The House Health Professions and Programs Subcommittee has unanimously advanced a bill that seeks to enhance services, support and resources for children with developmental disabilities, particularly autism spectrum disorder.

Zephyrhills Republican Rep. Randy Maggard presented the bill (HB 591) and explained that the best course of action for children with disabilities is to provide an early safety net to ensure they get the help they need in school, to become successful in life as adults.

“Autism is an issue in the state of Florida, and what we’re trying to do is take a child that could be autistic, to get them tested, get them into rehab, and get them into mainstream life, get them into the workforce, so they will be productive citizens of our state,” Maggard said before the 16-0 vote.

The bill would address gaps in services by expanding the Dr. and Mrs. Alfonse and Kathleen Cinotti Health Care Screening and Services Grant Program to include screenings and services for autism; create the Early Steps Extended Option, allowing children to continue receiving services past 3 years old; and provide grants aimed at developing specialized charter schools exclusively for children with autism.

The measure would further fund Summer programs to help children with autism develop skills and socialize with other children. It would also establish the Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment at the University of Florida that would oversee autism-related grants, coordinate resources, develop training and increase public awareness.

“What the bill plans to do is if we can get them before the age of 3, our records show that 90% of those children will be productive,” Maggard said. “When we do not, then we’ll have a problem one day that we as a state will have to take care of.”

Maggard acknowledged the previous work of lawmakers who have introduced other measures related to children and adults with autism.

“Thanks to past Legislatures that set the groundwork for us to build on, we have the bones in the state of Florida that we can build this and go,” Maggard said. “I am sure that most of you know somebody who has somebody who is autistic, and unfortunately it’s a number that’s growing.”

North Miami Beach Democratic Rep. Wallace Aristide, an educator who works with both children and adults with autism, thanked Maggard for the bill.

“I deal with a lot of young people that are autistic. … I deal with adults too that have the same issues,” Aristide said, adding that it is important to “make sure from a very early age we can begin to diagnose the problem, begin the program to begin the treatment to help them so later on in life they can be productive citizens of our community. So, I want to thank you for putting this bill out. … I just think it’s phenomenal.”

Escambia County Republican Rep. Michelle Salzman, who said she has two autistic children of her own, thanked Maggard for his bill and stressed the importance of catching children early before they can fall behind.

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. And in public school, and in the majority of private schools, they are one-size-fits-all curricula,” Salzman said. “When you don’t recognize and identify children that have learning disabilities, or they have unique abilities, such as children with autism, they are looked over, they are often not taught properly, and they start falling behind.”

Salzman further pointed out that it’s not only children with autism who miss opportunities in the classroom, but all the other children who are in the classroom with them.

“Third grade reading scores are literally the indicator for high school dropout rates,” Salzman said. “If you don’t catch these kids early, then you’re taking the opportunities away not just from the families, but you’re also taking the opportunities from other children in the classroom, because the child with autism isn’t getting what they need and they’re disruptive.”

“This is such meaningful legislation,” Salzman added.

The bill will now move to the House Budget Committee.

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When Floridians hear about less harmful alternatives to smoking cigarettes, they most often think of vaping, which has garnered criticism due to some industry players’ efforts to seemingly market to children fruity flavors reminiscent of various candies.

But another alternative is beginning to gain traction in the U.S., and efforts to make it available and regulated in Florida are underway. Heat-not-burn, or heated tobacco products (HTPs), use real tobacco. But instead of lighting a cigarette with fire and burning the tobacco as it is inhaled, these products heat the tobacco, creating an aerosol mist.

Sen. Nick DiCeglie and Rep. Chase Tramont are sponsoring legislation (SB 1418, HB 785) that would exclude HTPs from the definition of “cigarette” and include HTPs in the definition of “tobacco products,” setting up a taxing structure different from that of traditional cigarettes.

The Senate version would additionally amend the definition of “tobacco product” in state statute to include HTPs and would remove HTPs from statute taxing other tobacco products.

Both measures have easily cleared their first committees and await two more stops before heading to full chamber votes.

During both hearings — Ways and Means for the House bill and Regulated Industries for the Senate version — every speaker present either spoke or waved in support. Only one member, Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani, voted “no.” Eskamani said she wanted additional information during the hearing earlier this month.

While HTPs still contain nicotine and still present possible risks, they are a less harmful alternative to traditional tobacco products, according to various reports on the issue. Dominic Calabro, President and CEO of Florida TaxWatch, recently penned an op-ed in this publication noting the harms of cigarettes — more than 32,000 Floridians die from smoking each year — and pointing to HTPs as a less harmful and less expensive option.

With the cost of health care from smoking-related illness estimated at more than $10 billion annually in Florida alone, Florida TaxWatch is advocating for incentives to move smokers away from cigarettes and, if they can’t or won’t quit, toward less harmful products. The group is supporting a “different tax treatment” for HTPs that would make them more affordable than cigarettes, which are taxed at about $1.33 per pack.

Doug Wheeler of the James Madison Institute has also spoken in support of the legislation, referencing a publication from his group advocating for keeping alternative tobacco products, like HTPs, tax-free.

“Harm reduction is a crucial aspect of sound tobacco and nicotine tax design,” the journal article reads. “Rather than trying to preclude the negative health outcomes associated with certain behaviors via prohibition or excessive taxation, those health outcomes can instead be more practically improved by incentivizing consumption of less harmful alternatives.”

The article points to an example in Minnesota where the state hiked the tax on vaping products from 35% to 95%, leading to more than 32,000 people not quitting traditional cigarettes.

The article lists a variety of alternative tobacco products and assigns each to a taxation category. HTPs fall in the group’s second category, calling for a tax rate at 25% that of combustible cigarettes. Other products — vaporizers and oral tobacco — are placed in category 3 at 10% of the tax rate for cigarettes. Patches, gums and lozenges — products typically used for smoking cessation — are in the fourth category, calling for no tax.

“This is important because it is the toxic smoke from cigarettes that is most responsible for smoking related diseases like emphysema and cancer,” DiCeglie said of the effort during a Senate hearing earlier this month. “Under this bill, members of the Legislature would be creating an accurate definition for heated tobacco products that distinguish them from cigarettes.”

And nodding to support from the Florida Retail Federation, DiCeglie also called for market clarity.

“The bill would simply update Florida code to make explicit what is already implicit, that the current definitions that carry excise taxes do not include HTPs,” he said.

The conversation is heating up now that HTPs are becoming available in the U.S. While some popular brands such as Ploom are still unavailable here, others are now being offered.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently authorized Philip Morris International’s IQOS products in flavors mimicking those of existing cigarette flavors. The FDA is reviewing an R.J. Reynolds product called Eclipse, and it is expected to come to market soon. Altria is also taking steps to commercialize HTPs.

DiCeglie’s bill is awaiting hearings in the Finance and Tax and Appropriations committees, while Tramont’s is awaiting the Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee and the Commerce Committee.

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