Laserfiche WebLink
Summary Minutes:Regular City Commission Meeting May 21,2015 City of Sunny Isles Beach,Florida <br /> 4. ORDER OF BUSINESS (Additions/Deletions/Amendments) <br /> 4A. Request to Hear Items: Additional Information: Item 6A. Estimated Fees/Schedule;Hear <br /> out of Order: Hear Item 10E after Item 6A; Deferrals: Item 9C. Sign Repairs Ordinance. <br /> Action: Mayor Scholl noted the above changes to the agenda. Commissioner Aelion moved <br /> and Commissioner Levin seconded a motion to approve the above changes to the agenda. <br /> The motion was approved by a voice vote of 5-0 in favor. <br /> 5. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS <br /> 5A. A Presentation by Florida State Representative Joseph Geller regarding an Update on <br /> Legislation Activities. <br /> Action: [City Clerk's Note: This item was heard after Item 5B as Representative Geller <br /> arrived late.] Mayor Scholl said each year about this time it has been customary for our <br /> local State Representative to come and give us a flavor of what is going on in Tallahassee, <br /> and he introduced State Representative Joseph Geller. <br /> State Representative Joseph Geller said they didn't quite finish in Tallahassee and have to go <br /> back on June 1,2015 for a Special Session. There were a few things that did get done during <br /> their session, and one is a Bill passed that will address some abuses in the guardianship <br /> arena, spearheaded by Dr. Sam Sugar of Aventura. The Bill is a first step, it leaves a lot still <br /> to do but there have been some terrible abuses there and this is the first step towards <br /> changing that. He was involved particularly with education, he served as the ranking <br /> Democrat on the K-12 Subcommittee and also a member of the Education Committee, and <br /> he is very happy to report that they did pass one very important piece of legislation which <br /> reduces the number of high stakes tests that our students have to take. In the wake of this <br /> legislation, both Miami-Dade and Broward Counties have announced that they are cutting <br /> literally hundreds of tests that students have to take. Again, it is a very good first step. <br /> Representative Geller said they did not accomplish the one constitutionally mandated duty <br /> that the Legislature has which is to adopt a balanced budget for the State of Florida. There <br /> are a lot of reasons why that happened, and that is the issue of the day. For people who have <br /> not followed it closely and want to know what is going on, it comes down to healthcare. The <br /> issue with healthcare is this,there has been a federal program called the"Low Income Pool" <br /> that the federal government has provided funds for states to help care for indigent patients. <br /> Florida has been the beneficiary of that, and this year were the programs to be continued it <br /> would result in$2.2 Billion for the State of Florida. The Feds have told us that that program <br /> is going to be ending and this is not a surprise as they were going to end it last year. One of <br /> the provisions of the Affordable Care Act is that it provides for money to expand access to <br /> healthcare. Possibly through Medicade but not necessarily as Medicade is a little bit of a <br /> controversial program. The fact is that the federal government would make available to the <br /> State of Florida this year another$2.8 Billion to use for expanding access to healthcare and <br /> this is tied into the Low Income Pool. The goal here is to reduce people's reliance on <br /> Emergency Room care, and to get them covered with health insurance. Emergency Room <br /> care is both the most expensive and least effective kind of healthcare there is. By providing <br /> access to better health insurance, people hopefully would be eligible for things like <br /> 3 <br />