Rep. Lindsay Cross

Firefighter Health and Safety ; Requires Division of State Fire Marshal within DFS to adopt certain rules; requires division to assist in decreasing frequency of fatalities; requires division to adopt rules relating to education on chemical hazards or toxic substances & mental health best practices.

Maddy summaryHB 519 allows medical practitioners (like doctors) to authorize certified paramedics to administer controlled substances during emergency medical care. This directly affects paramedics and the healthcare providers who oversee their work. The key provision requires a practitioner’s specific authorization for paramedics to use medications classified as controlled substances (such as opioids or sedatives) in urgent situations. It does not expand the types of drugs available but clarifies the process for their use under medical direction. The bill focuses on updating protocols for emergency care without changing drug classifications or creating new requirements for paramedics.

Special Observances; Designates August 21 of each year as "Fentanyl Awareness & Education Day"; encourages specified entities & public schools to sponsor events to promote awareness of dangers of fentanyl & potential overdoses, including education on specified topics.

State Land Management; Requiring public hearings for all updated conservation and nonconservation land management plans; requiring the Division of State Lands of the Department of Environmental Protection to make available to the public, within a specified timeframe, electronic copies of land management plans for parcels of a certain size and for parcels located in state parks; revising the duties of the Division of Recreation and Parks of the Department of Environmental Protection; specifying requirements for the management of parks and recreational areas held by the state; requiring the division to comply with specified provisions when granting certain privileges, leases, concessions, and permits; authorizing the division to acquire, install, or permit the installation or operation at state parks of campsites and cabins that meet certain requirements; prohibiting the division from authorizing certain uses or construction activities within a state park; prohibiting the division from installing or permitting the installation of any lodging establishment within the boundaries of a state park; requiring that individual management plans for parcels located within state parks be developed with input from an advisory group; requiring that the advisory group's required public hearings be noticed to the public within a specified timeframe, etc.

Human Trafficking Awareness; Requiring the Department of Education to identify a curriculum regarding human trafficking awareness; specifying required components of the curriculum; authorizing in-person or online training; requiring public schools to require that certain personnel have received certain training, etc.

Cardiac Emergencies; Requires, rather than authorizing, school districts to provide training in basic first aid to certain students; provides requirements for such training; requires each public school to develop plan for urgent life-saving emergencies (PULSE) for specified purposes; & provides requirements for school, staff, & defibrillator use & storage.

Mental Health; Expands programs & diversion initiatives supported by implementation or expansion grants to include training for 911 public safety telecommunicators & emergency medical technicians for certain purposes & to include veterans treatment court programs; exempts certain fiscally constrained counties from local match requirements for specified grants; encourages communities to apply for specified grants to establish pretrial felony mental health diversion programs; provides model process for such mental health diversion programs; authorizes specified entities to collaborate to establish certain policies & procedures & to develop certain consent form; requires mental health evaluations & following of all recommendations as conditions of probation for specified defendants; creates Florida Behavioral Health Care Data Repository within Northwest Regional Data Center; requires data center to develop specified plan & submit annual report.

Young Adults who are Homeless or were in the Child Welfare System; Requires each Florida College System institution & state university, in consultation with State Office on Homelessness, to develop plan to prioritize placement of certain students in residence halls or dormitory residences; provides responsibilities for Office of Continuing Care, Florida College System institutions, & state universities; requires that certain institutions & universities give priority to certain students for housing & work-study opportunities; prohibits institutions & universities from requiring cosigner or guarantor to obtain housing for certain students; requires certain entities to administer certain federal programs & vouchers; provides requirements for administering such programs & vouchers; requires specified entities to document certain actions & provide certain assurances to landlords.

Juvenile Justice; Creates & revises numerous provisions relating to juvenile justice, including provisions relating to early truancy intervention, appointment of counsel, and use of detention.

Holocaust Remembrance Day; Requires Governor to proclaim specified day annually as "Holocaust Remembrance Day"; authorizes "Holocaust Remembrance Day" to be observed in this state's public schools & be observed by public exercise as Governor may designate; authorizes specified instruction.