of 40 hours of minimum wage, with language stating the stipend shall not exceed $675.00 per month. This is about a 50% reduction;• Prorates the stipend in the first month when the child turns 18, at a time when he or she desperately needs the funds to assist with utility and housing deposits;• Changes funding language in a way that limits the ability of Community Based Care agencies to provide support for transitioning foster youth.; and• Mandates that benefits are terminated if a young adult is not in school, setting the stage for termination for reasons that are not the young adult’s fault, and even if they are attempting to re-enter school.Read the bill. Back to top BILLS HEARD THIS WEEK

Back to top HJR 37 - Health Care Services

The House Health Care Regulation Policy Committee passed HJR 37 on Monday, which would put on the November ballot an amendment to the Florida Constitution that would: • Prohibit persons and employers from being compelled to participate in a health care system; • allow direct payment of health care services;• prohibit penalizing persons, employers, and health care providers from utilizing a direct payment system; and• allow for the purchase or sale of health insurance in the private market, subject to certain conditions. If adopted by the voters at the 2010 general election, the resolution would take effect January 4, 2011. Read the bill. Back to top HB 107 - Autism

HB 107 requires a physician to refer a minor patient to an appropriate specialist for screening for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) if the parent or legal guardian believes the minor exhibits symptoms of ASD and reports the observation to the physician. The bill requires insurers and health care plans to cover “direct patient access†to an appropriate specialist for a minimum of three visits per policy year for screening, evaluation, or diagnosis of ASD. The bill was passed by the House Health Care Regulation Policy Committee on Monday. Read the bill. The Senate Companion bill, SB 214 was passed by the Banking and Insurance Committee on Wednesday. Read the bill. Back to top HB 285 - Parental Authority

On Monday, the House Criminal and Civil Justice Policy Council passed CS/HB 285. The bill expressly authorizes natural guardians, on behalf on any of their minor children, to waive and release, in advance, any claim for a cause of action that would accrue to any of their minor children to the same extent that any adult may do so on his or her own behalf. The bill prohibits such waivers and releases from relieving a party of liability for acts of intentional misconduct and expressly provides that sexual misconduct is included among acts of intentional misconduct that may not be waived. Parental waivers would not relieve a party of liability for gross negligence against a minor if such gross negligence can be established by clear and convincing evidence. In addition, the bill specifies certain circumstances when an employer may be held liable

for intentional misconduct or gross negligence of an employee. Read the bill. Back to top HB 747 - Care of Public School Students with Diabetes

On Thursday, the House PreK-12 Policy Committee passed HB 747, which requires the Department of Education in partnership with several other groups including the Florida Association of School Nurses to develop guidelines for training school employees in the care of students with diabetes. School districts will also be required to annually provide training that is commensurate with a school employee’s role in working with students with diabetes. Training will include, among others, instruction in: • Recognizing and treating hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia;• Understanding the appropriate actions to take when blood glucose levels are outside target ranges;• Understanding prescriber instructions concerning diabetes medication drug dosage, frequency, and manner of administration;• Performing fingerstick blood glucose checks and keytone checks and recording the results;• Administering insulin and glucogon; and• Understanding how to perform basic insulin pump functions. Read the bill. Back to top HB 923 - Homelessness

On Thursday, the House Roads, Bridges and Ports Policy Committee passed HB 923, which revises multiple sections of Florida Statutes relating to homelessness. Among others, the bill: • Authorizes collection of voluntary contributions in the amount of $1.00 to be added to the issuance and renewal of motor vehicle registration and driver licenses to aid the homeless;• Replaces 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 loss of their current home due to financial or other crises; and• Limits administrative costs of lead agencies under the Challenge Grant. The program is expected to save approximately $200,000 in administrative costs for the Office on Homelessness due to elimination of temporary staff. Read the bill. Back to top HB 1003 - Veterans/Nonprofits

On Tuesday the House Policy Council passed CS/HB 1003, dealing with veteran and nonprofit organizations. Currently, charitable organizations that engage in solicitation activities in Florida must register with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and provide certain financial and background information as well as pay initial and annual renewal fees. There are three types of fund raising activities that are exempt from registration reporting requirements: applying for a grant or award from the government; soliciting for the benefit for a named individual; and soliciting by an organization that is limited solely to seeking contributions from its own membership. CS/HB 1003 creates a new, additional exemption for any division, department, post, or chapter of a veteran’s service organization that has been granted a corporate charter by an act of Congress. The bill also deletes the eligibility requirement that service-disabled

veterans must have suffered a 10% or greater service-connected disability in order to be eligible to receive any of the benefits provided for under the Florida Service-Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Opportunity Act. Read the bill. Back to top HB 1073 - Relating to Education of Children with Disabilities

