• The Senate has concluded that the best thing for the state is to provide health care to 800,000 Floridians and ensure indigent care is adequately provided by the state's hospitals.
• The House has concluded that the possibility of the feds reneging on billions of dollars of commitments to fund that health care endangers the state's future fiscal health.

• authorizing a law enforcement officer to issue a warning or inform a juvenile's parent when a juvenile admits to having committed a misdemeanor;
• giving the officer discretion to issue a civil citation or require participation in a similar diversion program if he or she decides not to issue a warning or notify the juvenile's parents;
• giving the officer discretion to arrest the juvenile (If an arrest is made, the officer must provide written documentation as to why it was warranted); and
• authorizing an officer to issue a civil citation for second or subsequent misdemeanors.

• Florida has the third largest population of veterans in the nation after California and Texas with more than 1.6 million veterans - 12 percent of the Sunshine State's population 18 and over.
• Wartime veterans make up about 75 percent of Florida's total veteran population (1.2 million).
• There are more Vietnam-era veterans than any other wartime category in Florida with more than 498,000.

• set up a payment plan if the child and the parents or guardians are unable to pay the restitution in one lump-sum payment;
• absolve the parent or guardian of any liability for restitution if, after a hearing, the court finds that the current offense is the child's first referral and the parent or guardian has made diligent and good faith efforts to prevent the child from engaging in delinquent acts, or the victim entitled to restitution is the child's parent or guardian; and
• make both of the child's parents or guardians responsible for restitution, regardless of whether one parent or guardian has sole parental responsibility.

• establish commitment by state leadership to maximize resources and coordination to improve employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities;
• develop strategic goals and benchmarks to assist state agencies and organizations in implementing the agreement;
• identify financing and contracting methods to help prioritize employment for individuals with disabilities by state agencies and organizations;
• establish training methods to better integrate persons with disabilities into the workforce;
• ensure collaborative efforts between agencies; 
• promote service innovations to better assist individuals with disabilities in the workplace; and
• identify accountability measures to ensure sustainability of the agreement.

• allowing managed behavioral health organizations to bid for managing entity contracts when fewer than two bids are received;
• requiring care coordination, specifying services that shall be provided within available resources, and prioritizing the populations served;
• requiring DCF to develop performance standards that measure improvement in a community's behavioral health and in specified individuals' functioning or progress toward recovery;
• specifying members for managing entities' governing boards, and requiring managed behavioral health organizations serving as managing entities to have advisory boards with that membership;
• allowing managing entities flexibility in shaping their provider network, while requiring a system for publicizing opportunities to join, and evaluating providers for participation; and 
• deleting obsolete statutes regarding the transition to the managing entity system.

SB 146 requires licensed physicians, except those providing emergency services and care, to screen minors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) if the parent or legal guardian believes the minor exhibits ASD symptoms.  The physician is required to make a referral to an appropriate specialist for a diagnostic evaluation if the physician determines it is medically necessary.  If the physician determines the referral is not medically necessary, he or she must inform the parent or legal guardian about direct access for screening, evaluation, or diagnosis from the Early Steps program or another specialist.

Last Action: 3/31/15  SENATE  Favorable by Health Policy.

• an honorably discharged military veteran with no firearm-related disciplinary infraction;
• an active-duty member of the military, National Guard, or reserves, with no firearm-related disciplinary infraction; or
• a law enforcement officer in good standing or a former officer who has retired or terminated employment in good standing and not during the course of an internal investigation.

• school districts revise anti-bullying and harassment policies every three years;
• schools implement school district anti-bullying and harassment policies; and
• school district anti-bullying and harassment policies:
• make reporting of bullying or harassment mandatory; and
• include a list of bullying prevention and intervention programs authorized by the school district to provide instruction to students, parents, teachers, school administrators, counseling staff, and school volunteers on identifying, preventing, and responding to bullying or harassment.

• created the Critical Incident Rapid Response Team (CIRRT) to conduct a root-cause analysis of certain child deaths and critical incidents;
• expanded the number and types of cases reviewed through the Child Abuse Death Review (CADR) process;
• required multi-agency staffing for cases alleging medical neglect; and
• created the Florida Institute for Child Welfare (FICW), requiring it to submit an interim report by February 1, 2015.