---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relief/Cristina Alvarez and George Patnode/Department of Health"
description: "Relief/Cristina Alvarez and George Patnode/Department of Health"
jurisdiction: "us/states/fl"
legislature: "Florida Legislature"
session: "2018"
identifier: "HB 6501"
citation: "Florida HB 6501 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["relief bills"]
status: "enacted"
chapter_law: "2018-162"
primary_sponsors: ["Toledo"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 31
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2017-08-21"
last_action: "2018-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fbe6c051-733a-4283-a5aa-a1ec48259081"
source_url: "http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/06501/ByCategory"
source_hash: "2ad7898725093741ec5047ef6dccdf40697d9ff68ee6c3aa00d868f2f56dc912"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-fl"]
---

# Florida HB 6501 (2018) — Relief/Cristina Alvarez and George Patnode/Department of Health

**Enacted** — Laws of Florida, Chapter 2018-162.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **H 6501 Filed** (filed) — [source](http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/6501/BillText/Filed/PDF)
2. **H 6501 er** (enrolled) — [source](http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/6501/BillText/er/PDF)

## Votes

- Favorable (Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee) — **14–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **36–1** (pass) · upper
- Favorable (Judiciary Committee) — **15–1** (pass) · lower
- Favorable (Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee) — **11–2** (pass) · lower
- Passage, Third Reading — **109–4** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Toledo — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-08-21** Filed `filing`
- **2017-08-30** Referred to Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee; Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee; Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-10-18** On Committee agenda-- Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee, 10/25/17, 1:30 pm, Sumner Hall
- **2017-10-25** Favorable by Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee; YEAS 14 NAYS 0 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-10-25** Now in Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee
- **2018-01-09** Introduced `introduction`
- **2018-02-09** On Committee agenda-- Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee, 02/13/18, 9:30 am, Sumner Hall
- **2018-02-13** Favorable by Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee; YEAS 11 NAYS 2 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-02-13** Now in Judiciary Committee
- **2018-02-19** On Committee agenda-- Judiciary Committee, 02/21/18, 9:00 am, Sumner Hall
- **2018-02-21** Favorable by- Judiciary Committee; YEAS 15 NAYS 1 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-02-21** Placed on Calendar
- **2018-02-22** Placed on Special Order Calendar, 02/28/18
- **2018-02-28** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2018-02-28** Placed on 3rd reading
- **2018-03-01** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2018-03-01** Passed; YEAS 109 NAYS 4
- **2018-03-01** In Messages
- **2018-03-01** Referred to Judiciary; Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services; Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-02** Received
- **2018-03-08** Withdrawn from Judiciary; Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services; Appropriations `withdrawal`
- **2018-03-08** Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading
- **2018-03-08** Substituted for CS/SB 44
- **2018-03-08** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2018-03-08** Placed on 3rd reading
- **2018-03-09** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2018-03-09** Passed; YEAS 36 NAYS 1
- **2018-03-09** Ordered enrolled
- **2018-03-21** Signed by Officers and presented to Governor
- **2018-03-23** Approved by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2018-04-09** Chapter No. 2018-162

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fbe6c051-733a-4283-a5aa-a1ec48259081`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Florida legislature records).