Bill Text: FL S0824 | 2023 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Veterans' Services and Recognition
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-01 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HB 485 (Ch. 2023-162) [S0824 Detail]
Download: Florida-2023-S0824-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2023 CS for SB 824
By the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and
Domestic Security; and Senator Collins
583-03301-23 2023824c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to veterans’ services and recognition;
3 amending s. 20.37, F.S.; creating the Division of
4 Long-term Care within the Department of Veterans’
5 Affairs; amending s. 292.11, F.S.; revising
6 qualifications for employment of county and city
7 veteran service officers; creating part III of ch.
8 296, F.S.; creating the “Veterans’ Adult Day Health
9 Care of Florida Act”; providing a purpose and
10 definitions; providing for the appointment of an
11 operator; requiring the department to determine
12 applicant eligibility; requiring the department to
13 adopt specified rules; specifying the qualifications,
14 duties, and responsibilities of the operator;
15 establishing a nondiscrimination policy for the
16 program; providing for eligibility and priority of
17 admittance; providing for participants’ contribution
18 to support; providing for program audits, inspections,
19 and operational standards; creating s. 683.1475, F.S.;
20 designating the week of November 11 of each year as
21 “Veterans Week” in Florida; authorizing the Governor
22 to issue an annual proclamation; providing an
23 effective date.
24
25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27 Section 1. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (2) of
28 section 20.37, Florida Statutes, to read:
29 20.37 Department of Veterans’ Affairs.—There is created a
30 Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
31 (2) The following divisions, and bureaus within these
32 divisions, of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs are
33 established:
34 (c) Division of Long-term Care.
35 Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 292.11, Florida
36 Statutes, is amended to read:
37 292.11 County and city veteran service officer.—
38 (1) Each board of county commissioners or the governing
39 body of any city may employ a county veteran service officer;
40 provide office space, clerical assistance, and the necessary
41 supplies incidental to providing and maintaining a county
42 service office; and pay related said expenses and salaries from
43 the moneys hereinafter provided for. The governing body of any
44 city may employ a city veteran service officer; provide such
45 office space, clerical assistance, and supplies; and pay
46 expenses and salaries. A county or city veteran service officer
47 must be a veteran as defined in s. 1.01(14) who served as a
48 member of the Armed Forces of the United States during a period
49 of war, as defined in Title 38, U.S.C.; who served at least 18
50 months’ active duty in the Armed Forces; and who was separated
51 from such service under honorable conditions, or the surviving
52 spouse of any such a veteran and must. Any honorably discharged
53 wartime veteran who was so discharged for service-connected or
54 aggravated medical reasons before serving 18 months of active
55 duty; who completed a tour of duty other than active duty for
56 training, regardless of the length of the tour; or who satisfied
57 his or her military obligation in a manner other than active
58 duty for training or reserve duty shall be eligible for
59 employment as a county or city veteran service officer. Every
60 county or city veteran service officer, in order to be eligible
61 for employment as a county or city veteran service officer,
62 shall have a 2-year degree from an accredited university,
63 college, or community college or a high school degree or
64 equivalency diploma and 4 years of administrative experience.
65 Section 3. Part III of chapter 296, Florida Statutes,
66 consisting of sections 296.42 through 296.49, Florida Statutes,
67 is created to read:
68 PART III
69 VETERANS’ ADULT DAY HEALTH CARE OF FLORIDA ACT
70 296.42 Short title.—This part may be cited as the
71 “Veterans’ Adult Day Health Care of Florida Act.”
72 296.43 Purpose.—The purpose of this part is to provide for
73 the establishment of basic standards for the operation of
74 veterans’ adult day health care programs for eligible veterans
75 in need of such services.
76 296.44 Definitions.—As used in this part, the term:
77 (1) “Contractor” means an entity responsible for the day
78 to-day operations of an adult day health care facility or adult
79 day care center as prescribed by 38 C.F.R. s. 59.160 or part III
80 of chapter 429, respectively. The contractor may be a for-profit
81 or nonprofit entity that operates the adult day health care
82 facility or adult day care center under the direction of the
83 executive director of the department.
84 (2) “Department” means the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
85 (3) “Director” means the executive director of the
86 department.
87 (4) “Operator” means the person designated to have and who
88 has the general administrative charge of an adult day health
89 care facility or adult day care center. The administrator of a
90 veterans’ nursing home under s. 296.34 or the administrator of
91 the Veterans’ Domiciliary Home of Florida under s. 296.04 may
92 serve as the operator if the adult day health care facility or
93 adult day care center is colocated at an existing veterans’
94 nursing home or the Veterans’ Domiciliary Home of Florida or is
95 a freestanding facility.
