Latest news with #HB1427
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Low-performing nursing schools could face harsher penalties under this bill
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Florida Capitol in Tallahassee. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) The Florida Legislature passed a bill at the 11th hour of its regular session that could shutter low-performing nursing schools in an attempt to improve the state's standing on the national nursing exam. Before the legislative session started, lawmakers sought answers from nursing school administrators about why Florida has the worst passing rate on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). A proposal creating harsher penalties for nursing programs seemed unlikely to pass until the House inserted it into another bill before the clock struck midnight on May 2, the deadline to take up policy bills. The Florida Center for Nursing based at the University of South Florida included this chart in its annual report showing the state's pass rate for the national licensure exam for registered nurses compared to the national rate. If DeSantis signs HB 1427, nursing schools with passage rates 10 percentage points below the national average would end up on probation, and they would have two years to improve the scores before getting shut down. Although Florida's NCLEX passing rates are the highest they've been in a decade, the 2024 rates for registered nurses and practical nurses to get their licenses (84.9% and 80.78%, respectively) are well under the national average, which was 91.16% for RNs and 88.38% for PNs, according to the annual report from the Florida Center for Nursing. 'Members, this is a great bill that will set us up to allow for nursing education to be the number one in the state of Florida, whereas now, we are number 50,' said Palm City Republican Rep. Toby Overdorf on the House floor Friday. 'This is where we need to be working hard and getting to that new level of nursing.' The Florida Board of Nursing placed 16 programs on probation in 2024, nine of which were for-profit private institutions, according to the Florida Department of Health. The board terminated four programs last year. Additionally, nursing program directors who fail to submit annual reports by Nov. 1 detailing their number of applicants, retention rates, accreditation status, and scores for a newly required exit exam could face disciplinary actions, including revocation of their nursing license and fines up to $10,000. 'I'm worried that we're gonna be negatively impacting people from applying to be nursing directors here in the state,' said Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman. Five senators voted against the bill, with Sarasota Republican Sen. Joe Gruters joining Democrats. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers call for changes to Florida's school voucher funding
The big story: As Florida's voucher program has grown, school district officials have raised concerns about their ability to keep track of students and funding as they move in and out of classrooms. The state Senate has proposed changing the education funding program to streamline the process. Sponsors say the measure also should help improve the reimbursement model that has frustrated many voucher recipients. 'With input from stakeholders across the spectrum of school choice, this bill creates reasonable timeframes and mechanisms to improve both transparency and efficiency in education funding,' Sen. Don Gaetz said in a news release. Here's the bill, which is scheduled to be presented in committee on Wednesday. Read more from News Service of Florida. Today in Tallahassee ... The Senate Appropriations Committee on PreK-12 Education will hear four bills including SB 1470 on security when it meets at 1:30 p.m. • The Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education will consider two bills and appointments to the board of 10 colleges and universities when it meets at 4 p.m. • The House Commerce Committee will take up its version of a rural communities improvement bill (HB 1427) when it meets at 4 p.m. Running the Ringling: Many museum supporters are questioning the ability of New College to handle the complex operations of the Ringling Museum if it were to take over, as Gov. Ron DeSantis has suggested, Suncoast Searchlight reports. Merger proposal: A plan to merge Tallahassee State College and Lively Technical College will not move forward, WFSU reports. Federal programs: South Florida education leaders are exploring the potential impacts of dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, the Miami Herald reports. More reaction from WFSU, Central Florida Public Media, Florida Phoenix. Environmental education: Pinellas County has approved $2.7 million to refurbish the education centers at two nature preserves, Suncoast News reports. Diversity, equity and inclusion: Florida lawmakers are continuing Florida's efforts to remove diversity, equity and inclusion programs from K-12 schools, local and state governments, and health care, Politico Florida reports. Classroom technology: Broward County schools are working on a better way to keep inventory after the disappearance of several computers bought for student use during the pandemic, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Civil rights investigations: Seven other Florida universities offer the same scholarship that the University of South Florida