This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
STORAGE NAME: h0699.CFS
DATE: 1/17/2022
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: HB 699 Pub. Rec./Homelessness Counts and Databases
SPONSOR(S): McFarland
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 934
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee Guzzo Brazzell
2) Government Operations Subcommittee
3) Health & Human Services Committee
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires local homeless continuums of care
(CoCs) to submit annual point-in-time (PIT) counts of people experiencing homelessness. The CoCs collect
the data necessary to generate a PIT count of people experiencing homelessness by requiring individuals who
apply for assistance to provide certain individual identifying information, including the person’s name, date of
birth, and social security number. Collecting a person’s individual identifying information is necessary to ensure
PIT counts provide unduplicated counts of homeless individuals. Having an accurate PIT count allows for
federal grants and assistance to be provided to those who need it the most.
The bill creates a public record exemption for individual identifying information contained in a point-in-time
count or a homeless management information system that is collected pursuant to federal law.
The bill provides that the exemption is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act and will repeal on
October 2, 2026, unless reviewed and saved from repeal by the Legislature. The bill provides a statement of
public necessity as required by the Florida Constitution.
The bill has no fiscal impact on state or local government.
Article I, s. 24(c) of the Florida Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the members present and
voting for final passage of a newly created or expanded public record or public meeting exemption.
The bill creates a public record exemption; thus, it requires a two-thirds vote for final passage. STORAGE NAME: h0699.CFS PAGE: 2
DATE: 1/17/2022
FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Public Records
Article I, s. 24(a) of the Florida Constitution sets forth the state’s public policy regarding access to
government records. This section guarantees every person a right to inspect or copy any public record
of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. The Legislature, however, may
provide by general law for the exemption of records from the requirements of Article I, section 24(a).
1
The general law must state with specificity the public necessity justifying the exemption and must be no
more broad than necessary to accomplish its purpose.
2
Public policy regarding access to government records is addressed further in the Florida Statutes.
Section 119.07(1), F.S., guarantees every person a right to inspect and copy any state, county, or
municipal record. Furthermore, the Open Government Sunset Review Act
3
provides that a public record
or public meeting exemption may be created or maintained only if it serves an identifiable public
purpose. In addition, it may be no broader than is necessary to meet one of the following purposes:
Allow the state or its political subdivisions to effectively and efficiently administer a
governmental program, which administration would be significantly impaired without the
exemption.
Protect sensitive personal information that, if released, would be defamatory or would
jeopardize an individual’s safety; however, only the identity of an individual may be exempted
under this provision.
Protect trade or business secrets.
4
The Open Government Sunset Review Act requires the automatic repeal of a newly created exemption
on October 2nd of the fifth year after creation or substantial amendment, unless the Legislature
reenacts the exemption.
5
Continuums of Care (CoC)
A CoC is a group of organizations that are responsible for coordinating, planning, and pursuing an end
to homelessness in a designated catchment area.
6
Florida has 27 CoCs of varying sizes and
geographic areas. Each CoC is represented by a CoC lead agency.
7
The lead agency is responsible for
applying to HUD for federal grants and distributing grant funds to other CoCs and local homeless
organizations in their catchment area.
8
Federal Homelessness Grants
1
Art. I, s. 24(c), FLA. CONST.
2
Art. I, s. 24(c), FLA. CONST.
3
Section 119.15, F.S.
4
Section 119.15(6)(b), F.S.
5
Section 119.15(3), F.S.
6
S. 420.621(1), F.S. CoCs can be composed of nonprofit homeless providers, victim service providers, faith-based organizations,
governments, businesses, advocates, public housing agencies, school districts, social service providers, mental health agencies,
hospitals, universities, affordable housing developers, law enforcement, organizations that serve homeless and formerly homeless
veterans, and organizations that serve homeless and formerly homeless persons.
7
S. 420.621(2), F.S.
8
24 C.F.R. § 573.3. STORAGE NAME: h0699.CFS PAGE: 3
DATE: 1/17/2022
In 2009, Congress enacted the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing
(HEARTH) Act.
9
The HEARTH Act created two main federal programs administered by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which distribute federal homelessness grant
funding: the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program and the Continuum of Care (CoC) program.
The ESG program distributes grant funds primarily for emergency sheltering of the homeless. The CoC
program distributes grant funds to assist with the longer-term housing and service needs of the
homeless.
Homeless Management Information Systems
To be eligible to receive federal grants, HUD requires a CoC to have a homeless management
information system (HMIS) with the capacity to collect unduplicated counts of individuals and families
experiencing homelessness.
10
CoCs use the information collected from serving homeless individuals
and families to determine future needs and establish funding priorities.
11
HUD also requires a CoC to report certain universal data elements into its HMIS.
12
The universal data
elements include personal identifying information that are necessary to produce an unduplicated
estimate of the number of homeless people accessing services from homeless providers. The universal
data elements include an individual’s:
Name;
Social security number;
Date of birth;
Ethnicity and race;
Gender;
Veteran status;
Disabling condition;
Residence prior to program entry;
Zip code of last permanent residence;
Program entry date and exit date;
Unique personal identification number;
Program identification number; and
Household identification number.
13
HUD requires all homeless organizations that record or process personal protected information (PPI) of
homeless individuals into a HMIS to comply with certain standards to protect the confidentiality of PPI,
while allowing for reasonable, responsible, and limited use and disclosure of data.
14
Specifically, HUD
restricts the disclosure of personal identifying information to the following circumstances:
To provide or coordinate services to an individual;
To provide payment or reimbursement for services;
To carry out administrative functions; and
To create de-identified personal identifying information.
