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Secrecy for Alzheimer's center

Today is the fourth day of the 60-day session.

Democrats on Thursday failed to block one of House Speaker Johnnie Byrd's top priorities: exempting an Alzheimer's research center in Tampa from open-government laws.

The First Amendment Foundation, which supports public access to government, opposed the bill, calling the new exemptions "unconstitutionally overbroad."

The measure allows the center to withhold employee personnel records and contracts, and the board can meet secretly to discuss issues exempt from disclosure.

The bill (HB 147), patterned after a similar exemption for Tampa's Moffitt Cancer Center and sponsored by Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa, next goes to the Senate.

New exemptions must pass by a two-thirds vote, or with the support of at least 80 House members. The House vote was 80-39. Two Democrats, Dwight Stansel of Wellborn and Will Kendrick of Carrabelle, broke ranks to support the bill.

Thirty-seven Democrats voted no, as did Republicans Dudley Goodlette of Naples and Fred Brummer of Apopka. Byrd, who chairs the center's board, said the bill is needed to protect trade secrets.

- STEVE BOUSQUET

Bills to license people who provide genetic counseling cleared House and Senate committees.

The field of genetic counseling has expanded since the mapping of the human genome and the potential ability to determine whether people or their unborn children may be at genetic risk for certain diseases.

Under the legislation, a seven-member board would license counselors and set out educational guidelines.

The Senate bill (CS-SB 506) cleared its fourth committee with unanimous approval by the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. It goes next to the full Appropriations Committee.

The House bill (HB 479) cleared its first committee with unanimous approval by the Health Standards Subcommittee.

Genetic counselors already can be certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling. So far, California and Utah have state licensing boards.

Child advocates and children from around the state converged on the Capitol Thursday to rally for more support of education issues.

As the state gears up to put voluntary universal prekindergarten into effect next year, advocates hope to get lawmakers to pay more attention to their concerns now.

A constitutional amendment passed in 2002 requires Florida to offer prekindergarten to all 4-year-olds by 2005, and Gov. Jeb Bush proposed spending $9.6-million on the professional development of thousands of child care workers in preparation.

Some advocates want to see money earmarked for after-school programs, to expand the reach of the initiative.

Bush has offered a larger proposal to deal with early education, including issuing vouchers to attend prekindergarten programs, while establishing curriculum standards and accreditation processes for the centers. But so far, lawmakers haven't rallied around it.

Chris Card, president of Hillsborough Kids and a member of the Florida Children's Forum board, encouraged the crowd of 200 to keep lobbying lawmakers to make additional efforts for education.

"The group of people in the building behind you are at an infant stage of understanding this," he said.

Lawmakers and lobbyists may be headed for a battle over where the state will house the voluntary universal prekindergarten program.

Gov. Jeb Bush has suggested putting it under the Department of Education. But prekindergarten is currently housed with the state's Agency for Workforce Innovation, which manages child care issues.

David Lawrence, a special assistant to Bush, told a crowd of rallying early educators there will be "a real tussle" over jurisdiction. "You'll be fighting for your work to be seen as education and not babysitting," he said.

Lining up with the other side is Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, who said the Department of Education might be too overloaded to properly manage the programs, so they should stay in AWI.

"I think the overall feeling was the Department of Education currently had so many things on their plate that this might get lost," he said. "And in order for this to be successful, we're going to need to have it in top drawer consideration."

- ASSOCIATED PRESS