Votes at a glance: Committee advances six measures including mental‑health diversion and boating safety

The committee recorded favorable reports on multiple bills during the session. Below is a concise list of bills advanced, the outcome and key details from committee proceedings.

CS for SB 168 — Mental‑health diversion (Chris Tristan Murphy Act) - Action: Reported favorably after adopting amendment barcode 857776. - Key points: Creates pretrial misdemeanor and felony mental‑health diversion processes; expands grant uses (including 9‑1‑1 and EMT training, veteran treatment court programs); exempts fiscally constrained counties from matching funds; requires DOC mental‑health evaluation prior to work assignments; expands forensic diversion pilot to include Hillsborough County; establishes a behavioral‑health data repository. - Committee vote: All senators present voted Yes (recorded roll call).

CS for SB 86 — Peer support for first responders - Action: Reported favorably. - Key points: Extends voluntary peer‑support eligibility to support personnel who investigate crime scenes or process evidence; amendment limited scope to those support personnel. - Committee vote: Reported favorably by roll call (all present voted Yes).

SB 472 — Education and licensure for inmates - Action: Reported favorably. - Key points: Ensures inmates who complete qualifying educational curriculum receive credit toward professional licensure requirements on release. - Committee vote: Reported favorably by roll call (all present voted Yes).

SB 276 — Sheltering or aiding unmarried minors - Action: Reported favorably. - Key points: Increases sheltering or aiding an unmarried minor from a first‑degree misdemeanor to a third‑degree felony for knowingly sheltering an unmarried minor more than 24 hours without parental consent or law‑enforcement notification; creates a defense where the defendant reasonably believed sheltering was necessary to preserve the minor’s welfare; sponsors pledged to consider amendments narrowing unintended scope. - Committee vote: Reported favorably by roll call (all present voted Yes).

SB 402 — Unlawful use of uniforms, medals, or insignia - Action: Reported favorably. - Key points: Amends Florida statute 817.312 to update references to “armed forces” and include current branches (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard); consolidates branch lists under section 250.01 definition. - Committee vote: Reported favorably by roll call (all present voted Yes).

CS for SB 490 — Concealed‑carry adjustments for law enforcement, corrections and active service members - Action: Reported favorably after delete‑all amendment (amendment barcodes adopted); one senator voted No. - Key points: Adds correctional officers and correctional probation officers to off‑duty concealed‑carry eligibility, requires superior officers to file policy statements if authorizing off‑duty carry, and waives a three‑day waiting period for qualifying active service members and agency personnel for certain purchases; sponsors said LRC checks for pistol purchases remain; Vice Chair Smith recorded a No vote citing public‑safety concerns. - Committee vote: Reported favorably (8 Yes, 1 No recorded).

SB 628 — Lucy’s Law (boating safety) - Action: Reported favorably after late amendment (barcode 514165) removed sections authorizing warrantless blood draws and other provisions; sponsor left in place the current probable‑cause standard for blood draws. - Key points: Sponsor seeks to align boating penalties and procedural tools with motor‑vehicle law; committee heard emotional testimony from a victim’s family and advocates for stronger boater education; sponsor plans to draft education‑linked amendments for later consideration. - Committee vote: Reported favorably by roll call (all present voted Yes).

Notes: Several items received public testimony or waivers of support from advocacy organizations and law enforcement. Where the transcript recorded amendment barcodes, those were adopted as noted above. Roll‑call vote lists were read into the record for each reported bill; items that attracted longer public testimony (SB 168 and SB 628) were covered separately in committee debate.

If you need full roll‑call lists for each bill or the text of adopted amendments, I can extract the committee roll calls and amendment barcodes as recorded in the transcript.