TALLAHASSEE – Governor Ron DeSantis signed three additional Veteran-related bills on June 29 that were sent to him following the 2021 Florida Legislative Session.
House Bill 231 – Services for Veterans and Their Families
As part of the state’s focus on mental health care and Veteran suicide prevention with the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and others, the legislation requires the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs to establish the Florida Veterans’ Care Coordination Program to provide and expand behavioral health care referral and care coordination services for Veterans and their families and to partner with Florida 2-1-1 Network participants to provide such services.
House Bill 7023 – Veterans Treatment Courts
The legislation creates uniform standards and procedures for Florida’s current and future Veterans Treatment Courts (VTC). It allows a court with criminal jurisdiction to create and administer a VTC, which may adjudicate felonies and misdemeanors, with the exception of the pretrial intervention of misdemeanor criminal traffic offenses.
Senate Bill 416 – POW-MIA Vietnam Veterans Bracelet Memorial
The bill establishes a POW-MIA Vietnam Veterans Bracelet Memorial across the street from the Old Capitol in Tallahassee, which will be installed next to Florida’s Vietnam War Memorial. The Vietnam Veterans of Big Bend Chapter 96 paid for the seven-foot high bracelet memorial.
Other Veteran-related legislation signed into law earlier this year by Governor DeSantis can be found here.
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