Florida Senate - 2019                                    SB 7080
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Health Policy
       
       
       
       
       
       588-03194-19                                          20197080__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records and meetings;
    3         creating s. 456.4502; providing an exemption from
    4         public records requirements for certain information
    5         held by the Department of Health, the Board of
    6         Medicine, or the Board of Osteopathic Medicine
    7         pursuant to the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact;
    8         providing an exemption from public meeting
    9         requirements for certain meetings of the Interstate
   10         Medical Licensure Commission; providing an exemption
   11         from public records requirements for recordings,
   12         minutes, and records generated during the closed
   13         portions of such meetings; providing for future
   14         legislative review and repeal of the exemptions;
   15         providing a statement of public necessity; providing a
   16         contingent effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Section 456.4502, Florida Statutes, is created
   21  to read:
   22         456.4502 Interstate Medical Licensure Compact; public
   23  records and meetings exemptions.—
   24         (1) A physician’s identifying information, other than the
   25  physician’s name, licensure status, or licensure number,
   26  obtained from the coordinated information system in Section 8 of
   27  the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and held by the
   28  department or the board is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s.
   29  24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution, unless the state that
   30  originally reported the information to the coordinated
   31  information system authorizes the disclosure of such information
   32  by law. If disclosure is so authorized, information may be
   33  disclosed only to the extent authorized by law by the reporting
   34  state.
   35         (2)(a) Under Section 11 of the Interstate Medical Licensure
   36  Compact, a meeting or a portion of a meeting of the Interstate
   37  Medical Licensure Compact Commission established may be closed
   38  if it has been determined by a two-thirds vote of commissioners
   39  who are present that an open meeting would likely:
   40         1. Relate solely to the internal personnel practices and
   41  procedures of the commission;
   42         2. Discuss matters specifically exempted from disclosure by
   43  federal statute;
   44         3. Discuss trade secrets or commercial or financial
   45  information that is privileged or confidential;
   46         4. Involve accusing a person of a crime, or formally
   47  censuring a person;
   48         5. Discuss information of a personal nature, if disclosure
   49  would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
   50  privacy;
   51         6. Discuss investigative records compiled for law
   52  enforcement purposes; or
   53         7. Relate specifically to participation in a civil action
   54  or another legal proceeding.
   55         (b) In keeping with the intent of Interstate Medical
   56  Licensure Compact, recordings, minutes, and records generated
   57  during an exempt proceeding are exempt in accordance with s.
   58  119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
   59         (3) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   60  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   61  on October 2, 2024, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   62  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   63         Section 2. (1) The Legislature finds that it is a public
   64  necessity that a physician’s personal identifying information,
   65  other than the physician’s name, licensure status, or licensure
   66  number, obtained from the coordinated information system, as
   67  defined in Section 5 of the Interstate Medical Licensure
   68  Compact, as enacted in this state by s. 456.4501, Florida
   69  Statutes, and held by the Department of Health and the
   70  regulatory boards of the respective professions be exempt from
   71  s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes and s. 24, Article I of the State
   72  Constitution. Protection of such personal identifying
   73  information is required under the Interstate Medical Licensure
   74  Compact, which this state must adopt in order to become a member
   75  state and a party to the compact. Without the public records
   76  agreement, this state will be unable to effectively and
   77  efficiently implement and administer the Interstate Medical
   78  Licensure Compact.
   79         (2)(a) The Legislature finds that it is a public necessity
   80  that any meeting of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact
   81  Commission held as provided in that section in which matters
   82  specifically exempted from disclosure by federal or state law
   83  are discussed be made exempt from s. 286.011, Florida Statutes,
   84  and s. 24(b), Article I of the State Constitution.
   85         (b) The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact requires the
   86  closure of any meeting, or any portion of a meeting, of the
   87  Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission if two-thirds of
   88  the Commission members determine that certain sensitive and
   89  confidential subject matters may arise during the meeting and
   90  that the meeting should be closed to the public. In the absence
   91  of a public meeting exemption, this state would be prohibited
   92  from becoming a member state of the compact.
   93         (3) The Legislature also finds that it is a public
   94  necessity that the recordings, minutes, and records generated
   95  during a meeting that is exempt pursuant to s. 456.4502, Florida
   96  Statutes, and s. 24 of the State Constitution. Release of such
   97  information would negate the value of the public meeting
   98  exemption. As such, the Legislature finds that the public
   99  records exemption is a public necessity.
  100         Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
  101  SB 7078 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation
  102  is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension
  103  thereof and becomes a law.