Jimmy Patronis Showcases Progress of His Legislative Priorities

After the first week of the Florida Legislature’s regular session ended, state Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis highlighted some of his priorities, including legislation aimed at supporting firefighters in their battle to prevent cancer, safeguarding insurance consumers’ DNA data, supporting Florida’s law enforcement community, and cracking down on fraud targeting Florida’s veterans.

“Florida’s 2020 legislative session is in full swing and my team is making significant progress in advocating for important issues for Floridians. This week, several bills I support passed committee stops including measures to protect firefighters from cancer with important equipment, crackdown on fraud against our veterans and prohibit insurance companies from using your genetic code against you,” Patronis said at the end of last week.

“I thank our great legislative team and all of the key bill sponsors for their hard work on behalf of our state. Together, we’re working to build a better, stronger Florida,” Patronis added.

The state CFO highlighted the following proposals:

Supporting Florida’s Firefighters

Firefighter Cancer Decontamination Equipment Grant Program bills (HB 487 by Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff and SB 1092 by Sen. Aaron Bean) passed committees in the House and Senate. This legislation builds on CFO and State Fire Marshal Patronis’ cancer prevention initiative to protect Florida’s firefighters from this deadly disease.

Protecting Veterans from Fraud and Scams

The Florida Veterans Protection Act (SB 294 by Sen. Tom Wright and HB 167 by Rep. Bobby Payne) passed committees in the House and Senate. CFO Patronis is supporting this important legislation to protect Florida’s 1.5 million Veterans from fraud and scams.

Supporting Law Enforcement Officers

Bills regarding Law Enforcement Vehicles (SB 476 by Sen. Ed Hooper and HB 307 by Rep. Bobby Payne) passed committees in the House and Senate. CFO Patronis stands with law enforcement on this important legislation.

Securing Data Privacy for Floridians

HB 1189 (Rep. Chris Sprowls) Genetic Information for Insurance Purposes passed the Health & Human Services Committee. CFO Patronis supports measures to protect Floridians DNA data from falling into the wrong hands or being used against consumers in insurance matters.