Take
Legislative Action!
FPS advocates
for the practice of psychiatry and patients through several advocacy programs. By
way of example, the organization and its membership have worked to:
- Optimize the regulation, training, and reporting required when controlled substances are prescribed and dispensed;
- Advocate for substantial financial investments to keep students safe and enhance mental health treatment in our schools;
- Support legislation requiring county jails to continue to administer psychotropic medications prescribed at mental health treatment facilities upon a client’s discharge and return to county jail; and
- Protect patients’ access to quality mental health care.
There are
several ways you can be a strong, effective advocate for your profession as an
FPS member. By staying informed and up-to-date on key issues, by financially
investing in the future of your profession and FPS’s cause, and by joining
FPS’s grassroots network and contacting your local legislators – these are all
integral ways that you can make a difference and help FPS have the greatest
impact within state government. Below is specific information about the opportunities
available to you to get involved right now. You may contact Kendra Adams at kendra@floridapsych.org with any questions you might have on
any of these key programs.
The best and most effective
messengers to communicate FPS’s legislative priorities are our members. Your hands-on
involvement in the political process in Tallahassee protects your profession
and the patients you serve in the community.
Know the
bills
We encourage our members and the public to stay informed and
involved, and we hope the resources found here will help you do this.
FPS sends out weekly Legislative Updates during the legislative session
and monthly Advocacy Updates during the legislative interim. We share a comprehensive list
of bills that we are monitoring and give updates on the current status of this legislation
or on key regulatory issues. When necessary, these updates will alert you to
specific “calls to action” on those proposals needing your immediate feedback
or input. To see copies of our previous Legislative Updates or to sign-up to
receive future communications, please click here.
For specific legislative information, including legislative calendars,
copies of legislation, legislative committee broadcasts, etc., please visit the
Florida Legislature’s website Online Sunshine.
Visit your Legislator
- Key
Contact Program
This program is a grassroots effort where FPS members meet with their local House and Senate members (particularly those serving on
health care-related committees) to discuss key issues directly impacting the
profession.
It is imperative that a local psychiatrist or a small group of
psychiatrists from a legislator’s hometown meet with them personally to discuss
the importance of FPS’ legislative priorities. These meetings can be a simple 15-minute
face-to-face conversations that allows you to make a personal, long-lasting
connection by expressing your position. Oftentimes, those same legislators will
seek out your feedback when other issues arise where they need your expertise.
To find the local elected officials who
represent you in Florida’s Legislature, visit the “Find Your Legislator” tool
by clicking this link and typing in your home address and then hitting enter: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/myrepresentative.aspx
Our lobbying team in Tallahassee, Metz, Husband & Daughton (MHD), is
directly assisting the FPS in this effort. If you are interested in participating
in the Key Contact Program, please email Kendra Adams at kendra@floridapsych.org. We will
help you organize an upcoming meeting and provide materials to help prepare you
prior to your meeting.
Sign up here!
- Doctor of the Day Program
FPS’ Doctor of the Day Program is an important part of the Society’s advocacy efforts during each of the nine-weeks of the 2025 Legislative Session.
For further information about the program, please contact FPS Executive Director Kendra Adams at kendra@floridapsych.org.
- “On-Call” Program
During Legislative Session, when an important bill is on the agenda impacting psychiatry, we will call on members to come to the Capitol to testify. Often, we only have two to five days notice, but this is a very critical opportunity to influence legislation. If a member is interested in signing up to be on the ‘On Call’ list, please contact FPS Executive Director Kendra Adams at kendra@floridapsych.org.
FPS will update more information here and via our Advocacy Update emails concerning this program.
Email or Call
a Legislator
As part of FPS’
grassroots advocacy program, we encourage you to email or place a personal
telephone call to your local legislator’s office to voice your position on
legislation of importance to FPS.
FPS will email members when having psychiatrists voice their opinions on relevant bills is particularly needed.
However, you can also track bills from our Legislative Updates and use the resources below to get in contact with your Legislator.
Resources for Contacting your Legislator
Donate
Politics is not a spectator sport! The Florida Psychiatric Society has two ways that members can make donations which, in turn, support the goals of our organization’s legislative advocacy program:
The Florida Psychiatry PAC supports those state Senators and Representatives in Florida who will fairly and equitably represent the interests of psychiatry and its patients at the state level so that they can continue in public service to our state. Established in 2008, FPS’s PAC is a non-partisan political committee chaired by Dr. John Bailey. The political committee makes contributions to both Democratic and Republican members of the state legislature.
FPS’s 50-Minute Club is an advocacy and education fund, rather than a political committee. By contributing the dollar equivalent of one hour of your professional time to the 50-Minute Club, you will ensure that FPS has a seat at the table with key policymakers. And as an added advantage, 50-Minute Club donations are tax-deductible!
Both of these important funds help to preserve the integrity of the practice of psychiatry and ensure that our profession has a voice in Florida. With these contributions, FPS is able to continue advocating on behalf of the psychiatry profession.
Anyone can make a contribution to either the Florida Psychiatry PAC or 50-Minute Club online by clicking here!