faces a federal investigation over, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Choices: The Santa Rosa County school district has begun offering virtual courses for students who receive vouchers, Navarre Press reports. Campus leadership: Escambia County commissioners are asking the state Senate to reject Scott Yenor as a trustee for the University of West Florida, saying his views on women in the workplace are a threat for their community, WEAR reports. Bus safety: The Polk County Sheriff's Office is paid $84 an hour to review school bus camera footage for possible passing violations, the Ledger reports. From the police blotter ... A St. Lucie County school bus aide was arrested on accusations of aggressively shaking a student with special needs, TC Palm reports. • The Citrus County Sheriff's Office is investigating a complaint that the school district was scammed out of a large amount of money, the Citrus County Chronicle reports. Don't miss a story. Here's a link to Friday's roundup. Before you go ... Baba Yaga has a new release out. Check out their sound.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs ‘Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act' into law
VIDEO: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs multiple bills into law Thursday LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law legislation aimed at improving maternal health outcomes in the Natural State. According to a release from the governor's office, Sanders signed HB1427, known as the 'Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act,' into law on Thursday. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announces 'Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act' for maternal health According to the bill's Senate sponsor, Sen. Missy Irvin (R-Mountain View), the legislation aims to provide additional financial support for pregnant mothers. When the legislation was announced, House bill sponsor Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R-Knoxville) said it restructures fundamentals in provisions for moms. 'The Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act strengthens maternal care in Arkansas by unbundling the global payment, increasing provider reimbursements, and expanding access to telemedicine,' Pilkington said earlier in the month. 'This bill also improves pregnancy outcomes by empowering community health workers and ensuring Medicaid coverage for expectant mothers.' The bill does not extend postpartum coverage for 12 months post-birth. The bill was also filed in the Senate as SB213. Committee sends plan to improve maternal mortality, infant health in Arkansas to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Multiple government reports have shown Arkansas ranking poorly in the nation for both maternal and infant mortality. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bills to improve Arkansas maternal health, change ballot initiative process head to Sanders' desk
Sen. Jimmy Hickey (left), R-Texarkana, votes present on House Bill 1427, cosponsored by Sen. Missy Irvin (center), R-Mountain View, on the Arkansas Senate floor on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. At right is Sen. Ricky Hill, R-Cabot. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Legislation that Arkansas lawmakers and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders have said will improve the state's maternal health care landscape moved closer to becoming law Tuesday. Sanders also has the opportunity to sign into law two bills that would alter the citizen-led ballot initiative process after the Senate approved both despite bipartisan opposition. On Feb. 6, Sanders announced that the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act would improve low-income Arkansans' access to health care during pregnancy and childbirth. Much of the legislation would alter the state's Medicaid program by establishing presumptive Medicaid eligibility for pregnant Arkansans, offering reimbursements for doulas and community health workers, and establishing pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage for specific treatments. Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, and Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, are sponsoring identical bills to create the policy: House Bill 1427 and Senate Bill 213. HB 1427 passed the Senate with 24 votes for it and none against it Tuesday and will go to Sanders' desk. SB 213 passed the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee Tuesday, and the House is expected to give the bill final approval Wednesday. The legislation has advanced with little dissent but occasionally with much debate over a clause on the final page that would make a child's fifth birthday the statute of limitations for any actions against alleged medical injuries during birth. Current law, which the two bills would amend, allows a minor or his or her legal guardian to 'commence an action' on an alleged medical injury by the child's 11th birthday or two years after the injury occurred, depending on which is later. While no senators voted against either bill, six House Republicans voted against HB 1427, with some expressing concern about the statute of limitations. Little Rock attorneys Paul Byrd and Lamar Porter spoke against this clause before legislative committees voted to pass HB 1427. Byrd, a personal injury attorney, told House members last week that it would be difficult to determine any neurological damage to a child at all, let alone what caused it, before the age of five. Porter is a medical malpractice attorney who has handled birth injury cases. He told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on Monday that HB 1427 should not include the section with the statute of limitations. 