On Thursday, the House PreK-12 Policy Committee passed CS/HB 1073 which incorporated HB 81 into it, addressing restraint and seclusion of students with disabilities. The bill requires that the 40-clock-hour introductory course for child care personnel include training in developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder, and early identification, use of available state and local resources, classroom integration, and positive behavioral supports for children with developmental disabilities. The course must also cover recognition and care of infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities including autism spectrum disorder. In addition, the bill requires the Department of Education to incorporate course curricula used for continuing education or in service training of instructional personnel to include awareness instruction of autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities, including early identification of, and intervention for, students who have autism spectrum disorder or

other developmental disabilities, curriculum planning and curricular and instructional modifications, adaptations, and specialize strategies and techniques, and assistive technology, among others. Lastly, the CS establishes standards and procedures regarding the use, monitoring and reduction of unnecessary seclusion and restraint of students with disabilities. The bill authorizes school personnel to use manual physical restraint and seclusion on a student with disabilities under certain circumstances. Among others, school districts must develop policies and procedures regarding prohibition of the use of mechanical restraints on students, the appropriate use of manual physical restraints and seclusion on students, personnel authorized to use manual physical restraints, and incident-reporting procedures. Read the bill. Back to top HB 1189 - Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment

The House Public Safety and Domestic Security Policy Committee passed CS/HB 1189 on Monday. Based on a plan developed by a statewide task force convened by the Florida Supreme Court and consisting of representatives from all three branches of government as well as leaders from the mental health, substance abuse, and criminal justice fields, the bill allows the Department of Children and Families to identify demonstration sites to develop and implement community-based services targeting individuals with severe mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders involved in or at risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system. The bill creates the Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Crime Reduction Act. Read the bill. Back to top SB 1312 - Florida State Employees’ Charitable Campaign

The Senate Government Oversight and Accountability Committee passed SB 1312 on Tuesday and the companion bill, HB 1603 was passed by the House Governmental Affairs Policy Committee on Wednesday. The identical bills would delete the power of local steering committees to direct the distribution of undesignated funds and require undesignated funds to be shared proportionally by the participating charitable organizations based on the percentage of designations in each area. Read SB 1312. Back to top HM 1349 - Community-Based Services for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

House Memorial 1349 urges Congress to support the opportunity to provide increased access to community-based services for individuals with developmental disabilities. The memorial specifically encourages 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. The House Health and Family Service Policy Council passed the Memorial on Monday. Read the bill. Back to top HB 5303 - Agency for Persons with Disabilities

HB 5303 was passed by the House Appropriations Council on Education and Economic Development on Tuesday. The bill makes statutory changes to conform to the funding decisions included in the proposed House 2010-2011 budget. Among others the bill: • Implements a wait list prioritization for the first two categories of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) Medicaid waiver wait list. The bill delays prioritization of categories three through seven until January 1, 2012;• Specifies the use of an assessment instrument to either the Individual Cost Guidelines or the Questionnaire for Situational Information for determining the tier to which the client should be assigned; • Creates a new section of Florida Statutes relating to individual budgets or iBudgets to improve financial management of waiver services; and• Specifies conditions for requesting APD Medicaid fair hearings and requires those hearings to be provided by the Department of Children and Families. The House proposed budget reduces recurring general revenue expenditures by approximately $4.1 million as a result of an annual client expenditure cap under the tier one waiver services to not exceed $120,000, the elimination of behavior assistance services in standard and behavior focus group homes, and reducing geographic differential rehabilitation rates. Read the bill. Back to top HB 5305 - Child Welfare

On Tuesday, the House Health Care Appropriations Committee passed PCB HCA 10-04, which now been filed as HB 5305. The bill amends several statutes to conform to the proposed House 2010-2011 state budget. The bill has some significant negative implications for the Road to Independence (RTI) program and the children who receive critical services through it. Among others, the bill: • Replaces current language that caps the stipend for RTI participants at the equivalent of 40 hours of minimum wage, with language stating the stipend shall not exceed $675.00 per month. This is about a 50% reduction;• Prorates the stipend in the first month when the child turns 18, at a time when he or she desperately needs the funds to assist with utility and housing deposits;• Changes funding language in a way that limits the ability of Community Based Care agencies to provide support for transitioning foster youth.; and• Mandates that benefits are terminated if a young adult is not in school, setting the stage for termination for reasons that are not the young adult’s fault, and even if they are attempting to re-enter school. Read the bill. Back to top

United Way of Florida - 307 E. Seventh Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32303. phone

You're receiving this newsletter because you are a part of the One Voice for Children Communication NetworkHaving trouble reading this email? View it on your browser . Not interested anymore? Unsubscribe Instantly .