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Gov. DeSantis: ‘A lot of nursing homes will be very, very happy’ after 2022 Session

AARP Florida might be fighting an uphill battle as the organization seeks a veto from Gov. Ron DeSantis for legislation that allows nursing facilities to reduce the minimum number of nursing hours that must be provided to residents daily.

During a Monday afternoon ceremony to mark the end of the 2022 Legislative Session, DeSantis said he thinks there will be “a lot of nursing homes that are very, very happy.”

While he was asked whether he would veto HB 1239 — which allows nursing homes to lower the amount of direct nursing care requirements from 2.5 hours a day to 2 hours a day — DeSantis focused on the amount of increased funding for nursing home providers that was included in the budget instead.

“We are in a situation where it is very hard to find staff,” DeSantis said, noting the Legislature included increased funding for Medicaid rate increases and provided funds to allow nursing homes to pay certified nursing assistants $15 an hour.

Florida Legislature releases proposed $112 billion budget with big pay raises

In what would be by far the largest budget in state history, legislators on Thursday released a record $112.1 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year that includes more than $1 billion for pay raises for state workers and contractors.

All state workers will see across-the-board 5.38 percent pay raises. No state workers will make less than $15 per hour. And teachers, bus drivers, workers at state-contracted nursing homes and Medicaid contractors will all see their pay start at $15 per hour.

While lawmakers have been mired in grueling, emotional fights over abortion and other hot-button topics during this year’s legislative session, their proposed budget received little criticism.

The spending targets a host of practical problems, lawmakers say, including inflation. But it also addresses critical worker shortages.

An officer-involved shooting case from Tallahassee continues to divide law enforcement agencies

The Pinellas County Sheriffs' office wants to weigh in on a case that will decide whether officers can use the state’s crime victims law to shield themselves if they’re involved in a shooting while on duty.

The case before the Florida Supreme Court stems from a city of Tallahassee dispute over whether police can claim victim privacy protections if they’re involved in an officer-involved shooting. The issue came up two years ago after officers shot and killed an armed person who had just stabbed another person to death.

The police union argued the officer was a victim of a crime, and therefore, those names should not be released. In a filing before the Florida Supreme Court, Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri slammed that defense. He says police are not "victims" when they use force and that “a police officer who shoots and kills another is not a "victim" of that shooting and cannot invoke Marsy's Law to shroud his shooting in secrecy.”

Florida’s statewide climate change response ignores cause

Despite years of warnings from top scientists around the world, Florida’s plan to address climate change only involves spending money to adapt to rising seas instead of cutting the emissions that cause them. In fact, the state has passed bills that work against those goals.

“You can’t do one without the other. When you do one without the other, it kind of negates the impact. It’s a job incomplete,” said Jonathan Webber, deputy director of environmental advocacy group Florida Conservation Voters.

A recent exchange between two state representatives over the future of Florida’s latest chief resilience officer, the person in charge of the state’s response to climate change, underscores the dissonance.