FL H1457

Repeals the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Council (s. 400.0067) and restructures the Department of Elderly Affairs to include authority to provide direct services to the elderly population and designate area agencies on aging, with expanded enforcement powers including corrective actions, financial penalties, and temporary program takeover.

Caps administrative employee salaries at area agencies on aging at 150% of the Secretary of Elderly Affairs' annual salary from state-appropriated funds (including state-appropriated federal funds), and requires competitive procurement of all contracts with related parties.

Creates the Florida Alzheimer's Center of Excellence within the Department of Elderly Affairs to provide care consultation, support groups, caregiver wellness programs, and other services for persons with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia and their caregivers, with a goal of enabling aging in place.

Strengthens professional guardian regulation by increasing the minimum blanket fiduciary bond from $50,000 to $250,000, adding new disciplinary grounds (withholding conflict-of-interest information, retaliation against wards, misusing advance directives), requiring written court orders when waiving bonds, mandating certified appraisals before selling a ward's real property, and requiring annual independent audits of public guardian offices.

Creates new conflict-of-interest disclosure and penalty requirements for offices of public guardian, including $5,000 penalties per undisclosed conflict, $20,000–$30,000 penalties for contracts executed without disclosure, mandatory board member removal, and contract voiding provisions; also grants the Office of Public and Professional Guardians subpoena power during investigations.