Winners and losers emerging from the 2021 Legislative Session
They all can t be winners. Here is the definitive list of who s up and who took a fall.
The ending of a Session is never a surprise. It’s like harvest season. What you get at the end is the result of months, maybe even years of tilling, planting, watering, tending, and shepherding.
Against the odds and despite many challenges, the 2021 Legislative Session ended on time. The House Speaker and the Senate President were together for the iconic dropping of the hankie. There weren’t any strained smiles or forced compliments. They stood side by side, thanking each other as much as they talked about themselves.
More than a hundred people attended a candlelight vigil Saturday evening for Cairo Gunter, a newborn who died at Winnie Palmer Hospital late last month, in what his parents allege was negligence by hospital staff.
May 1 Dear Reader, It's been nearly three months since I made the Miami-South Florida community my new home. In that time, I've discovered a place rich with plenty of news and great stories to be told. I've discovered a need for the Miami Herald to reconnect with these communities because there are even more stories to experience from others. These stories, after all, comprise the fabric of .
Florida lawmakers send lifeline to families with brain-damaged children Daniel Chang and Carol Marbin Miller, The Miami Herald
Apr. 30 After a dramatic and emotional 72 hours in Tallahassee, Florida lawmakers late Thursday approved a sweeping overhaul of the state s controversial compensation program for catastrophically brain-damaged newborns, agreeing to a package of reforms meant to improve the lives of struggling families.
The legislation revamping the Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association, or NICA, delivers new benefits and protections for 215 families in the program, including mental health services, representation on the board of directors and retroactive compensation of $150,000.
The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis. If he signs the legislation, the new provisions will take effect immediately.
Florida lawmakers send lifeline to families with brain-damaged newborns
The weekâs drama heralds a new reality for hundreds of families scattered throughout the state.
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Delaina Parrish is today able to communicate because of a machine that translates her eye movements into words. The machine came from the manufacturer, not from Floridaâs Birth-related Neurological Injury Compensation Association, or NICA. She recently graduated from the University of Florida. [ EMILY MICHOT | Miami Herald ]
By Daniel Chang and Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald
Published Yesterday
Updated Yesterday
After a dramatic and emotional 72 hours in Tallahassee, Florida lawmakers late Thursday approved a sweeping overhaul of the stateâs controversial compensation program for catastrophically brain-damaged newborns â agreeing to a package of reforms meant to improve the lives of struggling families.