“If we have these bad actors in our system, then we need to get rid of them,’’ said Sen. Don Gaetz, a Destin Republican who sits on the Health Regulation Committee. “This is an issue that affects the health and safety and maybe even the lives of very vulnerable people.’’

Both bills strongly support increasing the educational requirements for people to run ALFs: bachelor’s or associate degrees with emphasis in health fields or prior experience in resident care. Current managers would be grandfathered in with one exception: no severe violations at their homes in the prior two years.

Larry Polivka, who led a governor’s task force examining problems in ALFs, said the bills tackle several issues raised by the panel, including improving care for the mentally ill.

“We were behind the curve on regulatory issues,” said Polivka, scholar in residence at the Claude Pepper Center at Florida State University. “We needed to close the gap.”

One key proposal: AHCA professionals must visit homes catering to the mentally ill four times a year to ensure residents are properly treated.

During its investigation, The Herald found that homes catering to people with mental illness were some of the worst abusers, with nearly 100 homes repeatedly using illegal restraints since 2002 — including tying people with ropes, doping them with powerful tranquilizers and locking them in closets.

One state expert who tracks legislation nationally said the Florida bills contain some of the toughest language he has seen. But he said he was troubled by a provision in one bill that strips the power of several state agencies, including Medicaid Fraud, the fire marshal, and the ombudsman’s office to enter homes unannounced .

“How can you tell the fire marshal they can’t go into a facility without permission?” said Brian Lee, past director of the Department of Elder Affairs ombudsman program.

While the bills are supported by some of Florida’s most powerful senators — including Ronda Storms, a Republican from Valrico who chairs the Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee — they are expected to draw opposition from industry leaders and some House members.

Just last year, lawmakers pushed 16 pieces of legislation that would have gone in the opposite direction and weakened oversight of ALFs, including stripping away penalties on repeat offenders — but the bills were pulled from consideration in May after The Herald’s series.

Rich said she expects a fight in the House, where the last serious effort to reform ALFs was killed in 2008.