Florida 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0459 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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1010 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to declarations of a public health 2
1616 emergency; amending s. 381.00315, F.S.; providing that 3
1717 the administration of vaccines is not included within 4
1818 the meaning of the terms "treat," "treated," or 5
1919 "treatment" as those terms relate to public health 6
2020 emergencies; revising provisions related to the 7
2121 expiration and renewal of declarations of a public 8
2222 health emergency; authorizing an individual to refuse 9
2323 examination, testing, or treatment under a State 10
2424 Health Officer's order during a public health 11
2525 emergency by submitting a written refusal to the State 12
2626 Health Officer; providing that such individual may not 13
2727 be required to undergo such examination, testing, or 14
2828 treatment; deleting the State Health Officer's 15
2929 authority to use any means necessary to treat an 16
3030 individual under certain circumstances; prohibiting 17
3131 certain closures or alterations to election 18
3232 procedures; requiring due process on a case -by-case 19
3333 basis to allow actions that affect entire groups or 20
3434 communities; providing an effective date. 21
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3636 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 23
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3838 Section 1. Paragraphs (b) and (d) of subsection (2) of 25
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4747 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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5151 section 381.00315, Florida Statutes, are amended, a nd paragraph 26
5252 (e) is added to subsection (1) of that section, to read: 27
5353 381.00315 Public health advisories; public health 28
5454 emergencies; isolation and quarantines. —The State Health Officer 29
5555 is responsible for declaring public health emergencies, issuing 30
5656 public health advisories, and ordering isolation or quarantines. 31
5757 (1) As used in this section, the term: 32
5858 (e) "Treat," "treated," or "treatment" does not include 33
5959 the administration of vaccinations. 34
6060 (2) 35
6161 (b) Before declaring a public health emergency, the St ate 36
6262 Health Officer shall, to the extent possible, consult with the 37
6363 Governor and shall notify the Chief of Domestic Security. The 38
6464 declaration of a public health emergency shall continue until 39
6565 the State Health Officer finds that the threat or danger has 40
6666 been dealt with to the extent that the emergency conditions no 41
6767 longer exist and he or she terminates the declaration. However, 42
6868 A declaration of a public health emergency expires may not 43
6969 continue for longer than 60 days after the declaration unless 44
7070 the Governor concurs in the renewal of the declaration , which 45
7171 extends the expiration of the declaration for 30 days. Any 46
7272 subsequent renewals must be approved by a two -thirds majority 47
7373 vote of each chamber of the Legislature before the declaration 48
7474 expires, with each ren ewal extending the expiration of the 49
7575 declaration for 30 days. A declaration of a public health 50
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8484 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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8888 emergency automatically terminates if it is not timely renewed 51
8989 before its expiration in accordance with this paragraph . 52
9090 (d) The State Health Officer, upon decl aration of a public 53
9191 health emergency, may take actions that are necessary to protect 54
9292 the public health. Such actions include, but are not limited to: 55
9393 1. Directing manufacturers of prescription drugs or over -56
9494 the-counter drugs who are permitted under chapt er 499 and 57
9595 wholesalers of prescription drugs located in this state who are 58
9696 permitted under chapter 499 to give priority to the shipping of 59
9797 specified drugs to pharmacies and health care providers within 60
9898 geographic areas identified by the State Health Office r. The 61
9999 State Health Officer must identify the drugs to be shipped. 62
100100 Manufacturers and wholesalers located in this the state must 63
101101 respond to the State Health Officer's priority shipping 64
102102 directive before shipping the specified drugs. 65
103103 2. Notwithstanding chap ters 465 and 499 and rules adopted 66
104104 thereunder, directing pharmacists employed by the department to 67
105105 compound bulk prescription drugs and provide these bulk 68
106106 prescription drugs to physicians and nurses of county health 69
107107 departments or any qualified person auth orized by the State 70
108108 Health Officer for administration to persons as part of a 71
109109 prophylactic or treatment regimen. 72
110110 3. Notwithstanding s. 456.036, temporarily reactivating 73
111111 the inactive license of the following health care practitioners, 74
112112 when such practition ers are needed to respond to the public 75
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121121 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125125 health emergency: physicians licensed under chapter 458 or 76
126126 chapter 459; physician assistants licensed under chapter 458 or 77
127127 chapter 459; licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, and 78
128128 advanced practice registered n urses licensed under part I of 79
129129 chapter 464; respiratory therapists licensed under part V of 80
130130 chapter 468; and emergency medical technicians and paramedics 81
131131 certified under part III of chapter 401. Only those health care 82
132132 practitioners specified in this paragr aph who possess an 83
133133 unencumbered inactive license and who request that such license 84
134134 be reactivated are eligible for reactivation. An inactive 85
135135 license that is reactivated under this paragraph returns shall 86
136136 return to inactive status when the public health eme rgency ends, 87
137137 or before the end of the public health emergency if the State 88
138138 Health Officer determines that the health care practitioner is 89
139139 no longer needed to provide services during the public health 90
140140 emergency. Such licenses may only be reactivated for a p eriod 91
141141 not to exceed 90 days without meeting the requirements of s. 92
142142 456.036 or chapter 401, as applicable. 93
143143 4. Ordering an individual to be examined, tested, treated, 94
144144 isolated, or quarantined for communicable diseases that have 95
145145 significant morbidity or mor tality and present a severe danger 96
146146 to public health. However, an individual may refuse examination, 97
147147 testing, or treatment for reasons of health, religion, or 98
148148 conscience by submitting a refusal in writing to the State 99
149149 Health Officer. Such individuals may not be required to undergo 100
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158158 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162162 examination, testing, or treatment but who are unable or 101
163163 unwilling to be examined, tested, or treated for reasons of 102
164164 health, religion, or conscience may be subjected to isolation or 103
165165 quarantine. 104
166166 a. Examination, testing, or treatme nt may be performed by 105
167167 any qualified person authorized by the State Health Officer. 106
168168 b. If the individual poses a danger to the public health, 107
169169 the State Health Officer may subject the individual to isolation 108
170170 or quarantine. If there is no practical method to isolate or 109
171171 quarantine the individual, the State Health Officer may use any 110
172172 means necessary to treat the individual. 111
173173 c. Any order of the State Health Officer given to 112
174174 effectuate this paragraph is immediately enforceable by a law 113
175175 enforcement officer und er s. 381.0012. 114
176176 d. Closures of churches, businesses, government buildings 115
177177 and services, schools, groups of private residences, and public 116
178178 domains, and altering elections procedures and protocols, are 117
179179 prohibited. Any such actions that affect entire groups or 118
180180 communities must be authorized on a case-by-case basis with each 119
181181 case being afforded all rights of due process. 120
182182 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 121