2022 Florida Legislature

The House and Senate moved quickly to pass the measure to extend COVID legal protections for hospitals, nursing homes and other providers. DeSantis will have until Feb. 24 to act on the bill.

Districts that defied a mask mandate ban would get a smaller funding increase under the budget proposal.

Lawmakers are considering proposals to provide families more access to their loved ones in hospitals and long-term care facilities. They want to address isolation patients endured as a result of restrictions implemented to prevent the spread of COVID.

In the open letter, clinicians wrote that there is no medical justification to ban abortion care at 15 weeks and that the legislation, and others like it, severely limits access to care.

Only a few states have a surgeon general. Florida has had one since 2007, but critics say the job serving as the top advocate for wellness and disease prevention has changed because of politics.

The 78-39 vote early Thursday morning came after nearly six hours of debate and the removal from the gallery of protesters chanting in opposition to the measure.

The proposal by Reps. Susan Valdes and Traci Koster would permit “licensed professional as determined by school board policy” to write notes that would excuse absences, and not just physicians.

Bill sponsor Rep. Randy Fine says the reduction is only about 1% of the overall budget, which means targeted districts won’t get as much of an overall increase as others.

The House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee approved an industry-backed bill that would reduce from 2.5 hours to 2 hours the minimum direct care that CNAs must provide per resident per day.

State medical boards have an obligation to investigate complaints about doctors, such as those who spread COVID misinformation. But in Florida, Tennessee and other states, lawmakers are saying "not so fast."