Weekly Report🎖
Veterans Legislation | TVLC | Stand Down
FL VETERANS LEGISLATION 2025
DBH/ SHC as of 5/3/25
(Odd-numbered are House Bills; Even are Senate, correspond with Sponsor; Reps/Sens)
Appropriations projects:
Fl American Legion Boys State/ Girls State $200,000 (Rep Salzman/ Sen Collins) included in House budget only, so far, not in Sen. (request number 2132 in House, 1475 in Senate)
American Legion National Convention $250,000 (Request number 1794 in House, 1475 in Senate (same legislators as for the Boys/Girls State request) funded at $125,000 in House only so far, none in Senate budget.
And more than 2 dozen Local Veteran Support Projects have been included in either the House or Senate’s FDVA preliminary budgets, with more being negotiated these next few days.($350K was included in SB116 for FDVA for Suicide Prevention, etc.)
Bills enrolled (and sent to Governor): (8)
797/ 788 Veterans Nursing Homes; LaMarca/ TruenowEnrolled
383/490 Firearm Purchase & Possession; Holcomb, Giallombardo/Collins 383 Enrolled
277/910 Veterans Benefits Assistance (VFW’s priority);910 ENROLLED 4/29; Albert, Alvarez/ Collins; (Also see 1005/1274 Deceptive Practices; Robinson/Jones (NM))
314/4005 Increased Fl National Guard; Wright/Daley Urges feds to increase Fl; (Also: 553/884; Nix, Alvarez/Martin); Memorial to Congress 4th time, at least! ENROLLED 4/29
348/399/402 Ethics, misuse of insignia/uniforms; Gaetz/ Maney/Wright; ENROLLED 4/29
1528/400 Interstate Compact for Education for Military Children; Collins/Wright S400 repealer passed Sen; see 1255 Trabulsky includes ONLY the repealer-ENROLLED 5/2
180 Emergency response Servicemembers’ providing medical care?; DiCeglie ENROLLED 5/2 /1535 McFarland ;ONLY medics with the National Guard, not active or reserves; Also see related bills: 1337/1566/7026 Giallombardo/Simon/Committee bill;
116/1043 Veterans FDVA role; Burgess/ Plakon ENROLLED 5/2
Resolutions Adopted by one or both Chambers (no need to go to Gov.) (5):
SB1864 Women of the 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion; Davis Sen Resolution passed March 27!; HB 8021 Antone adopted 4/30
H 8105 Vietnam POW/MIA Resolution Maney adoptedHouse floor 4/22
H 8099 Agent Orange Resolution Anderson passed House floor 4/23; 646 Victims of Agent Orange During the Vietnam War; Burgess passed 4/30
_____________________
Bills passed on the floor of at least one Chamber but not ultimately passed:
313/574 Exempt Tolls for Purple Heart recipients (if license plate); Fabricio/Collins 313 passed House;
845/1724/1280 Veteran Treatment Courts; Maney/Wright/Collins; 845 passed House
1467/1404 Gambling exemption in VSO facilities?; Snyder 92pger/Simon; also see: 953/10171836 Barnaby/Lopez/Martin; 1467 passed House
555/552 Med MJ for Vets Andrade/Gruters 555 passed House; see Hemp Regulatory bills 7027/ 438 Salzman/Burton passed Sen; 438 & 7027 died on House floor
1024 License Plate Military Academies Burgess passed 2 of 3 committees; omnibus license plate bill passed Sen 824 Pizzo but not taken up by House
Other Bills tried to Exempt Veterans’ Taxes or Tolls:
445/532 Exempt Tolls for Disabled Veterans; Grow/Ingoglia 532 committee votes
218 Increase Tax Exemption for Disabled Veterans and Spouses Arrington; HB 39 by Daley was withdrawn
111/990 Sales tax Disabled Vets; Daniels, Alvarez/Truenow (no movement)
217/290 Property Tax for Surviving Spouses; Mayfield/Wright(no movement)
829/1366 Toll Discounts for Vet-owned Businesses; Spencer/Smith (no movement)
Priority Bills moving, but died in committees
1464/1361 Veterans Assistance FDVA expansion; Wright/Dunkley Sen only
