Sen. Jay Collins

Mental Health; Citing this act as the “Tristin Murphy Act”; expanding the programs and diversion initiatives supported by implementation or expansion grants to include training for 911 public safety telecommunicators and emergency medical technicians for certain purposes and to include veterans treatment court programs; encouraging communities to apply for specified grants to establish misdemeanor or ordinance violation mental health diversion programs; encouraging communities to apply for specified grants to establish pretrial felony mental health diversion programs; expanding eligibility for the Forensic Hospital Diversion Pilot Program to include Hillsborough County, etc. APPROPRIATION: $794,880

Veterans’ Benefits Assistance; Prohibiting a person from receiving compensation for referring an individual to a provider for advising, assisting, or consulting on any veterans’ benefits matter; requiring that persons who advise, assist, or consult on veterans’ benefits matters for compensation provide a specified oral and written disclosure before entering into a business relationship with a client; prohibiting a provider who advises, assists, or consults on veterans’ benefits matters from charging certain fees; requiring a provider to ensure that individuals who directly assist a veteran in a veterans’ benefits matter complete a specified background screening before entering into an agreement with a veteran for veterans’ benefits matters, etc.

Veterans; Requiring the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to conduct a study that includes a survey evaluating the extent to which specified persons are aware of certain existing programs or services; requiring the department to ensure coordination to the greatest extent possible with the United States Department of Defense for a specified purpose; revising the purpose of the Veteran Suicide Prevention Training Pilot Program to include specialized mental health training; requiring the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to develop a plan to establish adult day health care facilities across this state to serve veterans and their families, etc. APPROPRIATION: $350,000

Transportation; Authorizing the Secretary of Transportation to appoint a specified number of assistant secretaries; creating the Florida Transportation Research Institute; providing that certain spaceport and space industry-related facility projects and commercial shipbuilding and manufacturing facility projects are eligible for grant funding under the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Program; authorizing the department, in consultation with the Department of Commerce and the Department of Environmental Protection, to fund certain infrastructure projects and projects associated with certain critical infrastructure projects; requiring airports to provide the Department of Transportation with the opportunity to use certain airport property for a specified purpose during a declared state of emergency, etc.

Florida National Guard Increased Force Structure; Urging the Congress of the United States to impel the National Guard Bureau to examine the present allocations of the Florida National Guard and allow an increase in its force structure, etc.

Health Care During a Declared Emergency; Defining the term “life sustaining medical services”; requiring certain health insurance entities to enact specified policies; authorizing the Office of Insurance Regulation and the Agency for Health Care Administration to issue emergency orders extending the time periods of such policies for specified timeframes, etc.

Nicotine Products; Citing this act as the "Florida Age Gate Act"; providing that applicants for retail tobacco products dealer permits consent to inspection and search without a warrant; authorizing the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to assess specified fines and certain penalties for each violation involving the sale of a single-use nicotine dispensing device that has not received a marketing granted order under 21 U.S.C. s. 387j or advertising, promoting, or displaying for sale such devices; restricting advertising, promoting, and displaying for sale certain single-use nicotine dispensing devices by retail nicotine products dealers in certain instances, etc.

Autism Spectrum Disorder Training for Law Enforcement Officers; Requiring the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, rather than the Department of Law Enforcement, to establish an employment training component relating to individuals with autism spectrum disorder; providing requirements for training law enforcement officers on interacting with individuals with autism spectrum disorder; requiring the commission to adopt specified rules requiring such training as part of basic recruit training and as part of the required instruction for continued employment and appointment as law enforcement officers, etc.

Smart Living Course; Citing this act as the “Smart Living Curriculum Act”; requiring students in grade 8 to take the Smart Living Course for promotion to high school beginning in a specified school year; requiring that a curriculum known as “Smart Living” be included in required instruction as two stand-alone courses beginning in a specified school year; revising the number of credits certain students must earn to be awarded a standard high school diploma beginning in a specified year, etc.

Election of County Commissioners and Superintendents of Schools; Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to require the membership composition of a board of county commissioners to be based on county population as provided by general law, to require county commissioners to be elected by the qualified electors who reside in the same county commission district as the commissioner, and to require the superintendent of schools to be elected, etc.