Florida Senate - 2026                                    SB 1242
       
       
        
       By Senator Davis
       
       
       
       
       
       5-01420-26                                            20261242__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to medical marijuana treatment center
    3         licensure; amending s. 11 of chapter 2024-246, Laws of
    4         Florida; requiring the Department of Health to
    5         consider all deficiencies in an application for a
    6         medical marijuana treatment center license cured if
    7         the sole remaining deficiency is the fact that the
    8         application was submitted by an entity in legal
    9         partnership with a certain eligible recognized class
   10         member, or his or her heir, rather than by the class
   11         member or heir as an individual; prohibiting the
   12         department from using such fact as a reason to deny an
   13         application for licensure; providing that such
   14         applicants are deemed to have satisfied a specified
   15         licensure requirement if certain conditions have been
   16         met; requiring the department to issue a medical
   17         marijuana treatment center license to such an entity
   18         if all other applicable licensure requirements have
   19         been met; requiring the department to issue such
   20         licenses by a specified date; providing an effective
   21         date.
   22          
   23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         Section 1. Section 11 of chapter 2024-246, Laws of Florida,
   26  is amended to read:
   27         Section 11. (1) Effective upon this act becoming a law and
   28  notwithstanding any provision of s. 381.986(8)(a)2.b., Florida
   29  Statutes, to the contrary, the Department of Health must grant
   30  an applicant 90 days to cure, pursuant to the errors and
   31  omissions process established in department Form DH8035-OMMU
   32  10/2021 as incorporated by the department in rule 64ER21-16,
   33  Florida Administrative Code, any remaining deficiencies cited by
   34  the department regarding the application if the applicant:
   35         (a) Applied for a medical marijuana treatment center
   36  license during the application window created by the department
   37  to accept applications for licensure pursuant to s.
   38  381.986(8)(a)2.b., Florida Statutes; and
   39         (b) Has not been awarded a license, either from the initial
   40  application process or through the cure process established in
   41  section 2 of chapter 2023-292, Laws of Florida.
   42         (2) If the applicant cures the deficiencies within the 90
   43  day timeframe, the department must issue a medical marijuana
   44  treatment center license to the applicant.
   45         (3) For purposes of the cure process detailed in
   46  subsections (1) and (2), the department must consider all
   47  deficiencies with an applicant’s application to be cured if the
   48  sole remaining deficiency cited is:
   49         (a) A failure to meet the requirement in s.
   50  381.986(8)(b)1., Florida Statutes; or
   51         (b) The applicant died after March 25, 2022. In the case of
   52  the death of an applicant under this paragraph, the department
   53  must issue the license to the heirs of the applicant; or
   54         (c) The application was submitted by an entity in legal
   55  partnership with a recognized class member eligible for
   56  licensure under s. 381.986(8)(a)2.b., Florida Statutes, or his
   57  or her heir, rather than by the recognized class member or heir
   58  as an individual.
   59         (4) If an applicant who was alive as of February 1, 2024,
   60  dies before the completion of the cure process detailed in
   61  subsections (1) and (2), the death of the applicant may not be a
   62  reason to deny the application during the cure process or any
   63  resulting legal challenges. In such case, and in the event of a
   64  successful cure or challenge, the department must issue the
   65  license to the estate of the applicant.
   66         (5) If an applicant was an entity in a legal partnership
   67  with a recognized class member eligible for licensure under s.
   68  381.986(8)(a)2.b., Florida Statutes, or his or her heir, the
   69  fact that the recognized class member or his or her heir did not
   70  submit the application as an individual may not be a reason to
   71  deny the application. Such an applicant satisfies the
   72  requirement of s. 381.986(8)(b)1., Florida Statutes, if the
   73  entity in legal partnership with a recognized class member or
   74  his or her heir had been registered to do business in this state
   75  for 5 consecutive years before submitting the application.
   76  Provided all other applicable requirements for licensure have
   77  been met, the department must issue the license to the applicant
   78  no later than July 1, 2026.
   79         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.