Senate Bill sb1562e1

    CS for SB 1562                           First Engrossed (ntc)



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public-records exemptions;

  3         creating s. 569.215; providing that proprietary

  4         confidential business information used to

  5         negotiate or verify annual tobacco settlement

  6         payments are exempt from public records

  7         requirements; providing a statement of public

  8         necessity; providing an effective date.

  9  

10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

11  

12         Section 1.  Section 569.215, Florida Statutes, is

13  created to read:

14         569.215  Confidential records relating to tobacco

15  settlement agreement.--

16         (1)  Proprietary confidential business information

17  received by the Governor, the Attorney General, or outside

18  counsel representing the State of Florida in negotiations for

19  settlement payments pursuant to the settlement agreement, as

20  amended, in the case of The State of Florida et al. v.

21  American Tobacco Company et al., Case #95-1466AH, in the

22  Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, in and for

23  Palm Beach County, or received by the Comptroller or the

24  Auditor General for any purpose relating to verifying

25  settlement payments made pursuant to the settlement agreement

26  is confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1)

27  and s. 24(a) of Art. I of the State Constitution. Any state or

28  federal agency that is authorized to have access to such

29  documents by any provision of law shall be granted such access

30  in furtherance of such agency's statutory duties,

31  notwithstanding the provisions of this section. Proprietary


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    CS for SB 1562                           First Engrossed (ntc)



  1  confidential business information received under this section

  2  shall not retain its confidential and exempt status if that

  3  information is made public, including publicizing such

  4  information in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, an

  5  annual financial statement, or other document or means. This

  6  exemption is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act

  7  of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15, and shall stand repealed

  8  on October 2, 2006, unless reviewed and saved from repeal

  9  through reenactment by the Legislature.

10         (2)  As used in this section, the term "proprietary

11  confidential business information" means information,

12  regardless of form or characteristics, which is owned or

13  controlled by a tobacco company that is a signatory to the

14  settlement agreement, as amended, in the case of The State of

15  Florida et al. v. American Tobacco Company et al., Case

16  #95-1466AH, in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial

17  Circuit, in and for Palm Beach County, is intended to be and

18  is treated by a tobacco company as private in that the

19  disclosure of the information would cause harm to the

20  company's business operations, and has not been disclosed

21  unless disclosed pursuant to a statutory provision, an order

22  of a court or administrative body, or private agreement that

23  provides that the information will not be released to the

24  public. The term includes, but is not limited to:

25         (a)  Trade secrets.

26         (b)  Information in a Form 10-K that is confidential

27  pursuant to an order of the Division of Corporation Finance of

28  the Securities and Exchange Commission.

29         (c)  Internal auditing control policies and procedures

30  and reports of internal auditors.

31  


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    CS for SB 1562                           First Engrossed (ntc)



  1         (d)  Financial operating and marketing information

  2  prepared in the ordinary course of business, the disclosure of

  3  which could impair the competitive business of the provider of

  4  information.

  5         (e)  Financial statements, which consist of balance

  6  sheets, statements of income and cash flows, and notes related

  7  thereto, of any subsidiary that is part of a consolidated

  8  group and engaged in the production or sale of tobacco

  9  products.

10         (f)  Report letters from independent auditors relating

11  to domestic operating company income.

12         (g)  Analyses of specific items of revenue and expense

13  included in operating profit and extraordinary items. As used

14  in this paragraph, the term "extraordinary items" consists of

15  one-time tobacco litigation settlement costs and restructuring

16  charges.

17         (h)  Working papers, schedules, analyses, and

18  reconciliations prepared by company personnel for the purpose

19  of clarifying the disclosures of domestic tobacco revenues and

20  operating profit contained in financial statements or other

21  information related to the sale or production of tobacco

22  products.

23         Section 2.  The Legislature finds that it is a public

24  necessity that proprietary confidential business information

25  of tobacco companies that are signatories to the settlement

26  agreement, as amended, in the case of The State of Florida et

27  al. v. American Tobacco Company et al., Case #95-1466AH, in

28  the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, in and

29  for Palm Beach County, be made exempt and confidential when

30  held by the State of Florida for the purpose of negotiating

31  and verifying the calculation of annual tobacco settlement


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    CS for SB 1562                           First Engrossed (ntc)



  1  payments. In order for the state to determine that the annual

  2  payments that it receives from tobacco companies are accurate

  3  and verifiable, it is necessary for the state to obtain

  4  proprietary confidential business information of the tobacco

  5  companies that are signatories to the agreement. Disclosure of

  6  the proprietary confidential business information of these

  7  tobacco companies would harm them in the market place by

  8  placing them at a competitive disadvantage with companies that

  9  do not provide such information to the State of Florida and

10  would adversely affect their business interests. If the

11  participating tobacco companies are harmed in the market

12  place, their annual sales of tobacco products will be reduced,

13  which will diminish the annual amounts that they pay to the

14  State of Florida, and will thereby harm the financial

15  interests of the state and the people of Florida. The public

16  and private harm in disclosing this information significantly

17  outweighs any public benefit derived from disclosure, and the

18  public's ability to scrutinize and monitor governmental action

19  is not diminished by nondisclosure of this information.

20  Therefore, the Legislature finds that it is a public necessity

21  that this proprietary confidential business information be

22  made confidential and exempt from the requirements of section

23  119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a) of Art. I of the

24  State Constitution.

25         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

26  law.

27  

28  

29  

30  

31  


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