Update on 2025-2026 State Legislative Session

The legislative session ended on 3/13/26, and it was an unusual session, widely regarded as a particularly contentious session.  Very little emphasis was placed on healthcare-related bills, partially due to significant disagreements between the House and Senate on other legislative issues such as the budget that absorbed significant legislative focus.  Of the 14 bills that FMHCA’s Government Relations Committee (GRC) was tracking due to their potential to impact our profession, only 1 bill was passed, and it did not end up being a bill that would significantly impact our profession.  The primary issues that FMHCA supported this legislative session, including renaming registered interns as registered associates, redacting a statute that requires interns to have a licensed mental health professional on the premises when providing clinical services, and adding 491 Board licensees to a list of professionals who can be appointed by the Court to conduct evaluations and provide expert testimony for criminal cases involving competency, criminal responsibility, and civil commitment, were not accomplished.  Due to the lack of bills promoting our priorities this session and the lack of progress with bills related to our profession, we abstained from the “Legislative Days” event, reserving our funds for the next legislative session.  The GRC is recommending a spring/summer campaign in which FMHCA members and regional chapters contact legislators between sessions, introduce FMHCA and the local chapters as resources, and discuss our legislative priorities for the 2026-2027 legislative session, setting the stage for a productive session next year.

GRC AI Policy Subcommittee

FMHCA’s GRC expressed significant concerns about SB 344 and its companion bill, HB 281, which did not pass this legislation.  We believe that AI regulation in the mental health professions is coming to Florida soon, as seems to be the trend nationwide.  We also recognized the good intentions behind this bill (i.e., to protect the public and to prevent human therapists from being replaced by AI therapy bots).  However, this bill deviated significantly from bills passed in other states (e.g., Illinois) in that it would effectively restrict the use of AI to administrative purposes in a counseling practice, perhaps unintentionally illegalizing multiple safe, ethical, and appropriate uses of AI in clinical practice.  The GRC formed an AI policy subcommittee composed of FMHCA members who have experience and expertise with the use of AI in counseling practice.  That subcommittee is working on an analysis report and recommended course of action for FMHCA for the 2026-2027 legislative session.  We will then launch a survey to our members and offer a recommendation to the FMHCA Board of Directors.

491 Board Disciplinary Report Taskforce

FMHCA’s GRC and the Florida Family Therapy Alliance (FFTA) created a joint taskforce that published an annual report on the disciplinary proceedings involving 491 board licensees in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which is available at https://issuu.com/fmhca/docs/491_board_dsciplinary_report_fy_23-24.  The subcommittee is now working on the annual report for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.  These reports should be helpful resources for counselor educators and qualified supervisors training emerging counselors, as well as for practicing counselors who want to stay updated on legal and ethical issues in the field.

DOE Rules Excluding LMHCs

Last summer and fall, FMHCA sent a letter to Florida’s Board of Education, Department of Education, and the Governor’s Office in an effort to advocate for revisions to the Florida Administrative Code that would (a) add LMHCs to the list of professionals whose diagnoses can be used for eligibility purposes for vocational rehabilitation services, and (b) add LMHCs to the list of professionals whose records may be used for ESE program eligibility in public schools.  Between legislative sessions, the GRC intends to follow-up on these recommendations.