Democratic lawmakers are working to catch mental health problems early, before they spiral into lifelong crises.

St. Petersburg Sen. Darryl Rouson and Lake Worth Rep. Debra Tendrich filed companion bills (SB 1302, HB 1133) to require mental and behavioral health screenings for minors and young adults enrolled in Medicaid.

The goal is to confront what they describe as a statewide youth mental health emergency.

Tendrich told Florida Politics her push for reform was galvanized by personal tragedy. In 2023, her friend, Brian Hiltebeitel, was brutally killed on a Palm Beach County golf course by a 26-year-old man later deemed incompetent for trial due to mental illness and substance abuse concerns.

The case prompted her to examine how gaps in early identification and treatment can allow serious conditions to escalate unchecked. After speaking with Judges, pediatricians, psychiatrists, educators, behavioral health providers and families, the message she received was consistent: Early detection and timely intervention are essential to preventing long-term harm.

“We are in a mental health crisis,” Tendrich said in a statement. “It is imperative that Florida adopt systems for early, validated, and age-appropriate mental health screenings. With this bill, Florida is addressing the issue directly and responsibly.”

Under the legislation, managed care plans under the Agency for Health Care Administration and Medicaid would have to establish practice parameters for validated, nationally recognized mental and behavioral health screenings.

The screenings would have to be trauma-informed — recognizing trauma’s impact while prioritizing safety, compassion, empowerment and healing — and tailored to a child’s developmental stage.

Early detection efforts would be expanded from birth through age 22. Required evaluations would include autism and developmental screenings beginning at birth; depression and anxiety assessments during childhood and adolescence; age-appropriate substance-use screenings; and ongoing behavioral, social and emotional health evaluations through young adulthood.

Mental health professionals say many pediatric conditions are highly treatable when identified early, yet children are often diagnosed only after years of academic, social and emotional struggles. Embedding standardized screening into Medicaid care, the lawmakers said, will help identify warning signs sooner and connect families to services before problems intensify.

“This legislation is about giving families the support they need when concerns first arise, not months or years later,” Rouson said in a statement.

The proposal also places a strong emphasis on parental education. It would direct the Department of Health to provide guardians with accessible guidance on factors that influence mental health, including screen time, sleep, nutrition and parenting skills.

Families would also receive information on coordinated referrals to community mental health centers and behavioral health hubs, reinforcing what Tendrich called a collaborative care model focused on the whole child.

“This legislation builds a bridge between medical professionals and families,” she said. “Healthy routines — good sleep, responsible device use, and proper nutrition — are powerful tools in supporting a child’s mental health. That is how we treat the whole child.”

If approved by the Legislature and signed, the measure would take effect July 1.

Members of the Senate Committee on Community Affairs have approved a proposal aimed at encouraging Florida’s largest private landowners to serve as long-term stewards of the environment.

The measure (SB 354) offers a framework supporters say better aligns growth, conservation and infrastructure planning. It cleared its first committee stop via a 7-1 vote, with Republican Sen. Kathleen Passidomo as the only “no” vote.

“I couldn’t even figure out how to fix it,” she said, calling it “a massive bill that leaves so much out.” She added that she’s willing to continue working with the bill sponsor, Sen. Stan McClain, to improve the bill.

“But it’s going to be a lot,” Passidomo said.

Several environmental groups and home rule hawks spoke against the bill. Other lawmakers on the committee raised concerns they hope to be worked out through the committee process, but most see an opportunity to streamline stagnant development while incentivizing land conservation.

The bill would establish “Blue Ribbon” projects, which would apply to landowners who control or own at least 10,000 or more contiguous acres. The measures would require participating landowners to conserve at least 60% of the property.

Under the bill, the plan must prescribe the development property over a 50-year planning period by meeting strict statutory requirements. Landowners would still have to earn approval from local governments based on compliance with the statutes, including development orders, and concurrency.

Two amendments also passed. One would add “consistent with the public purposes” language in state statute regarding parks, recreational activities, utility sites, reservoirs and lakes, or other uses that support such activities, expanding what would constitute conservation lands under the measure.

The other amendment is more technical and deals with public easements, adding the “consistent with public purposes” language and requiring an agreement between the landowner and the Department of Agriculture “regarding allowable uses for the easement.”

Elizabeth Alvey, Senior Director of Policy with Audubon Florida, was one of the environmental group members to speak against the bill. She said her group appreciates the bill’s intent and, initially, the group had not taken a stance on it. Now, though, Alvey said “the bill raises serious issues.”

She said two amendments filed and approved open the door to cover park land and recreational space, which she said could allow things like baseball diamonds and pickleball courts, things not typically thought of as conservation land.

Nevertheless, she praised McClain for his willingness to continue working to improve the bill and resolve issues, noting that “we have shared language and our ideas with him … and we look forward to working collaboratively to improve this bill.”

The proposal is born of a desire to implement smart growth strategies by ensuring growth occurs only where it can be supported. The proposal requires phased planning for water, wastewater, transportation, schools and utilities.

The stated Blue Ribbon project goals are to protect wildlife and natural areas; limit urban sprawl; provide a range of housing options including missing middle and affordable housing; create quality communities designed to reduce vehicle trips and promote multiple mobility options; and enhance local economic development objectives and job creation.

The measure also emphasizes sustainability beyond just conservation lands by ensuring new development supports population density in compact communities that are multi-mobility focused. It also seeks to ensure the state is a good steward of taxpayer dollars by allowing conservation lands to be secured without public dollars.

Rep. Lauren Melo is sponsoring the House version of the bill (HB 299). It awaits a hearing in the House Commerce Committee, followed by the State Affairs Committee.

