Florida Senate - 2022                       CS for CS for SB 590
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Rules; and Governmental Oversight and
       Accountability; and Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       595-03054-22                                           2022590c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records and meetings;
    3         creating s. 491.018, F.S.; providing an exemption from
    4         public records requirements for certain information
    5         held by the Department of Health or the Board of
    6         Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and
    7         Mental Health Counseling pursuant to the Professional
    8         Counselors Licensure Compact; authorizing the
    9         disclosure of such information under certain
   10         circumstances; providing an exemption from public
   11         meetings requirements for certain meetings or portions
   12         of certain meetings of the Counseling Compact
   13         Commission or its executive committee; providing an
   14         exemption from public records requirements for
   15         recordings, minutes, and records generated during the
   16         closed portions of such meetings; providing for future
   17         legislative review and repeal of the exemptions;
   18         providing statements of public necessity; providing a
   19         contingent effective date.
   20          
   21  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   22  
   23         Section 1. Section 491.018, Florida Statutes, is created to
   24  read:
   25         491.018Professional Counselors Licensure Compact; public
   26  records and meetings exemptions.—
   27         (1)A counselor’s personal identifying information, other
   28  than the counselor’s name, licensure status, or licensure
   29  number, obtained from the data system, as described in article X
   30  of s. 491.017, and held by the department or the Board of
   31  Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental
   32  Health Counseling is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art.
   33  I of the State Constitution unless the state that originally
   34  reported the information to the data system authorizes the
   35  disclosure of such information by law. If disclosure is so
   36  authorized, information may be disclosed only to the extent
   37  authorized by law by the reporting state.
   38         (2)(a)A meeting or a portion of a meeting of the
   39  Counseling Compact Commission, established in article IX of s.
   40  491.017, or the executive committee of the commission is exempt
   41  from s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution
   42  if the chair of the commission declares the specific reasons it
   43  is necessary to close the meeting or a portion thereof in a
   44  document that is a public record and held by the commission and
   45  announces at a public meeting that, in connection with the
   46  performance of the commission’s duties, it is necessary that the
   47  commission discuss:
   48         1.Pending litigation to which the commission is presently
   49  a party before a court or administrative agency in accordance
   50  with s. 286.011(8).
   51         2.Negotiation of contracts under competitive solicitation
   52  as provided in s. 286.0113(2).
   53         3.Disclosure of trade secrets or commercial or financial
   54  information that is privileged or confidential.
   55         4.Records made exempt under this section.
   56         5.Matters specifically exempted from disclosure by federal
   57  or member state law.
   58         (b)In keeping with the intent of the Professional
   59  Counselors Licensure Compact, recordings, minutes, and records
   60  generated during an exempt meeting or portion of such a meeting
   61  are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
   62  Constitution.
   63         (3)This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   64  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   65  on October 2, 2027, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   66  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   67         Section 2. (1)The Legislature finds that it is a public
   68  necessity that a counselor’s personal identifying information,
   69  other than the counselor’s name, licensure status, or licensure
   70  number, obtained from the data system, as described in article X
   71  of s. 491.017, Florida Statutes, and held by the Department of
   72  Health or the Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family
   73  Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling be made exempt from s.
   74  119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the
   75  State Constitution. Protection of such information is required
   76  under the Professional Counselors Licensure Compact, which the
   77  state must adopt in order to become a member state of the
   78  compact. Without the public records exemption, this state will
   79  be unable to effectively and efficiently implement and
   80  administer the compact.
   81         (2)(a) The Legislature finds that it is a public necessity
   82  that any meeting of the Counseling Compact Commission or the
   83  executive committee of the commission held as provided in
   84  article IX of s. 491.017, Florida Statutes, in which matters
   85  specifically exempted from disclosure by federal or state law
   86  are discussed be made exempt from s. 286.011, Florida Statutes,
   87  and s. 24(b), Article I of the State Constitution.
   88         (b) The Professional Counselors Licensure Compact requires
   89  the closure of any meeting, or any portion of a meeting, of the
   90  Counseling Compact Commission or the executive committee of the
   91  commission if the chair of the commission declares the specific
   92  reasons it is necessary to close the meeting or a portion
   93  thereof in a document that is a public record and held by the
   94  commission and announces in a public meeting that, in connection
   95  with the performance of the commission’s duties, the commission
   96  must discuss certain sensitive and confidential subject matters.
   97  In the absence of a public meeting exemption, this state would
   98  be prohibited from becoming a member state of the compact.
   99         (3)The Legislature also finds that it is a public
  100  necessity that the recordings, minutes, and records generated
  101  during a meeting that is exempt pursuant to article IX of s.
  102  491.017, Florida Statutes, be made exempt from s. 119.07(1),
  103  Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State
  104  Constitution. Release of such information would negate the
  105  public meetings exemption. As such, the Legislature finds that
  106  the public records exemption is a public necessity.
  107         Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
  108  SB 358 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation
  109  is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension
  110  thereof and becomes a law.