Latest news with #SB1620
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Florida Senate passes changes to mental health bill
Going along with changes made by the House, the Senate voted 34-3 on Friday to pass a measure (SB 1620) that backs a series of recommendations from Florida's Commission on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder. The House unanimously approved the measure (SB 1620) on Tuesday, meaning it is now ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Friday's vote came two days after senators angrily objected to the House removing part of the bill that would have created a Senator Darryl E. Rouson Center for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Research at the University of South Florida. Rouson, a legislator since 2008 who overcame a past that included being homeless and a drug addict, on Friday implored senators to pass the bill with the House change. 'I think the work of the commission is more important at this time,' Rouson, a St. Petersburg Democrat who sponsored the bill, said. House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, responded Wednesday to the Senate criticism by calling the bill a 'backdoor' effort to essentially fund the new center, which wasn't part of the commission's recommendations. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Policy, budget war boils over in Florida Capitol as DeSantis slams 'House of Pettiness'
Heading for overtime and deadlocked on budget talks on day 58 of Florida's 60-day legislative session, Senate GOP leaders lashed out at the House over a string of bills stripped of key Senate-backed provisions, deepening the rift between chambers. The disdain was echoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who dubbed the chamber the 'House of Pettiness,' but rebuffed by House Speaker Daniel Perez, who accused the Senate of 'emotional blackmail.' The breaking point on April 30 was a bill (SB 1620) that sought to codify recommendations from a task force on mental health and substance abuse, including a provision to prioritize licensing for short-term residential treatment facilities. The Senate bill included a provision creating a substance abuse and mental health research center at the University of South Florida, and named it after Sen. Darryl Rouson, a St. Petersburg Democrat who has championed the cause of substance abuse recovery after his own battles with drug addiction. The House stripped out that piece of the bill and sent it to the Senate, where several members decried the move: 'This is what we deal with,' said Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, lead negotiator of the Senate in budget talks. 'We will make it right – or else.' Hooper's remark was slammed by Perez, a Miami Republican: 'I have enormous respect for Senator Rouson. I admire his public service, and I would be happy to collaborate with the Senate to honor him,' the House speaker said in a released statement. 'But the action of the Senate today to name a center after Senator Rouson as a means of emotionally blackmailing the House into doing what they want is unconscionable. The comments of 'or else' were a threat to the Florida House and beneath the dignity of the Florida Senate,' he added. Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, have been unable to bridge a divide on the budget, largely because of the wide gaps in tax cut plans. Perez wants to cut the state sales tax from 6% to 5.25%. Albritton fears that would slash taxes by too much in future years, when economists project a nearly $7 billion shortfall in two years. The gap between the House and Senate budgets is $4.4 billion, with the House at nearly $113 billion. After several offers made between the chambers, frustration is spilling into the open after negotiators had been holding out hope for a deal. Hooper and House budget chief Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, had already admitted last week that the lack of an agreement meant they wouldn't be able to pass a budget during 60-day session, set to end May 2. That means the Legislature will head to overtime, still needing to pass a spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1. And the stalemate over the budget threatened to seep into other substantive bills. For example, Albritton's priority 'Rural Renaissance' bill (SB 110) this year is designed to provide more funds, health care and education options in rural areas. But the House rewrote the bill, watering it down and sending it back to the Senate. Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, called it a 'bastardized' version; the Senate rejected the House changes and sent it back. Despite the rancor, some major bills were completed April 30. Lawmakers passed a bill to give condo owners more time to pay assessments placed on their units to pay for inspections and maintenance resulting from new requirements passed by the Legislature after the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers building in Surfside. The measure is a priority for DeSantis, who has repeatedly slammed the House for pushing forward a condo bill that didn't go as far as he wanted. He's also clashed with Perez over the lack of movement on property tax cuts, reductions in spending for state law enforcement agencies and a House probe into the Hope Florida Foundation, the fundraising arm of a program championed by First Lady Casey DeSantis. The foundation funneled $10 million connected to a settlement over alleged Medicaid overpayments through other groups to a political committee opposed to an amendment on the 2024 ballot to legalize recreational marijuana. DeSantis later chimed in on the spat between the chambers over the Rouson naming provision: 'The Florida House of Pettiness in all its glory,' DeSantis posted on X. At an appearance in Fruitland Park to again defend Hope Florida, the governor once again berated the House, calling it "dysfunctional and unsuccessful." Whether any progress is made toward a 2025-26 state budget by May 2, he added that "this will go down as the least productive Florida House of Representatives in decades.' Perez defended his chamber, saying they wanted to stick to the recommendations from the task force, and the center to be named after Rouson wasn't among them. 