96 (5) “Participant” means an eligible veteran recipient of
97 basic services or of supportive and optional services provided
98 by an adult day health care facility or adult day care center.
99 (6) “Program” means a licensed facility operated by the
100 department under part III of chapter 429.
101 (7) “Veteran” has the same meaning as in s. 1.01(14).
102 296.45 Operator; qualifications, duties, and
103 responsibilities.—
104 (1) The director shall appoint an operator who is
105 responsible for the overall operation of the program and for the
106 care of the participant or shall designate a contractor to
107 perform the same duties.
108 (2) The department shall determine the eligibility of
109 applicants for admission to the program in accordance with
110 provisions of this part and shall adopt rules necessary for the
111 proper administration of the program, including rules for the
112 preservation of order and enforcement of discipline in the
113 program. Rules governing the program must conform as nearly as
114 possible to the rules and regulations for comparable facilities
115 of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
116 (3) The operator position is assigned to the Selected
117 Exempt Service under part V of chapter 110 unless the operation
118 of the program is assigned to a contractor. The director must
119 give veterans preference in selecting an operator as provided in
120 ss. 295.07 and 295.085 if the operation of the program is not
121 assigned to a contractor.
122 (4) Employees who fill authorized and established positions
123 appropriated for the program must be state employees unless the
124 operation of the program is assigned to a contractor. The
125 department shall classify such employees in the manner
126 prescribed in chapter 110.
127 (5) The operator shall administer and enforce all rules of
128 the program, including rules of discipline, and may dismiss a
129 participant in the program for an infraction of the rules,
130 subject to the approval of the director.
131 296.46 Nondiscrimination policy of the program.—It is the
132 policy of the state to admit residents into the program without
133 regard to race, age, sex, creed, religion, national origin, or
134 any other reason that would thereby create a practice of
135 discrimination. However, consideration of an applicant’s veteran
136 status does not constitute discrimination.
137 296.47 Eligibility and priority of admittance.—
138 (1) To be eligible for admittance to the program, the
139 person must be a veteran or have eligible peacetime service as
140 defined in s. 296.02 and must:
141 (a) Be in need of adult day health care;
142 (b) Be a resident of this state at the time of application
143 for admission to the program;
144 (c) Not owe money to the department for services rendered
145 during any previous stay at a department facility;
146 (d) Have applied for all financial assistance reasonably
147 available through governmental sources; and
148 (e) Have been approved as eligible for care and treatment
149 by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
150 (2) The operator may waive the residency requirement for a
151 veteran who is otherwise eligible under Florida law for
152 admittance to a program. The waiver must be limited to a veteran
153 who is a disaster evacuee of a state that is under a declared
154 state of emergency.
155 (3) Admittance priority must be given to eligible veterans
156 in the following order of priority:
157 (a) An eligible veteran who is a resident of this state.
158 (b) An eligible veteran who has a service-connected
159 disability as determined by the United States Department of
160 Veterans Affairs, or was discharged or released from military
161 service for a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of
162 duty, and the disability is the condition for which adult day
163 health care is needed.
164 (c) An eligible veteran who has a non-service-connected
165 disability and is unable to defray the expense of adult day
166 health care and so states under oath before a notary public or
167 other officer authorized to administer an oath.
168 296.48 Participants; contribution to support.—The operator
169 may, if there is room, admit to participation in the program a
170 veteran who has sufficient means for his or her own support but
171 is otherwise eligible to become a participant in the program,
172 upon payment of the full cost of his or her support, which cost
173 and method of collection must be fixed from time to time by the
174 operator.
175 296.49 Audit; inspection; standards for the program.—The
176 program must be open at any time to audit and inspection by the
177 Auditor General and the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
178 Government Accountability, as provided by law, the department,
179 and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and to any
180 other audits or inspections as required by law to maintain
181 appropriate standards in the program. The standards that the
182 department must use to regulate the operation of the program are
183 those prescribed by the United States Department of Veterans
184 Affairs, provided that when the state’s standards are more
185 restrictive, the standards of the state must apply.
186 Section 4. Section 683.1475, Florida Statutes, is created
187 to read:
188 683.1475 Veterans Week.—
189 (1) The week of November 11 of each year is designated as
190 “Veterans Week,” with the week starting with the Sunday
191 preceding November 11. If November 11 falls on a Sunday,
192 “Veterans Week” begins on that day.
193 (2) The Governor may annually issue a proclamation
194 designating the week of November 11 as “Veterans Week.” Public
195 officials, schools, private organizations, and all residents of
196 this state are encouraged to commemorate Veterans Week and honor
197 the men and women who answered the call during times of war and
198 peace to protect and preserve the treasured freedom of all
199 citizens of the United States.
200 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.
