---
type: "Bill"
title: "Background Screenings and Certifications"
description: "Background Screenings and Certifications; Provides qualifications for person seeking certification as person with lived experience; requires continuum of care lead agencies to submit certain information to DCF for purposes of background screening; expands certain background screening requirements to apply to all health care practitioners; revises licensure, registration, or certification requirements for acupuncturists; optometrists; pharmacists; dentists; midwives; speech-language pathologists & audiologists; nursing home administrators; occupational therapists; respiratory therapists; dietitian/nutritionists; practitioners of orthotics, prosthetics, or pedorthics; electrologists; clinical laboratory personnel; medical physicists; genetic counselors; opticians; physical therapists; psychologists & school psychologists; clinical social workers, marriage & family therapists, & mental health counselors."
jurisdiction: "us/states/fl"
legislature: "Florida Legislature"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 975"
citation: "Florida HB 975 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["appropriations", "criminal procedure and corrections", "labor", "regulation of professions and occupations", "social welfare"]
status: "enacted"
chapter_law: "2024-243"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell", "Campbell", "Trabulsy"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 50
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-12-20"
last_action: "2024-06-17"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/122d798a-7dc9-46c4-9398-90d1487c6326"
source_url: "https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/975/ByCategory"
source_hash: "8dc02965b78ff1baf5b4234ba39bfd2dae52a5c89b7eb981b44aab3a5259e83f"
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 975 (2024) — Background Screenings and Certifications

Background Screenings and Certifications; Provides qualifications for person seeking certification as person with lived experience; requires continuum of care lead agencies to submit certain information to DCF for purposes of background screening; expands certain background screening requirements to apply to all health care practitioners; revises licensure, registration, or certification requirements for acupuncturists; optometrists; pharmacists; dentists; midwives; speech-language pathologists & audiologists; nursing home administrators; occupational therapists; respiratory therapists; dietitian/nutritionists; practitioners of orthotics, prosthetics, or pedorthics; electrologists; clinical laboratory personnel; medical physicists; genetic counselors; opticians; physical therapists; psychologists & school psychologists; clinical social workers, marriage & family therapists, & mental health counselors.

**Enacted** — Laws of Florida, Chapter 2024-243.

## Version chain

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

1. **H 975 Filed** (filed) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/975/BillText/Filed/PDF)
2. **H 975 c1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/975/BillText/c1/PDF)
3. **H 975 c2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/975/BillText/c2/PDF)
4. **H 975 e1** (engrossed) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/975/BillText/e1/PDF)
5. **H 975 e2** (engrossed) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/975/BillText/e2/PDF)
6. **H 975 er** (enrolled) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/975/BillText/er/PDF)

## Votes

- Passage, Third Reading — **116–0** (pass) · lower
- Passage — **109–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bell — primary (person)
- Campbell — primary (person)
- Health & Human Services Committee — primary (organization)
- Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee — primary (organization)
- Trabulsy — primary (person)
- Basabe — cosponsor (person)
- Cassel — cosponsor (person)
- Eskamani — cosponsor (person)
- Garcia — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph — cosponsor (person)
- Lopez, V. — cosponsor (person)
- López, J. — cosponsor (person)
- Salzman — cosponsor (person)
- Tant — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-12-20** Filed `filing`
- **2024-01-05** Referred to Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-05** Referred to Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-05** Referred to Health & Human Services Committee `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-05** Now in Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee
- **2024-01-09** 1st Reading (Original Filed Version) `filing, reading-1`
- **2024-01-12** Added to Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee agenda
- **2024-01-17** Favorable by Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-01-17** Reported out of Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee
- **2024-01-17** Now in Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee
- **2024-02-02** Added to Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee agenda
- **2024-02-06** Favorable with CS by Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-07** Reported out of Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee
- **2024-02-07** Laid on Table under Rule 7.18(a) `deferral`
- **2024-02-07** CS Filed `filing`
- **2024-02-07** 1st Reading (Committee Substitute 1) `reading-1`
- **2024-02-08** Referred to Health & Human Services Committee `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-08** Now in Health & Human Services Committee
- **2024-02-20** PCS added to Health & Human Services Committee agenda
- **2024-02-22** Favorable with CS by Health & Human Services Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-22** Reported out of Health & Human Services Committee
- **2024-02-22** Laid on Table under Rule 7.18(a) `deferral`
- **2024-02-22** CS Filed `filing`
- **2024-02-22** 1st Reading (Committee Substitute 2) `reading-1`
- **2024-02-23** Bill referred to House Calendar
- **2024-02-23** Added to Second Reading Calendar
- **2024-02-26** Bill added to Special Order Calendar (2/29/2024)
- **2024-02-29** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-29** Amendment 583751 adopted
- **2024-02-29** Added to Third Reading Calendar
- **2024-02-29** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-29** CS passed as amended; YEAS 116, NAYS 0 `passage`
- **2024-02-29** In Messages
- **2024-02-29** Referred to Fiscal Policy `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-29** Received `enrolled`
- **2024-03-06** Withdrawn from Fiscal Policy `withdrawal`
- **2024-03-06** Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading
- **2024-03-06** Substituted for SB 558
- **2024-03-06** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2024-03-06** Amendment(s) adopted (667080)
- **2024-03-06** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2024-03-06** CS passed as amended; YEAS 40 NAYS 0 `passage`
- **2024-03-06** In Messages
- **2024-03-07** Added to Senate Message List
- **2024-03-07** Amendment 667080 Concur
- **2024-03-07** CS passed as amended; YEAS 109, NAYS 0 `passage`
- **2024-03-07** Ordered engrossed, then enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-06-07** Signed by Officers and presented to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-06-14** Approved by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-06-17** Chapter No. 2024-243; companion bill(s) passed, see CS/SB 1600 (Ch. 2024-274), CS/SB 7016 (Ch. 2024-15)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/122d798a-7dc9-46c4-9398-90d1487c6326`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Florida legislature records).