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The Florida Senate

HB 7011 — OGSR/School Food and Nutrition Service Program

by Oversight, Transparency and Administration Subcommittee; and Rep. Davis (SB 7016 by Agriculture Committee; and Senator Montford)

This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.

Prepared by: Agriculture Committee (AG)

The bill provides an Open Government Sunset Review (OGSR) of a public records exemption for certain personal identifying information of students and families who receive free or reduced cost meals during the school year, including the summer period. Specifically, the public records exemption upon which the OGSR is based makes exempt from disclosure by designated agencies personal identifying information on recipients of free or reduced cost meals.

The original public necessity statement of the bill provided that the exemption is needed to protect information of sensitive, personal nature, the release of which could be defamatory, cause unwarranted damage to reputation, and possibly jeopardize the individual’s personal safety. The justification upon which the exemption is based remains valid. Therefore, the bill deletes the repeal date of the public records exemption.

The public records exemption is scheduled for repeal October 2, 2018, unless reviewed and saved from repeal before that date.

Additionally, agencies identified in the original public records exemption as holding the personal identifying information are the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS), the Department of Children and Families (DCF), and the Department of Education (DOE). The DCF indicates, however, that the agency does not receive information related to applicants and participants in school food and nutrition programs. Therefore, the bill narrows the exemption by removing the reference to the DCF as one of the agencies that holds this personal identifying information.

If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect October 1, 2018.

Vote: Senate 37-0; House 107-0