Introduction
Floridians 50+ saw some big wins in the 2019 legislative session. Legislative accomplishments included bipartisan passage of Prescription Drug Importation, expansion of telehealth services, enhanced patient protections in the healthcare system, and new penalties for texting while driving. During the 60-day session, lawmakers filed 1,675 bills and passed 174 bills. The 2019 legislative Regular Session led to wins and disappointments on issues important to Floridians ages 50+. This Voting Record sets forth summaries of those bills and how legislators voted on them. When the first legislative committee of reference placed on its public hearing agenda a bill significant to AARP’s members and Florida residents 50 years of age and older, AARP notified legislators by email (see p. 99 for an example) that AARP would track the bill and report the votes on that bill, or any successor bill through the entire legislative process.
AARP also provided updates on the status of the bill to its volunteers and stakeholders through the AARP blog and AARP Twitter accounts. Section I of the 2019 Legislative Voting Record provides a complete list of all Florida legislators and their parties, districts, and county legislative delegations. Section II provides a summary of all the bills AARP Florida selected for the final voting record report. The summaries are set forth by subject matter areas (budget, health and supportive services, consumer protections, livable communities and bills of interest that were not selected for vote recording). The summaries identify the pages where readers may review the voting records for each bill. Section III provides appendices that include sample communications to legislators and bills selected for vote recording by date of notice. This document is based on information as of May 24th, 2019.
Two groundbreaking announcements by AARP grabbed headlines during the legislative session. In an effort to develop short- and long- term strategies to meet the health care needs of Florida’s aging population, AARP Florida, the Florida Health Care Association, SEIU, and LeadingAge Florida created the Coalition for Silver Solutions. And, through AARP’s advocacy at the state and local level, Florida became the fourth state in the nation to join the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities.
Visit www.aarp.org/flvotingrecord2019 to view the electronic version of this 2019 report.
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