Rep. Christine Hunschofsky

Maddy summaryHB 253 clarifies eligibility for Florida's Veterans Dental Care Grant Program, which provides dental care to veterans residing in the state. The bill specifies that veterans must have incomes at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level to qualify for the program. Administered by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, the program ensures access to oral health care for eligible veterans. This clarification takes effect on July 1, 2026.

Specific Medical Diagnoses in Child Protective Investigations ; Providing an exception to the requirement that the Department of Children and Families immediately forward certain allegations to a law enforcement agency; requiring such allegations to be immediately forwarded to a law enforcement agency upon completion of the department's investigation; requiring a child protective investigator to inform the subject of an investigation of a certain duty; requiring Child Protection Teams to consult with a licensed physician or advanced practice registered nurse with certain experience when evaluating certain reports; requiring the physician or advanced practice registered nurse who performed certain medical examinations to submit a written report to the department and certain persons within a specified timeframe, etc.

Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances; Prohibits, beginning on specified date, certain use & sale, purchase, or distribution of aqueous film-forming foam; requires, beginning on specified date, certain entities to submit aqueous film-forming foam inventories & disposal plans to DEP; prohibits, beginning on specified date, possession & use of aqueous film-forming foam; authorizes DEP to administer certain grants or cost share programs; provides penalties & injunctive relief; requires certain public entities disposing of domestic wastewater biosolids and treated effluent to quarterly conduct specified samplings & submit results to DEP; limits purpose such samplings until specified standards are established by EPA & adopted by DEP.

Maddy summaryHB 477 revises Florida's definition of "drug paraphernalia" to exclude specific testing products like fentanyl test strips and reagent kits. These products, which identify dangerous substances such as fentanyl, xylazine, cocaine, or amphetamines, are now explicitly exempt from being classified as drug paraphernalia. The bill excludes only products used solely to detect presence - not quantity or potency - and aims to support harm reduction by enabling users to avoid lethal substances. This change directly affects Floridians who use these testing tools to prevent overdoses, aligning with legislative findings on the opioid crisis.

Agency for Persons with Disabilities ; Revises definition of term "developmental disability"; defines "Tatton-Brown-Rahman syndrome"; requires level 2 employment screening for all employees of residential facilities & adult day training programs; requires agency to contract with state university to develop & administer certain surveys; provides requirements for such surveys; requires state university to submit certain report to agency by specified date; requires agency to conduct public hearings on specified information; conduct or contract for gap analysis for specified purposes; identify core competencies & performance metrics & make recommendations for standardizing assessments; & submit certain report to Governor & Legislature by specified date.

Veterans Affairs; Revises admissions process for veterans treatment court programs; authorizes court, in consultation with multidisciplinary team, to determine eligibility for veterans treatment court programs; requires court to consider recommendation of state attorney when making eligibility determination; authorizes sentencing courts to divert defendants to veterans treatment court programs under certain circumstances; requires certain notice be provided to defendants; provides for disposition of probation or community control violations by program participants.

Homestead Exemption and Public Safety Funding; Proposes amendments to State Constitution to revise homestead exemption, limit annual inflation adjustment, require funding for public safety remain at current levels, & require trust fund to provide supplemental funding to replace lost revenues.

Customer Service Callback Queues; Defines "callback queue"; establishes pilot program to require the Department of Commerce to use a callback queue for returning certain calls; requires calls to be returned in specified manner and timeframe; requires the department to report specified information to the Legislature by a certain date.

Background Screenings; Providing that, effective on a specified date, an independent sanctioning authority is deemed to be a qualified entity for the purpose of participating in the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse; requiring qualified entities to designate a user administrator for a specified purpose; prohibiting certain persons from denying or failing to acknowledge certain criminal history records that have been expunged or sealed, etc.

School Counselors; Requires evaluation criteria for certified school counselors to be based on specified standards; provides that persons seeking employment as school counselors are exempt from specified educator certification requirements; & provides that school districts may require such persons to meet certain requirements as condition of employment.