'The Senate created a backdoor appropriations project,' Perez said. 'They did so unilaterally, fully aware that the House did not wish to include additional items in the bill beyond the commission's recommendations.' With the deadline to end the session fast approaching, lawmakers haven't decided whether to extend the session to reach a budget deal or adjourn and return to the Capitol in May or June to complete the spending plan – the one job the state constitution requires them to do. Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@ Follow him on X: @GrayRohrer. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: DeSantis slams 'House of Pettiness' as legislative session sputters
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Florida Senate outraged over House dig at senator's mental health facility plan
Sen. Darryl Rouson . (Screenshot/Florida Channel) A Florida House amendment that killed plans for a substance abuse and mental health research center at the University of South Florida to be named after Tampa Bay Democratic Sen. Darryl Rouson infuriated both Democratic and Republican senators Wednesday. Even Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier used the episode to launch another attack on the House. The legislation (SB 1620), which has passed both chambers in some form now, would make a raft of changes to Florida's Mental Health Act. The original bill included a Center for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Research at USF's Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute. The center would have conducted statewide behavioral health research, promote evidence-based practices, and improved workforce development. An amendment added by Pinellas County Republican Ed Hooper would have named the facility the 'Rouson Center,' after Rouson, who has battled drug and alcohol addiction in his past and had sponsored the measure in the Senate. However, an amendment sponsored by Broward County Democrat Christine Hunschofsky and passed by the House on Tuesday deleted the facility — Rouson's name and all. So when the bill came back to the Senate on Wednesday, Rouson told his colleagues that while he was disappointed about that development, they should still go ahead and pass the measure. 'The establishment of this center means a great deal to those who believe in advancing mental health care with evidence-based compassion,' Rouson told his colleagues. 'Unfortunately, the House didn't see it our way, and for me, it is more important that the work continue, that the work of the commission be honored.' He referred to the Florida Commission on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder. Some senators said that out of respect to Rouson they would still vote for the bill. But others insisted they would not. 'It's not right, it's not fair, it's not appropriate, and it really isn't acceptable,' Tampa Bay-area Republican Jim Boyd said. 'I promise you we will make this right.' 'I'm just glad that in a year-and-a-half we'll have another speaker who will hopefully support the naming of the program after you,' Naples GOP Sen. Kathleen Passidomo said, referring to House Speaker Daniel Perez. GOP Sens. Jay Collins and Blaise Ingoglia both called the House move 'a travesty.' 'I am angry beyond words,' said Ingoglia. 'It hurts. It hurts because I'm somebody in recovery,' said Democratic Sen. Rosalind Osgood, who said she would oppose the measure. The dispute took place just two days before the 60-day legislative session was scheduled to end, but, with the sides still divided on a budget and tax reductions, the session will have to be extended or the Legislature come back before the budget would take effect on July 1 Shortly after the vote, Gov. DeSantis, who has been battling the House for the past month on various issues, including taxes, weighed in, responding on X, 'The Florida House of Pettiness in all its glory…' 'Senator @darrylrouson is a class act,' added Attorney General James Uthmeier on X. The budget fight involves Perez's insistence on lowering the sales tax to the tune of around $5 billion. Senate President Ben Albritton is worried about what happens if a recession hits. According to the original legislation, the purpose of the center was to conduct 'rigorous and relevant research intended to develop knowledge and practice in prevention and intervention for substance abuse and mental health issues, to serve the people and economy in this state in reducing the gap between population needs and the availability of effective treatments and other interventions to improve the capacity of the state to have healthy, resilient communities prevailing over substance abuse, addiction, and mental health challenges.' The Senate opted to temporarily postpone action on the legislation. They have just two days to decide on whether they want to approve it. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
