ADVERTISEMENT
  
Government - Advocacy
 

ADVERTISEMENT

2005 Legislative Session Review

The Florida Legislature concluded its 2005 General Session on Friday, May 6, 2005. A total of 2,475 bills were introduced, 2,067 of which were general legislative bills. Only 749 bills passed at least one chamber (30.3% of the total bills introduced) and 394 bills passed both chambers (15.9% of the total bills introduced) and either have been or will be considered by Governor Bush for enactment.

The Florida College of Emergency Physicians specifically targeted several areas of legislative efforts in 2005, primarily:

  Medicaid Reform,

  Assignment of Benefits,

  Implementation of Constitutional Amendments 7 & 8,

  Mandatory HIV Testing for Pregnant Women,

  Off-Site Emergency Departments,

  Traffic Violations and Trauma Center Funding,

  High Deductible Insurance Study Group and

  Other Bills of Interest.

Traffic Violations and Trauma Center Funding

In response to recent, high-profile automobile crashes and the recognized need to create a reliable source of funding for trauma centers, the Legislature passed House Bill 497, introduced by Representative Dean Cannon.

Key points of the bill include:

  The bill increases the civil penalty for failure to obey a red traffic light signal from $60 to $125, and assigns 4 points against the driver’s license.

  The bill also distributes moneys collected from the increased traffic violation fines to trauma centers based on trauma center caseload and the severity of trauma patients.

  The bill also subjects the trauma centers which receive such moneys to audit and attestation requirements regarding the use of funds.