Guest guest Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Developmental Disabilities Legislative Session Report #4 By Kingsley Ross Summary: The fourth week of the 2012 regular session focused primarily on substantive legislation for people interested in developmental disabilities It also marked Developmental Disabilities (DD) Awareness Day at the capital with consumers and parents from across the state attending. Action during week 4: The House Appropriations Committee passed out it full budget. There were no significant changes to DD services from what was reported out by Rep. Hudson’s subcommittee. The House recommendation for CARD centers is the same as amount budgeted for this year. The Senate Health Regulations committee temporarily passed SB 1516 because amendments were not ready. The Senate Health and Human Services (HHS) Subcommittee’s chair, Sen. Joe Negron, announced that he would produce his budget next week and that his allocation will “only” require a cut of $350 million instead of his previous estimate of $850 million. In other action, the House completed its redistricting plan when the full House passed it on Friday. Anticipated Action in Week 5: The Senate HHS Appropriations Subcommittee should produce its budget on Wednesday and the Sen. Health Regulation Committee should hear SB 1516 on Thursday with a strike-all amendment that strips the bill’s current language and replaces with revised language. The House Appropriations Act (HB 5001) should come before the full body for passage. Action Needed. If you have not done so, contact the Senators on the Health Regulation Committee to ask them to vote against SB 1516. If you have a loved one receiving Waiver services, tell them (in your own words) what it would mean if they have to give up any of their services. Below are the members of the Health Regulation Committee. First Name Last Name District City District Phone Tallahassee Phone Email Address de la Portilla Miami portilla.miguel.web@... Mike Fasano New Port Richey fasano.mike.web@... Don Gaetz Destin gaetz.don.web@... Rene Hialeah garcia.rene.web@... Dennis Seminole jones.dennis.web@... Jim Norman Tampa norman.jim.web@... Eleanor Sobel Hollywood sobel.eleanor.web@... Background Analysis: The Senate is finally moving its budget. They are approximately two weeks behind the House but the legislature can still get its work done on time. We continue to receive rumors that we will be pleased with its budget work for people with DD. If the House passes its Appropriations Act next week, it will be ready for conference. The amendments to SB 1516 were delayed because the governor’s office wanted to review them. There is a meeting scheduled for Tuesday to review a strike-all amendment with several advocacy groups. I am cautiously hopeful but the detail of any strike-all amendment needs to be thoroughly vetted before we can relax our efforts in opposing this bill. Finally, a major controversy has erupted in the Senate on the privatization of prisons. While this does not directly impact developmental disabilities, it does show that the leadership is having trouble getting its members to go along with their plans. A similar rebellion occurred late in the session last year. This is occurring much earlier and could have implications for other issues but only time will tell. -- Regards,Ven Sequenzia, Jr. PresidentAutism Society of AmericaState of Florida Chapter 1 of 1 File(s) Autism Legislative Report #4 on DD .pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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