House Passes KidCare for Legally-Residing Immigrant Children

HB 89 (Diaz, J.), which eliminates the five-year waiting period for low-income, lawfully-residing immigrant children to participate in the KidCare insurance program, unanimously passed ( 118-0) the full House on Thursday. The proposal maintains the exclusion of eligibility for undocumented immigrants of any age.

The Senate companion bill, SB 248 (Garcia), has yet to be heard by Senate Appropriations; however, implementing language and a $28.8 million allocation is included in both House and Senate budgets and will become law with approval of the budget implementing bill.

The proposal, which promotes healthier children and families in Florida, has been a perennial priority of the FCCB and a previous Catholic Days at the Capitol issue.