The Senate bill still awaits hearings in the Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development, followed by Rules.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis used most of his final State of the State address to talk about what he’s accomplished in his first seven years. Then he turned toward his most ambitious goal of his last year in office: reducing the property taxes he says “squeeze” Floridians.

While DeSantis described Florida as the most tax-friendly state in the nation, and emphasized his oft-repeated celebration of the state’s lack of income tax, he also said local governments’ property tax revenue has risen from $32 billion to $56 billion over the last seven years.

“While we have fulfilled our promises, we have more time and we need to make the most of it,” DeSantis told lawmakers as they opened their 60-day Legislative Session.

With consequential U.S. Midterms approaching, and his own future plans unknown after he leaves office next January, the Governor steered away from addressing upcoming elections. Instead, his wide-ranging speech focused on the state’s successes under his leadership and his future plans for property tax cuts and AI restrictions.

“We have residents that are locked into their homes, because they can’t afford the taxes on a new residence,” he said. “Others have been priced out of the market entirely.”

DeSantis is pushing the Legislature to put a measure slashing these taxes on voter ballots in November. Although lawmakers began with eight proposals to tackle the issue, only one is now ready for a full House vote.

Critics say the initiative will harm local government programs and public schools, which rely on property tax funding to operate — especially on rural and inland municipalities.

Democratic leaders criticized the Governor’s emphasis on property taxes following the speech. State Sen. Shevrin Jones dismissed the rhetoric as “something to go on billboards and bumper stickers,” not a real way to help rural communities. It’s a perspective he said people share across the aisle.

“There are people within the Governor’s own party who understand that the Governor’s speech was not popular,” Jones said. “You can see his own party didn’t stand up for that property tax, because they know it is detrimental for their own community.”

But Democrats, who make up just a little over one-fourth of both the Senate and House, have little power in a Legislature dominated by the Republican supermajority.

Meanwhile, Republicans are increasingly divided. During last year’s Legislative Session, which turned from a 60-day to 105-day affair, House and Senate leaders clashed over tax breaks and the budget. The Governor tended to side with the Senate; Tuesday, he didn’t shake House Speaker Daniel Perez’s hand.

Both Senate President Ben Albritton and Perez referenced the contentious 2025 Session during their own opening speeches Tuesday, saying last year went “differently than most expected” and was “full of surprising twists and turns,” respectively. However, the two embraced twice at the beginning of the joint session prior to the Governor’s speech.

Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman said the splintered nature of the Legislature will only delay pressing affordability issues facing Floridians. The Governor gave no concrete ideas to address affordability during his speech, she said.

Berman and other Democratic leaders are pursuing an “affordability agenda” targeting issues like property insurance and whistleblower protections.

“I think the Republicans are fractured,” she said in a news conference following the speech. “I think we see the Governor is focused on himself … and we’re focused on trying to move forward Florida and affordability, but I think that their fractures are going to result in a session that’s going to be unpredictable.”

Despite the seemingly tense nature of the Legislature, several points of DeSantis’ speech brought all Republicans in the room to their feet in applause — while a reference to recently elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a “Marxist Mayor” brought a hushed wave of boos.

The floor cheered as DeSantis described his strides toward eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in higher education. He also touted the state’s efforts to enforce laws regarding undocumented immigration, including banning sanctuary cities and the 20,000 undocumented immigrants he said the state has apprehended in the past nine months.

“Our people are safer because of these efforts,” he said.

Florida eliminated a decade-old in-state college tuition breaks for undocumented students, known as Dreamers, at the start of the last Legislative Session.

In a news conference after the speech, House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell criticized the Governor’s comments on immigration, made just a week after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis shot and killed U.S. citizen Renee Good.

“When you have people crying out that this isn’t what we asked for, to see ICE agents shooting American citizens dead in the street, I think we’ve gone absolutely too far,” Driskell said. “The Governor’s rhetoric doesn’t really help.”

Before ending his speech, DeSantis criticized AI developments, which he said could threaten key parts of the economy. As consumers foot the bill for the cost of power-intensive data centers, he said, the state has a responsibility to ensure new technologies develop morally and ethically.

“The technology may change, the window dressing may be different, but human nature is what it is,” he said. “An AI tool is only as good as the data that is inputted — garbage in, garbage out.”

DeSantis’ speech also contained notable omissions — including the state’s next race for Governor and its role in the U.S. Midterm Elections.

Florida’s impending gubernatorial election is set to be a contentious one. U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is the Republican front-runner and has secured Donald Trump’s endorsement. DeSantis, meanwhile, has not yet endorsed any candidate as his successor.

Former House Speaker Paul Renner, investor James Fishback and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins have also entered the fray on the Republican side, while the Democratic front-runners are former U.S. Rep. David Jolly and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.

DeSantis also steered clear of discussing redistricting ahead of the Midterms. Republicans are looking to Florida as a key redistricting stronghold. The state could yield three to five additional Republican seats, a big enough number to swing control of the House. The Governor has announced a Special Session on redistricting in April, after the Regular Session ends.

Perez previously described DeSantis’ decision to delay redistricting until after the Regular Session as “irresponsible.” He said in a press conference Tuesday he doesn’t yet know whether he’ll try to push redistricting plans before April.

“It’s a conversation that we’re going to start,” he said. “If we’re able to do something during Session, great, if we do it during Special Session, great.”

Perez also said he noticed the Governor’s refusal to shake his hand. Someone stopped him after he got off the rostrum to say they’d never seen anything like the handshake snub during many decades working in the chamber, Perez said.

Regardless, he said DeSantis’ personal opinion doesn’t change the mission of the House.

“Whether the Governor wants to be petulant and not shake the hand of a partner, that’s on him,” Perez said. “It’s not going to change our direction.”

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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at [email protected]. You can donate to support our students here.