TAMPA, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 7065 which provide $70 million to support fatherhood in Florida cosponsored State Representative Daisy Morales. The new law will also designate June as “Responsible Fatherhood Month.

”Here’s a breakdown of the Responsible Father Initiative:

• $32.6 million goes towards grants aimed at assisting fathers

• $1,720 stipends for young adults who were in foster care

• More funding to Department of Children and Families programs

• More funding Department of Juvenile Justice programs

The law goes into effect July 1.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed nine (9) bills into law cosponsored by Representative Daisy Morales.

HOUSE BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW, INCLUDING COMPANION SENATE BILLS:

Children with Developmental Delays – Cosponsored House Bill15 | Companion Senate Bill 236 signed by the Governor

The bill revises definition of term “exceptional student” to include additional students with developmental delays.

Telehealth – Cosponsored House Bill 17 | Companion Senate Bill 312 signed by the Governor

 The bill revises prohibition on prescribing controlled substances through use of telehealth to include only specified controlled substances.

Private Instructional Personnel Providing Applied Behavior Analysis Services – Cosponsored House Bill 255

The bill revises definition of “private instructional personnel” to include certain registered behavior technicians; requires such technicians to meet specified requirements.

Step-therapy Protocols – Cosponsored House Bill 459

The bill revises circumstances under which step-therapy protocols may not be required; requires health insurers & HMOs to publish on their websites & provide to their insureds & subscribers specified information; provides requirements for procedures for requests & appeals of denials of protocol exemptions; provides requirements for authorizations & denials of protocol exemption requests; authorizes health insurers & HMOs to request specified documentation.

Managed Care Plan Performance – Rep. Morales cosponsored House Bill 855

The bill requires managed care plans to collect & report specified measures beginning with certain data reporting period; requires plans to stratify reported measures by specified categories beginning with certain data reporting period; requires plan’s performance to be published on its website in specified manner; requires AHCA to use measures to monitor plan performance.

Child Welfare Placements – Cosponsored House Bill 893

The bill authorizes DCF to place children in its custody in therapeutic group homes for residential mental health treatment without prior court approval; defines “therapeutic group home”; provides that DCF, rather than AHCA, shall appoint qualified evaluators to conduct suitability assessments of certain children in department’s custody; specifies qualifications for evaluators conducting suitability assessments for placement in therapeutic group home; revises requirements for suitability assessments; specifies when DCF must provide copy of assessment to guardian ad litem & court; removes department’s & agency’s rulemaking authority; revises definition of term “special needs child”.

In-person Visitation: – Rep. Morales cosponsored House Bill 987 | Companion Senate Bill 988 signed by the Governor

The bill requires providers to establish visitation policies & procedures within specified timeframe; provides requirements for policies & procedures; authorizes resident, client, or patient to designate essential caregiver; authorizes providers to suspend in-person visits under certain circumstances; requires providers to provide policies & procedures to AHCA; requires providers to make policies & procedures accessible from homepage of their websites.

Veteran Suicide Prevention Training – Rep. Morales cosponsored House Bill 1315 | Companion Senate Bill signed by the Governor

The bill requires DVA to establish Veteran Suicide Prevention Training Pilot Program; provides purpose; requires participants to receive training; requires DVA to contract to develop training curriculum; requires DVA to oversee process for administering training & certifying participants; requires report to Legislature; provides appropriation.

Donor Human Milk Bank Services – Rep. Morales cosponsored House Bill 1333 | Companion Senate Bill signed by the Governor

Authorizes AHCA to pay for donor human milk bank services as optional Medicaid service; specifies coverage requirements; adds donor human milk bank services to list of Medicaid services authorized for reimbursement on fee-for-service basis; adds donor human milk bank services to list of minimum benefits required to be covered by Medicaid managed care plans.

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN) — Democratic State Representative Daisy Morales’ campaign announced today in a press release that she will seek her second term in the newly drawn Florida House District 44, after the Florida Legislature split District 48 into Districts 43 and 44 (see below).

Read more: Florida National News

TITUSVILLE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a wide-ranging package Friday that includes providing bonuses to help recruit law-enforcement officers from other states and giving county sheriffs more autonomy over their budgets. 

The highest profile part of the measure (HB 3) is $5,000 recruitment bonuses for law-enforcement officers. With the law taking effect July 1, the state Department of Economic Opportunity is required to develop minimum eligibility requirements for the program. 

Read more FOX 35 Orlando.

 MORALES RESPONSE
“I cosponsored House Bill 3 because the measure provides law enforcement with $1,000 scholarships to $5,000 bonuses to $25,000 adoption incentives,” said Rep. Daisy Morales a former federal employee with the US Department of Homeland Security.

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN) – In March, the Florida Supreme Court approved a new Senate map (S 8058) with 40 districts and a House map (H 2013) with 120 seats for the 2022 elections.

Read more: Florida National News

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FNN) – Freshman State Representative Daisy Morales (D-Orlando) announced in a press release Friday that she tallied the most sponsored or co-sponsored bills signed into law in the Florida House this Legislative Session, a major milestone. “I love to serve the people of Florida and District 48,” Representative Morales said. “We have work to do, and I’ll continue to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to meet the needs of Floridians.”

As of July 1, 2021, Rep. Morales has had nearly 60 bipartisan bills that she sponsored or co-sponsored signed into law, championing 57 bills with other members of the Florida House. 32 bills signed into law were Florida House bills, 25 were Senate companion bills. Fellow lawmakers, constituents, organizations, even government agencies typically urge lawmakers to co-sponsor bills that are important to or directly impact them.

Read more: Florida National News

By Florida National News

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN) – After a highly contested race–including a five-candiate primary–former Orange Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisor Daisy Morales nabbed the open Florida House District 48 seat by a landslide victory in Tuesday’s general election. Morales beat Republican opponent Jesus R. Martinez with over 47,000 votes (65 percent) according to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections website.

Morales pulled off a major win in the State House race even after Orlando Sentinel‘s editorial board endorsed her Democratic opponent Samuel Vilchez Santiago in the primary election and her Republican opponent Jesus Martinez in the general election. The Sentinel‘s endorsements didn’t sway District 48 voters.