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Dead bills resurface in budget talks
Legislators are meeting in Tallahassee to hammer out the fiscal year 2025-26 budget and avoid a government shutdown before July 1
Florida legislators are using budget negotiations to revisit substantive legislation related to education and health care that didn't pass during the 2025 regular session.
DeSantis' push to shakeup cancer funding could be in trouble in the House
One House bill would have revised how low-performing schools are classified and how Schools of Hope can be started. HB 1267 passed the House on party lines; however; the Senate never took it up.
The issue resurfaced in the budget conference on Tuesday when the House proposed to allow charter schools to open inside low-performing public schools. The budget document shared with the public outlining the House's offer didn't contain any additional details.
The School of Hope program started in 2017 and allows charter schools to open near persistently low-performing schools. In 2023-2024, there were 51 persistently low-performing schools. The bill would've classified more schools as persistently low-performing by changing the definition.
'The House has been pretty consistent that we want students to have access to the best educational opportunities,' House budget chief Rep. Lawrence McClure told reporters Tuesday.
The two chambers have already agreed to $6 million in nonrecurring funding for Schools of Hope for the state fiscal year 2025-26 budget.
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The House agreed to adopt a number of Senate-coveted issues related to nursing homes that were contained in SB 170, including requiring long-term care facilities to conduct patient safety and culture surveys at least once every two years. The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) would be required to include the results in its nursing home guide.
Additionally, the House agreed with the Senate's proposal to require nursing home medical directors to obtain designation from the American Medical Director Association or to hold a comparable credential or be in the process of seeking those credentials by Jan. 1, 2026.
The House agreed to the Senate's proposal to fine nursing homes or headquarters of nursing homes that don't submit their financial data to AHCA's financial reporting system. The Senate wants to amend the Medicaid law to include a $10,000 fine per violation. SB 170 was sponsored by Sen. Colleen Burton and was a priority for Senate President Ben Albritton. who fast-tracked it through the chamber, with the Senate passing the bill unanimously on April 9. But the House never considered the proposal.
While the House has agreed to those nursing home-related issues in its conforming bill offer, technically they still aren't finalized because the Senate hasn't agreed with the House's offer. Conforming bills are budget-related bills that change substantive law to reflect spending decisions. Unlike the budget, which remains in effect for the state fiscal year, conforming bills change substantive law and remain in effect until the laws are changed.
With no Medicaid expansion on horizon Florida lawmakers take on scope battles (again)
The House also included in its Tuesday healthcare offer a proposal to expand the duties dental hygienists are allowed to perform. The House wants to amend the dental hygienist licensure laws to allow hygienists who practice under general supervision to use a dental diode laser to reduce or eliminate plaque in spaces between a tooth and the gums.
Only hygienists who complete a 12-hour in-person course recognized by the Board of Dentistry or the American Dental Association would qualify. House Speaker Daniel Perez has championed giving dental hygienists a larger role in the health care system since he was a freshman.
After seemingly rejecting the idea during the 2025 session, the House appears to have changed direction and is proposing to open up to other hospitals $127.5 million that has been, until now, dedicated solely to four National Cancer Institute-designated facilities: Moffitt Cancer Center; University of Florida Health Cancer Center; Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; and Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The House's proposal amends the statutory definition of cancer center to include community cancer centers accredited by the American College of Surgeons as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Program or Integrated Network Cancer Program, to qualify for the funds.
It's not clear which hospitals would benefit from the change.
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