Current Legislation in the Florida House
This bill will ensure that insurance companies in Florida must cover treatment for mental and nervous disorders such as schizophrenia and psychotic disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse disorders, eating disorders, and childhood ADD/ADHD no differently than a physical illness.
I support this end whole-heartedly.
This bill provides that manual physical restraint shall be used only in emergency when there is imminent risk of serious injury or death to student or others. It also provides restrictions on use of manual physical restraint; prohibits use of manual physical restraint by school personnel who are not trained & certified to use district-approved methods for applying restraint techniques; prohibits school personnel from placing student in seclusion. And, requires school to prepare incident report after occasion of student restraint as well as development & revision of school district policies & procedures.
Having a disabled cousin who is in school and having worked as a mental health technician, I fully support this bill.
This bill requires a portion of Powerball net revenues to be allocated to voluntary prekindergarten education programs.
I am in full support of this.
This bill decreases fees & charges for reinstatement of driver license, certificates of title, registration of motor vehicle, license plates, validation decals, mobile home stickers, initial registration application for certain vehicles, driver's license examinations, services & documents, driver's licenses, return of license suspended, and DUI program enrollment. It also removes fee & service charge for publication and delivery of notice given by certain licensed dealers, as well as decreases annual license taxes for operation of certain vehicles.
After last years hikes on fees and our current economic situation for middle and working class families, I am in support of these decreases.
This bill prevents insurance companies from limiting coverage for lymph node dissections or mastectomies that have been deemed medically necessary by treating physicians.
Having a mother who is currently undergoing breast cancer treatment, there is no doubt in my mind that this is a good bill. It has my full support.
This bill will authorize specified insurers to use a different rate from otherwise applicable filed rates.
De-regulation of current insurance rates is the worst thing that can be allowed in these economic times. Florida's families cannot afford it. I do not support this bill in anyway and will continue to fight against it.
This bill authorizes counties to establish a fund for providing no-interest loans to assist low-income & moderate-income homeowners in paying homeowners' insurance premiums.
In these tough economic times our working and middle class families need help in keeping their homes. Being from a working class family myself, I have seen first hand how parents sacrifice just to keep a roof over their child's head. I support this bill.
This bill specifies the period each year during which sales of books, clothing, school supplies, specified personal computers and personal computer-related accessories are exempt from tax on sales, use, & other transactions. It also specifies a period each year during which sales of specified energy-efficient products are exempt from such tax.
I recall during my school years how sales tax holidays made it easier on my mother to send me back to school well prepared. In these times it is even more imperative that we help Florida's families get their children well equipped for school as well as save money on their electric bills. I support providing this to our families.
This bill will make students who wish to receive the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship committ to work in State after graduation or pay back the reward.
Although creating incentives for college graduates to stay in state after completing school is a great idea, this bill as written does not take into account how hard it is for students to get a job in a market flooded with out of work people having years of experience. I support creating incentives to keep our graduates working here but cannot support this bill in its current form.
This bill establishes a homelessness prevention grant program to provide emergency financial assistance to families facing the loss of their current home due to a financial or other crisis. This program will be funded by a voluntary contribution of $1 when renewing a motor vehicle registration.
Many families face the imminent loss of their home or are already homeless. This bill will help them in keeping their homes or providing shelter for those already homeless. I support this bill.
There are many issues facing our community and many bills in the legislature to address them. If there is a bill or issue you wish me to support or not support please contact me. I am always open to rational discussion and healthy debate among the issue facing us today.
