Senate OKs mental health bill despite outrage over House removal of Rouson center at USF

Going along with changes made by the House, the state Senate voted 34-3 on Friday to pass a measure that backs a series of recommendations from Florida’s Commission on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder.

The House unanimously approved the measure (SB 1620) Tuesday, meaning it is now ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Friday’s vote came two days after senators angrily objected to the House removing part of the bill that would have created a Sen. Darryl E. Rouson Center for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Research at the University of South Florida's Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute.

Rouson, a legislator since 2008 who overcame a past that included being homeless and a drug addict, on Friday implored senators to pass the bill despite the House change.

“I think the work of the commission is more important at this time,” Rouson, a St. Petersburg Democrat who sponsored the bill, said.

House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, responded Wednesday to the Senate criticism by calling the bill a “backdoor” effort to essentially fund the new center, which wasn’t part of the commission’s recommendations.

The outrage over the amendment, sponsored by Rep. Cristine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, came from both sides of aisle, including from Republicans DeSantis and state Attorney General James Uthmeier.