Physician Assistants; Providing for the registration of physician assistants to engage in practice without physician supervision; providing financial responsibility requirements for registered physician assistants; specifying activities registered physician assistants may engage in without physician supervision; requiring registered physician assistants to provide new patients with specified information either before or during the initial patient encounter, etc.
Legal Notices; Revising the definition of the term “governmental agency”; requiring that certain legal notices be continuously published for a specified timeframe when the notices are for a specified purpose and provided under a certain circumstance; authorizing certain counties or specified municipalities, school boards, clerks of the circuit court, and tax collectors to use a publicly accessible website to publish certain advertisements and legal notices under specified conditions, etc.
HB 489 updates definitions used by Florida's Housing Finance Corporation to clarify eligibility for affordable housing programs. It defines key terms like "demonstrated capacity" (requiring completion of at least three U.S. affordable housing projects, including one in Florida, within five years) and "qualifying principal" (a person owning 25%+ of a housing entity). The bill also clarifies that "elderly" means 62+ and ensures housing meeting specific criteria qualifies as elderly housing. These changes directly affect housing providers (both nonprofits and for-profits) seeking to develop or manage affordable housing projects funded through the corporation.
Pub. Rec./Municipal Clerks; Provides exemption from public records requirements for personal identifying & location information of current & former municipal clerks & their staff, spouses, & children; provides for future legislative review & repeal; provides for retroactive application; provides statement of public necessity.
Restrictions on Employer-owned Life Insurance Policies; Authorizes employer-owned life insurance policies covering key persons of business entities, organizations, companies, & corporations under certain circumstances; requires certain disclosures to key persons; prohibits employer-owned life insurance policies covering certain employees; provides that policies covering such employees are void as against public policy; requires insurer notice to OIR of employer-owned life insurance policies; requires office to maintain registry & publish annual report; provides that premiums, loan interests, & expenses related to employer-owned life insurance are not tax deductible; subjecting death benefits received by employers to corporate income tax; requires OIR to adopt certain standard forms.
Products Liability Actions Under the Florida Pesticide Law; Prohibits pesticide-related products liability action for failure to warn if pesticide's label meets specified conditions.
Public Records/Appellate Court Clerks; Defining the term “appellate court clerk”; providing an exemption from public records requirements for the personal identifying and location information of current appellate court clerks and the spouses and children of such appellate court clerks; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.
Toll Discounts for Certified Veteran Business Enterprises; Requiring the Department of Transportation to establish a pilot program that provides certified veteran business enterprises with a discount on certain toll expenses; providing eligibility requirements for the pilot program; requiring the Florida Turnpike Enterprise, in coordination with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Department of Management Services, to administer the pilot program, etc.
Disability Provisions for Firefighters and Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers; Defining the terms “employing agency” and “heart disease”; providing that a certain previously conducted physical examination satisfies a requirement for a presumption; authorizing law enforcement officers, correctional officers, and correctional probation officers, under a specified condition, to use a physical examination from a former employer for the purpose of claiming a specified presumption, etc.
Department of Law Enforcement; Authorizing the Department of Law Enforcement to adopt rules relating to the Florida Medal of Valor and the Florida Blue/Red Heart Medal; specifying the circumstances under which an appointment or reappointment to the Medical Examiners Commission is considered in force; requiring the commission, rather than the Governor, to appoint district medical examiners for each medical examiner district; requiring the Department of Law Enforcement to accept and process fingerprints taken of natural persons who are control persons of a licensee or are applicants for licensure, etc.
Doula Support for Healthy Births Pilot Program; Establishing the pilot program in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties for a specified purpose, subject to a specific appropriation in the General Appropriations Act; requiring the Department of Health, in collaboration with its maternal and child health section, to implement and oversee the pilot program; requiring the department to collaborate with specified entities to integrate doula services into existing maternal health programs and facilitate outreach and service delivery; creating the Doula Certification Task Force within the department for a specified purpose, etc.
Public Records and Meetings/Social Work Licensure Interstate Compact; Providing an exemption from public records requirements for certain information held by the Department of Health or the Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling pursuant to the Social Work Licensure Interstate Compact; providing an exemption from public meetings requirements for certain meetings or portions of certain meetings of the Social Work Licensure Compact Commission or its executive committee or other committees; providing an exemption from public records requirements for recordings, minutes, and records generated during the exempt meetings or portions of such meetings; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemptions; providing statements of public necessity, etc.
