It was wonderful to have members in Tallahassee last week for the Florida Behavioral Health Association (FBHA) board and membership meetings, Legislative BBQ, and Behavioral Health Day!

Earlier this week, the House Human Services Subcommittee heard an update on the Baker/Marchman Act. Chair Lauren Melo asked Department of Children and Families (DCF) Assistant Secretary, Erica Floyd Thomas, to present on last session’s HB 7021 regarding the implementation of changes to the Baker/Marchman Acts and explain how it allocated the legislation's $50 million appropriation.

Representative Patt Maney kicked off the committee by explaining his background and involvement in the bill drafting process and conception. Assistant Secretary Floyd Thomas gave a presentation on the bill's elements and an overview of the appropriation buckets specifically, funding for beds, capacity for new beds, outpatient services, and discharge planning, and also presented how DCF directed the managing entities (MEs) to spend those dollars. She emphasized that implementation was still in its infancy stage with a promise to provide a detailed update as DCF moves through full implementation.

On Tuesday, the Senate Health Policy Committee, chaired by Senator Colleen Burton, heard SB 264 regarding Step Therapy sponsored by Senator Gayle Harrell, which FBHA strongly supports. This is the third session this bill has been introduced, and its sole intent is to remove prior authorization and fail first for medications paid for by Medicaid, for the Severely Mentally Ill population.

The bill passed unanimously out of the committee…which it also passed unanimously last session… and the session before. Time will tell, and FBHA will continue to advocate for its final passage.

A Report Out

The House Health Care Budget Subcommittee, chaired by Representative Alex Andrade, met this past Wednesday and reported on legislative member meetings with state agencies regarding current budgets and Legislative Budget Requests. The only state agency in attendance for the committee was the Department of Veterans Affairs.

There was an emphasis on unfilled FTEs, workforce, and salary. There was also discussion on each state agency’s spending habits and funding reversions in all areas of health care. Representatives Hillary Cassell and Allison Tant reported on DCF and the state audits of each ME.

The big health care takeaway was that the House of Representatives will be taking a much more active role in how the agencies spend their allocations, the transparency around the spending, and what may be considered wasteful or better spent elsewhere. FBHA will share the full committee agenda and reports once made public.

Track it

FBHA creates and maintains a legislative bill tracking document each session. The 2025 FBHA Bill Track will be reported out and included in each weekly update. You can also receive the bill tracking document by emailing Shane@floridabha.org.

On Deck

Next week the Florida Legislature is on hiatus. Rest up, because the first day of the 2025 Regular Session begins Tuesday, March 4! 

2025 News Service of Florida 40 Under 40

New Service of Florida’s 2025 40 Under 40 honorees exemplify the energy infusing Tallahassee and the Sunshine State with optimism and industry. This year’s honorees bring a fresh outlook to some of the state’s most significant industries – including law, land use, and education – and lend youthful perspective to Florida’s legacy institutions, from the Capitol to century-old hospitals. Tuesday evening, MK Graham, FBHA’s senior director of communications, was honored by News Services of Florida as one of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Rising Stars.