'It is ironic to me that a bill designed to promote the health of moms and their babies has added to it a provision that potentially harms the legal rights of moms and babies,' Porter said. He mentioned that the legislation does not specify whether the window for acceptable birth injury claims opens at the start of labor, the point of a pregnant individual's admission to a hospital, or at another point in the 'complicated process' of giving birth. Only 34 hospitals in 23 of Arkansas' 75 counties have labor and delivery units, and five maternity wards have closed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, most recently in Newport. The medical malpractice insurance required to cover the existing 11-year statute of limitations 'completely contributes to those labor and delivery units being closed' and fosters the state's difficulty recruiting and retaining obstetrician-gynecologists, Irvin said. Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation, and the third-highest infant mortality rate, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. Despite concerns about the statute of limitations from some committee members, including Sen. John Payton, R-Wilburn, HB 1427 passed the Senate committee with no audible dissent. 'I'm going to vote for this bill because I feel like it's a treatment and it's not the cure,' Payton said. 'I would hope that somebody, maybe in [the Committee on] Insurance and Commerce, would work on the cure. I think it's a sad state of affairs that we have to restrict the injured parties' opportunity for recovery because the insurance companies are involved.' Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, voted present on both HB 1427 and SB 213 on the Senate floor. SB 213 passed the Senate with 30 votes for it, including all six Senate Democrats, and none against it. Six House Republicans voted present on HB 1427 last week, while all 19 House Democrats and 67 House Republicans voted for it. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX All six Senate Democrats, plus Republican Sen. Bryan King of Green Forest, voted against House Bill 1221 and House Bill 1222, which next go to Sanders' desk. HB 1221 would clarify that the certification of ballot titles for initiatives, referenda and constitutional amendments as well as the signatures collected for those measures would only be valid for the next general election. HB 1222 would expand the attorney general's existing authority to reject a proposal if it conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or federal statutes. It would also prevent a sponsor from submitting more than one conflicting petition at the same time. The bills' Republican sponsors, Sen. Kim Hammer of Benton and Rep. David Ray of Maumelle, said HB 1222 is a response to supporters of proposed 2024 ballot measures submitting multiple petition language options for Attorney General Tim Griffin to approve or reject. Direct democracy bills stir passion, hours of discussion in Arkansas House committee The supporters in question, Arkansas Citizens for Transparency, were among many groups that tried and failed to put changes to state law and the state Constitution on November's ballot. Arkansas is one of 24 states that allows for citizen-led initiatives, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Hickey voted against HB 1221, and Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, voted against HB 1222. No senators voted present on either bill. Hammer is also sponsoring a fleet of Senate bills that opponents have called attacks on direct democracy last week and this week. Two of those bills passed the Senate last week but did not receive the two-thirds majority vote necessary to pass their emergency clauses, which would allow them to go into effect immediately upon Sanders' signature. The Senate subsequently passed motions to expunge the votes on the emergency clauses. Senate Bill 209 would disqualify signatures collected by canvassers if the secretary of state finds 'by a preponderance of evidence' that they violated state law collecting the signatures. Senate Bill 210 would require potential signers to read the ballot title of a petition or have it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. It would also make it a misdemeanor for a canvasser to accept a signature from people who have not read the ballot title or had it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. Hammer said Tuesday that he will bring the two emergency clauses back to the Senate floor Monday since some senators are likely to be absent from the chamber this week due to inclement weather. Emergency clauses need 24 votes to pass the Senate; HB 1221 has an emergency clause and received 25 votes. HB 1222 also received 25 votes but has no emergency clause. Arkansas' elections are overseen by the secretary of state, a position Hammer is seeking in 2026. Current Secretary of State Cole Jester, who was appointed by Sanders and cannot run for the position, expressed support Monday for changes to the initiative petition process after claiming to have found 'thousands of fraudulent signatures' in an election security review.