1241/1280/1282/1291 Fl is for Veterans, other employment & training; Redondo(2)/Collins(2); 821/1172 Preferences for Vets & Military Spouses; Gant/Jones Hpcs
Also see: 1290/804/1075 DHSMV, Official State Flagship; Collins(2)/Alvarez,D; 1290, 1292 on Senate floor also Transportation “train” 1662 by Collins which was Enrolled 5/2 but without Veteran jobs sections
684/965 Retirement Credit for Military Service; Avila/Holcomb Sen only
336/135 Educational dollars for Guard families Arrington/ Alvarez, J; only passed a Sen committee
OTHER BILLS FILED (BUT DID NOT MOVE): (7)
474/783 Modified Sentences for Veterans with Mental Health Conditions; Truenow/Brackett
963/1056 Veterans Rental Assistance; Rosenwald/ Smith
686 Specialty License Plates for K9s for Warriors; Collins
2
At yesterday's Legal Clinic at Lk Ella (Thursday), our volunteer team totaled 17
(including 5 attorneys), assisting 14 Veterans and family members, plus 6
Vets in phone responses who couldn't come to the in-person clinic! Veterans'
legal issues this week again included different county and state
jurisdictions outside Leon, and requests included driver's license
reinstatements, divorces, housing, benefits, probation issues, real estate,
consumer fraud, wills... More Vets asked for Driver's license assistance
with appointments pending for reissuance this next week. And thank you for
the consistent volunteer administrative work at the front door and
computer/files tables, Khalid & Margaret, Kathy C, Valerie C., with Susie
throughout our Clinic sessions. Kudos to Khalid Shafi, David Girouard,
Dexter White and Charles Robinson for the food distribution Tues.
Three more Veterans successfully graduated from the Leon County
Veterans Treatment Court this Monday, May 5 (Harris Gilley, Niyon Frances
and Keith Austin), with Circuit Judge (former Navy JAG) James Marsh
delivering the commencement speech, and FDVA Depty Dir Bob Asztalos
presenting commemorative coins along with Judge Lashawn Riggin's formal
recognition for each graduate. And last Saturday, kudo's to Omar, Susie,
Khalid, John Linney and Wayne Sprague who joined me in the "Veterans Legal
Service" room at the 2d Circuit's Pro Bono Legal Clinic at Mims Middle
School. And Tues evening, Judge Augustus Aikens keynoted the local Law Day
Celebration for Pro Bono Legal Services in the Tallahassee area.
Reprise: Locally, VA's housing program is soon to have a vacancy (a
retirement) with no opportunity for new staffing, and medical folks have now
been warning Vets of lengthy delays in referrals to specialists, etc: Call
your friends who work for the federal VA to let them know they're
appreciated and give them your contact info in case they lose their VA cell
number amidst the funding cuts, layoffs and firings that are including
probationary employees, as well as former military Veterans in a variety of
specialties (and the latest projections target some 84,000 VA jobs and
programs to be cut!) And be sure to let us know about parttime job
opportunities for Veterans on subsistence, as well as any emergency housing,
shared rentals, etc. since housing is still scarce and services are delayed
via waiting lists. A FLORIDA SENATOR SUMMARIZED VA'S NEEDS AGAIN (LAST
WEEK): more than 952,000 claims have been pending longer than 125 days,
including 23,900 in Florida; the backlog is still more than 241,000
including claims that go back DECADES. (The VFW-supported bill he sponsored
did pass the legislature and is on its way to the Governor SB910/HB277).
What else?
Thank you,
Dan Hendrickson, for the Tallahassee Veterans Legal Collaborative
