On March 17, 2010, the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee approved a bill, CS/SB 1238 by Sen. Jeremy Ring (D-Margate), that would dissolve the Department of Management Services and distribute its functions among several existing agencies. Under the proposal, which the committee passed on a 5-3 vote:

  • A new Department of Personnel Management would have responsibility for human resources, employee insurance benefits, and retirement benefits. The new department also would be the administrative home of several independent agencies, including the Division of Administrative Hearings and the Agency for Workforce Innovation.
  • State purchasing, fleet management, federal surplus property, and private prison monitoring would be transferred to the Department of Financials Services.
  • The Department of Environmental Protection would take over state facilities management and building construction.
  • Other functions would move to the Executive Office of the Governor, the Department of Law Enforcement, and the Agency for Enterprise Information Technology.

According to Sen. Ring, the proposal has the support of Senate leadership. House Speaker Larry Cretul (R-Ocala) has indicated that the plan has yet to gain traction in the House.

Under a proposal to be considered by the House Health Care Regulation Committee on March 22, 2010, the Department of Health (DOH) would be scaled back. A proposed committee bill, PCB HCR 10-03, would replace the agency's current 13 broadly defined purposes with seven more specific responsibilities. The department would have until December 1, 2010, to provide the Legislature with a proposed organizational plan that streamlines the DOH organizational structure in line with the redefined responsibilities. The bill would also require legislative approval before the department could initiate new federally funded programs.

A key Senator, Health and Human Services Appropriations Chair Durrell Peaden, was dismissive of the proposal, saying that it was a waste of time at this point in the session and would not create any efficiencies.