News
2014 Legislative Session Update - Week 3
2014 Legislative Session Update
Week 3 Update
Friday, March 21, 2014
The third week of the 2014 Regular Session has come to a close, with six more slated before the scheduled May 2nd adjournment. Both the House and Senate released their preliminary budgets this week detailing how each chamber intends to direct billions of dollars in state spending over the coming fiscal year.
We are very happy to announce that funding for the Mary Brogan Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program is in both the House and Senate budgets! This is the first time the program has appeared in the budget process this early in session and we have you to thank! Your advocacy efforts and outreach have paid off.
We still have work to do to get both chambers to our $2.4 million goal, but this is a welcomed early victory.
In other news, we had a dangerous amendment added to the House e-cigarette bill, HB 169. Originally, the intent of the bill was to prohibit the sale of nicotine products and nicotine dispensing devices (e-cigarettes) to minors. However, the added language would strip local governments of their ability to regulate tobacco products and e-cigarettes, overturn all existing ordinances and block future opportunities to protect kids from becoming tobacco users. Most of the existing ordinances at the local level are product placement laws which require retailers to keep tobacco products behind the counter. With the preemption language, the bill now does more harm than good in the fight to keep Florida’s children tobacco free. Stayed tuned for action alerts to help us fight back against the tobacco industry!
The Senate companion to HB 169, SB 224 by Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto (R- Fort Myers), does not contain the problematic preemption language discussed above and passed unanimously out of the Senate this week. Senator Benacquisto’s bill simply prohibits the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.
Let’s wrap up this update with more good news. Our palliative care bill, SB 1192 by Senator Eleanor Sobel (D – Hollywood), is up in its first committee on Tuesday! We’ve very excited to start talking about the importance of palliative care and working towards establishing a statewide council here in Florida.
Updated information on the ACS CAN’s legislative priorities can be found at www.fightcancer.org/florida and you can follow the action in real time on Twitter at @ACSCAN_Florida. If you are on Facebook, don’t forget to check out our new Facebook page as well.
Yours in the fight,
Heather
Heather Youmans
Florida Government Relations Director
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network