Florida Senate - 2012                             CS for SB 1856
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Health Regulation; and Senator Flores
       
       
       
       
       588-02727-12                                          20121856c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public meetings and public records;
    3         providing an exemption from public meeting
    4         requirements for certain meetings of a peer review
    5         panel under the James and Esther King Biomedical
    6         Research Program and the William G. “Bill” Bankhead,
    7         Jr., and David Coley Cancer Research Program;
    8         providing an exemption from public records
    9         requirements for certain records related to biomedical
   10         research grant applications; providing an exemption
   11         from public records requirements for research grant
   12         applications provided to, and reviewed by, the peer
   13         review panel; providing exceptions to the exemption;
   14         providing for legislative review and repeal of the
   15         exemptions; providing a statement of public necessity;
   16         providing a contingent effective date.
   17  
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Exemptions from public records and public
   21  meetings requirements; peer review panels.—
   22         (1) That portion of a meeting of a peer review panel in
   23  which applications for biomedical research grants under s.
   24  215.5602 or s. 381.922, Florida Statutes, are discussed is
   25  exempt from s. 286.011, Florida Statutes, and s. 24(b), Article
   26  I of the State Constitution.
   27         (2) Any records generated by the peer review panel relating
   28  to review of applications for biomedical research grants, except
   29  final recommendations, are confidential and exempt from s.
   30  119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the
   31  State Constitution.
   32         (3) Research grant applications provided to the peer review
   33  panel are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida
   34  Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution.
   35         (4) Information which is held confidential and exempt under
   36  this section may be disclosed with the express written consent
   37  of the individual to whom the information pertains or the
   38  individual’s legally authorized representative, or by court
   39  order upon showing good cause.
   40         (5) Subsections (1), (2), and (3) are subject to the Open
   41  Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15,
   42  Florida Statutes, and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2017,
   43  unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the
   44  Legislature.
   45         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   46  necessity that meetings of peer review panels under the James
   47  and Esther King Biomedical Research Program and the William G.
   48  “Bill” Bankhead, Jr., and David Coley Cancer Research Program,
   49  in which applications for the biomedical research grants are
   50  discussed, certain records generated by the peer review panel
   51  related to the review of applications for biomedical research
   52  grants, and research grant applications provided to such peer
   53  review panels be held confidential and exempt from disclosure.
   54  The research grant applications contain information of a
   55  confidential nature, including ideas and processes, the
   56  disclosure of which could injure the affected researcher.
   57  Maintaining confidentiality is a hallmark of scientific peer
   58  review when awarding grants, is practiced by the National
   59  Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, and
   60  allows for candid exchanges between reviewers critiquing
   61  proposals. The Legislature further finds that closing access to
   62  meetings of scientific peer review panels in which biomedical
   63  research applications are discussed serves a public good by
   64  ensuring that decisions are based upon merit without bias or
   65  undue influence. Further, the Legislature finds that records
   66  generated during meetings of the peer review panels related to
   67  the review of applications for biomedical research grants must
   68  be protected for the same reasons that justify the closing of
   69  such meetings.
   70         Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
   71  CS for SB 616 or similar legislation takes effect, if such
   72  legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an
   73  extension thereof and becomes law.