Florida Senate - 2020                              CS for SB 966
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Senator Gainer
       
       
       
       
       585-03396-20                                           2020966c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; amending s.
    3         119.071, F.S.; defining the term “financial
    4         documentation”; providing an exemption from public
    5         records requirements for property photographs and
    6         financial documentation provided to the Department of
    7         Economic Opportunity, the Florida Housing Finance
    8         Corporation, a county, a municipality, or a local
    9         housing finance agency by or on behalf of an applicant
   10         for or a participant in a federal, state, or local
   11         housing assistance program for the purpose of disaster
   12         recovery assistance; authorizing access to such
   13         records and information for certain purposes;
   14         providing for future legislative review and repeal of
   15         the exemption; providing a statement of public
   16         necessity; providing an effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Paragraph (l) is added to subsection (5) of
   21  section 119.071, Florida Statutes, to read:
   22         119.071 General exemptions from inspection or copying of
   23  public records.—
   24         (5) OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION.—
   25         (l)1. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “financial
   26  documentation” means income statements, paystubs, bank
   27  statements, tax returns, public assistance information, disaster
   28  recovery benefits, social security disability benefits, and
   29  insurance information.
   30         2. Property photographs and applicant financial
   31  documentation provided to the Department of Economic
   32  Opportunity, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, a county,
   33  a municipality, or a local housing finance agency by or on
   34  behalf of an applicant for or a participant in a federal, state,
   35  or local housing assistance program for the purpose of disaster
   36  recovery assistance for a presidentially declared disaster are
   37  confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I
   38  of the State Constitution.
   39         3. An agency provided such confidential and exempt records
   40  pursuant to subparagraph 2. may disclose such confidential and
   41  exempt records to a governmental entity or its agents for the
   42  purpose of auditing federal, state, or local housing programs or
   43  housing assistance programs. The entities or agents receiving
   44  such confidential information must maintain the confidential and
   45  exempt status of such records. Such confidential and exempt
   46  records may be used in any administrative or judicial
   47  proceeding, provided such records are kept confidential and
   48  exempt unless otherwise ordered by a court.
   49         4. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   50  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   51  on October 2, 2025, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   52  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   53         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   54  necessity that property photographs and applicant financial
   55  documentation provided to the Department of Economic
   56  Opportunity, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, a county,
   57  a municipality, or a local housing finance agency by or on
   58  behalf of an applicant for or a participant in a federal, state,
   59  or local housing assistance program for the purpose of disaster
   60  recovery assistance for a presidentially declared disaster be
   61  made confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida
   62  Statutes, and s. 24 (a), Article I of the State Constitution. In
   63  response to a disaster an agency, in an effort to determine
   64  storm damage and ascertain the estimated cost of rehabilitation,
   65  may conduct a property inspection to observe and record the
   66  presence of damage. The damage assessment data collected may
   67  include interior and exterior photographs of such individual’s
   68  residence. This information may be used to locate the damaged
   69  property and identify and contact the property owner or tenant.
   70  If released, this information may be used by fraudulent
   71  contractors, predatory lenders, thieves, or individuals seeking
   72  to impose on the vulnerability of a distressed property owner or
   73  tenant following a disaster. Therefore, it is necessary that
   74  this information be protected to ensure that people impacted by
   75  a disaster do not have sensitive information released.
   76         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.