Bill shifting public health departments from state to counties passes panel

By , Herald-Tribune
/ Monday, February 6, 2012

TALLAHASSEE

 A bill that would shift public-health responsibilities from the state to the counties — possibly affecting 12,000 state Department of Health jobs — cleared a House panel Monday.

The House health and human services quality subcommittee approved the bill (HB 1263) by a vote of 7-4.

County health departments now report to the state and to county governments. Rep. Matt Hudson’s bill would “decentralize” them and put them solely under the control of individual county commissions.

“I can tell you the counties I represent ask for more home rule,” the Naples Republican said. “They want more control at the local level.”

Counties would apply for block grants from the state to provide environmental health services, communicable disease control and primary health care. The amount of such grants would be awarded based on population.

What’s not yet clear is what will happen to many of the 12,000 jobs in the state health department. Hudson suggested many of those workers likely will be transferred to county health positions.

A Florida Association of Counties representative said her group wasn’t taking a position on the bill until it could figure out the effect on smaller counties. In fact, the Small County Coalition’s lobbyist said rural areas are struggling and are concerned about managing health services.

That spurred the panel’s vice chair, Ronald “Doc” Renuart of Ponte Vedra Beach, to cast the lone Republican vote against the bill.

“If the counties are not in support, should we be doing this now?” he said.

Hudson said he wouldn’t do anything to hurt small, rural counties.

“We’re working on a few different (funding) models and we’ll test them out,” he said.

The bill also would shut down A.G. Holley State Hospital, one of four tuberculosis hospitals left in the country, which Hudson said was no longer needed.

It also allows for — but doesn’t require — privatizing children’s medical services offered at public clinics.

Lisa Cosgrove, president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said though her group supports public-private partnerships, “we don’t think the time is right quite yet.”

Hudson told reporters he expected the bill to next be heard by the full House appropriations committe.

 

Last modified: February 6, 2012
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Chuck Luck
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 12:16 am

It’s sad that the new owners of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Halifax Media Holdings LLC, only allows certain articles that they select, to be able to receive comments. Halifax Chief Executive Michael Redding heads up this exclusionary policy. Halifax’s owners are Redding Investments; Jaarsss Media LLC, of Miramar Beach, Fla., headed up by Rupert E. Phillips; and Stephens Capital Partners, who are investors out of Little Rock, Ark., & are under the control of billionaire Warren Stephens. These are the people that readers of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Lakeland Ledger, Winter Haven News Chief, Gainesville Sun and Ocala Star-Banner in Florida need to contact to overturn this policy of controlling the publics voice in political matters. They are trying to influence politics in a slanted way by only allowing public comments to selected articles. For instance today there is an article entitled: “Tea party: Warming or resigned to Mitt Romney?” By Kristen Wyatt of the Associated Press. The public certainly would like to be able to comment on this article as well as all the other articles this news organization distributes about American politics at all levels. We certainly respect your role in the free market, however you’re joined at the hip with your readership by the first amendment. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120206/APA/1202061206

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Online staff
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 3:01 pm

Chuck Luck, I work at the Herald-Tribune.

The reason comments aren’t allowed on the article you mentioned is because that story is part of an automatic feed from The Associated Press. None of those feed stories have comments enabled, for some reason. There’s no bigger conspiracy.

I’ve posted a copy of the story here on HT Politics, and welcome your comments:

http://htpolitics.com/2012/02/07/tea-party-warming-or-resigned-to-mitt-romney/

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Auth
Friday, March 2, 2012 at 6:16 pm

There is a lot more to Obamacare than you have listed, even in 2010. COSTS: There has been nhnoitg but lies about the cost. The budget forcasts are just that, forcasts with numbers presented by the majority party. These costs are only the federal costs that are other than fees, fines, etc. and monitored by the IRS. The state taxes will go up with most of the states in financial trouble already. There has alredy been costs to all of us in less than a week. With companies like AT&T having to pay billions of extra dollars which will show as increases in our monthly budgets.ILLEGAL: There is nhnoitg in our Constitution that alows the federal government to force us to buy health insurance and it will be found to be so.There are many more problems with this legislation but I will not bother you with them. I am not naive about political ways but I have never seen such obvious and backroom maneuvers to get people to vote YES as with Obamacare. Yes it happens in every session but never like this. People know and will remember in Nov. Fire them all, Dem, Rep, and Indep, and elect all new people who knows whom elected them. Obama didn’t elect them, Reed didn’t elect them, and Pelosi didn’t elect them, we the people elected them and WE will not forget.