CS/CS/HB 61 — Adoption Benefits
by Health and Human Services Committee; Children, Families and Seniors Subcommittee; and Reps. Roth, and others (CS/SB 136 by Appropriations Committee and Senators Bean, Harrell, Perry, and Farmer)
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Committee (CF)
The bill allows certain military veterans and service members who adopt a child through the state’s child welfare system to receive a monetary benefit of $10,000 per child if the child has special needs, or $5,000 per child if the child does not, through the State Employee Adoption Benefit Program. Currently, such monetary benefits are available to employees of state agencies, public schools, charter schools and the Florida Virtual School. The bill also clarifies, for purposes of qualifying for the benefit, that an employee of a state agency may include other-personal-services employees who have been employed full-time or part-time by a state agency for at least one year.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2020.
Vote: Senate 40-0; House 118-0