Florida Senate - 2017                                    SB 1024
       
       
        
       By Senator Stewart
       
       
       
       
       
       13-01266-17                                           20171024__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; creating s.
    3         420.6231, F.S.; creating a public records exemption
    4         for individual identifying information of a person
    5         contained in a Point-in-Time Count and Survey or data
    6         in a Homeless Management Information System; defining
    7         the term “individual identifying information”;
    8         providing for retroactive application of the
    9         exemption; specifying that the exemption does not
   10         preclude the release of aggregate information;
   11         providing for future legislative review and repeal of
   12         the exemption; providing a statement of public
   13         necessity; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Section 420.6231, Florida Statutes, is created
   18  to read:
   19         420.6231Individual identifying information in specified
   20  homelessness surveys and databases; public records exemption.—
   21         (1)As used in this section, the term “individual
   22  identifying information” means information that directly or
   23  indirectly identifies a specific person, can be manipulated to
   24  identify a specific person, or can be linked with other
   25  available information to identify a specific person.
   26         (2)Individual identifying information of a person
   27  contained in a Point-in-Time Count and Survey or data in a
   28  Homeless Management Information System collected pursuant to 42
   29  U.S.C. chapter 119, subchapter IV, and related regulations
   30  provided in 24 C.F.R. part 91, is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and
   31  s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. This exemption
   32  applies to individual identifying information held before, on,
   33  or after the effective date of this section.
   34         (3)This section does not preclude the release of aggregate
   35  information in a Point-in-Time Count and Survey or data in a
   36  Homeless Management Information System that does not disclose
   37  individual identifying information of a person.
   38         (4)This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   39  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   40  on October 2, 2022, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   41  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   42         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   43  necessity that individual identifying information of a person
   44  contained in a Point-in-Time Count and Survey or data in a
   45  Homeless Management Information System collected pursuant to 42
   46  U.S.C. chapter 119, subchapter IV, and related regulations
   47  provided in 24 C.F.R. part 91, be made exempt from public
   48  records requirements. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. s. 11363, the United
   49  States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is required to
   50  instruct service providers that they are prohibited from
   51  disclosing individual identifying information about any client
   52  for purposes of the Homeless Management Information System,
   53  which includes information in a Point-in-Time Count and Survey.
   54  The public release of such sensitive information could lead to
   55  discrimination against or ridicule of such individuals and could
   56  make them reluctant to seek assistance for themselves or their
   57  family members. The public release of such information may put
   58  affected individuals at greater risk of injury as a significant
   59  proportion of such individuals are survivors of domestic
   60  violence or suffer from mental illness or substance abuse.
   61  Additionally, public access to such information may put affected
   62  individuals at a heightened risk for fraud and identity theft.
   63  The harm from disclosing such information outweighs any public
   64  benefit that can be derived from widespread and unfettered
   65  access to such information. This exemption is narrowly drawn so
   66  that aggregate information may be disclosed but does not
   67  authorize the disclosure of individual identifying information
   68  of a person contained in a Point-in-Time Count and Survey or
   69  data in a Homeless Management Information System collected
   70  pursuant to 42 U.S.C. chapter 119, subchapter IV, and related
   71  regulations provided in 24 C.F.R. part 91.
   72         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.