15
In addition to meeting the confidentiality and security requirements above, HUD requires CoC lead
agencies and their local CoCs and homeless organizations to develop and implement written
procedures to ensure that the following information is kept secure and confidential for individuals who
receive assistance under the ESG program or the CoC program:
9
Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-22, 111
th
Cong. (May 20, 2009).
10
Supra note 6. Title II, Emergency Solutions Grant Program, § 1203(f), and Title III, Continuum of Care Program, § 423(a)(9).
11
The HUD, Homeless Management Information System Requirements, available at
https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/hmis/hmis-requirements/ (last visited January 13, 2022).
12
The Federal Register, Vol. 69, No. 146, July 30, 2004, Notices, pg. 45901, available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2004-
07-30/pdf/04-17097.pdf (last visited January 13, 2022).
13
Id., at pg. 45905.
14
Id., at pgs. 45927 and 45928.
15
Id. STORAGE NAME: h0699.CFS PAGE: 4
DATE: 1/17/2022
All records containing the PPI of any individual or family who applies for and/or receives
assistance from the CoC program or the ESG program;
The address or location of any domestic violence project assisted under the CoC program or
the ESG program; and
The address or location of any housing of a program participant.
16
Despite these protections, some local homeless organizations that comprise certain CoCs do not share
information in a HMIS about individuals to whom they provide assistance because they don’t want the
individual’s personal identifying information to become a public record as a result of Florida’s public
policy regarding access to government records. This leads to the potential for a homeless individual to
receive duplicate funding from multiple homeless organizations.
17
Point-in-Time Counts
HUD requires CoCs to annually conduct a point-in-time (PIT) count of people experiencing
homelessness who are sheltered in an emergency shelter or transitional housing.
18
CoCs use their
HMIS to conduct the PIT count on a single day of the year to provide a snapshot of the number of
homeless people who are sheltered.
19
The PIT count includes the universal data elements/personal
identifying information detailed above (name, social security number, date of birth, etc.) to ensure the
count is accurate and unduplicated.
CoCs are also required to biennially conduct a point-in-time count of unsheltered people experiencing
homelessness.
20
This count is conducted by surveying homeless individuals in the community. The
survey also includes personal identifying information.
21
Effect of the Bill
The bill creates a public record exemption for individual identifying information contained in a point-in-
time count or a homeless management information system that is collected pursuant to federal law.
Further, the bill provides that the public record exemption applies retroactively to individual identifying
information collected in a PIT count or a homeless management information system prior to the
effective date of the bill.
The bill also authorizes aggregate information from a PIT count or a homeless management information
system to be released as long as it does not disclose an individual’s identifying information.
The bill provides a public necessity statement as required by article I, section 24(c) of the Florida
Constitution. The public necessity statement provides that public knowledge of identifying information of
a homeless individual could lead to discrimination or ridicule of the individual which could make them
reluctant to seek assistance. Public knowledge of such information may also create a greater risk of
injury to affected individuals who are survivors of domestic violence or suffer from mental illness or
substance abuse. Additionally, public knowledge of such information may create a heightened risk for
fraud and identity theft to affected individuals. The harm from disclosing the individual identifying
information of a person contained in a Point-in-Time Count or in a homeless management information
system outweighs any public benefit that can be derived from widespread and unfettered access to
such information.
The bill provides that the exemption is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act and will be
repealed on October 2, 2026, unless the Legislature reviews and renews the exemption before that
date.
16
24 C.F.R. § 578.103(b), and 24 C.F.R. § 576.500.
17
Email from Chris Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, RE: HB 699, (January 10, 2022).
18
24 C.F.R. § 578.5(c)(2).
19
Id.
20
Id.
21
Sample surveys are available at
https://www.pointintime.info/simtechsolutions/assets/File/PIT%202018%20Unsheltered%20Survey.pdf (last visited January 13, 2022). STORAGE NAME: h0699.CFS PAGE: 5
DATE: 1/17/2022
The bill requires the Division of Law Revision to replace the phrase “the effective date of this
act” wherever it occurs with the date the bill becomes law.
The bill is effective upon becoming law.
B. SECTION DIRECTORY:
Section 1: Creates s. 420.6231, F.S., relating to individual identifying information in homelessness
counts and databases; public records exemption.
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
None.
D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
None.
III. COMMENTS
A. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES:
1. Applicability of Municipality/County Mandates Provision:
Not applicable. The bill does not appear to require counties or municipalities to take an action
requiring the expenditure of funds, reduce the authority that counties or municipalities have to raise
revenue in the aggregate, nor reduce the percentage of state tax shared with counties or
municipalities. STORAGE NAME: h0699.CFS PAGE: 6
DATE: 1/17/2022
2. Other:
Vote Requirement
Article I, s. 24(c) of the Florida Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the members present and
voting for final passage of a newly created or expanded public record exemption. The bill creates a
public record exemption; thus, it requires a two-thirds vote for final passage.
Public Necessity Statement
Article I, s. 24(c) of the Florida Constitution requires a public necessity statement for a newly created
or expanded public record exemption. The bill creates a public record exemption; therefore, it
includes a public necessity statement.
Breadth of Exemption
Article I, section 24(c) of the Florida Constitution requires a newly created public record or public
meeting exemption to be no broader than necessary to accomplish the stated purpose of the law.
This bill creates a public record exemption for individual identifying information contained in a point-
in-time count or a homeless management information system that is collected pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
119, subchapter IV and 24 C.F.R. part 91. The purpose of the exemption is to protect homeless
individuals from discrimination or ridicule, which could make them reluctant to seek assistance.
B. RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY:
The bill neither authorizes nor requires administrative rulemaking by executive branch agencies.
C. DRAFTING ISSUES OR OTHER COMMENTS:
None.
IV. AMENDMENTS/COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE CHANGES