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CS/CS/CS/SB 1582 — Department of Health
by Fiscal Policy Committee; Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services; Health Policy Committee; and Senator Rodriguez
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Health Policy Committee (HP)
The bill amends numerous statutory provisions relating to the Department of Health (DOH) and creates a new profession and new program within the DOH. The bill:
- Creates a new profession, the environmental health technician, and allows the technician to perform septic tank inspections without having a four-year degree;
- Creates the Andrew John Anderson Pediatric Rare Disease Grant Program to advance research and cures for rare pediatric diseases by awarding grants through a competitive, peer-reviewed process;
- Clarifies the responsibility for conducting newborn screenings and submission of newborn screening specimen cards, and adds genetic counselors to the list of health care practitioners who may receive state lab results;
- Standardizes the requirements for newborn, infant, and toddler hearing screenings at hospitals, licensed birth facilities, and birth centers to ensure timely congenital cytomegalovirus screening;
- Allows parents or guardians of newborns who have been identified as having sickle cell disease or carrying the sickle cell trait to opt-out of having the child’s test results submitted to the state’s sickle cell registry;
- Standardizes requirements for, and clarifies the purpose of, prenatal high-risk pregnancy and postnatal infant mortality and morbidity screenings for environmental risk factors;
- Increases the number of members on the Florida Cancer Control and Research Advisory Council from 15 to 16 and requires the additional member to be a representative of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville;
- Allows certain applicants for licensure as a medical marijuana treatment center (MMTC) reserved for a class member of Pigford v. Glickman or In re Black Farmers Litig, who did not receive a license from the original application process or from the cure period established by s. 2, ch. 2023-292, L.O.F., to have a new 90-day period to cure deficiencies in their applications and requires the DOH to issue a license if those deficiencies are cured. Additionally, the bill:
- Specifies that the DOH must consider an MMTC licensure application to be free from deficiencies if the sole remaining deficiency in the application is either that the applicant did not meet the five-year business requirement established in s. 381.986, F.S., or that the applicant died on or after March 25, 2022;
- Specifies that if an applicant who was alive as of February 1, 2024, dies before the completion of the cure process or any resulting legal challenges, the DOH may not consider that as a reason to deny the application; and
- For any case of such a deceased applicant, requires the DOH to award the license to the applicant’s heirs or estate.
If approved by the Governor, or allowed to become law without the Governor’s signature, and unless otherwise specified in the bill, these provisions take effect July 1, 2024.
Vote: Senate 40-0; House 114-0