CS/HB 1445 2022
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hb1445-01-c1
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to public records; amending s. 2
110.12301, F.S.; providing for future legislative 3
review and repeal of the public records exemption for 4
information collected by the Department of Management 5
Services to establish dependent eligibility; providing 6
a statement of public necessity; providing a 7
contingent effective date. 8
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10
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Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 110.12301, Florida 12
Statutes, is amended to read: 13
110.12301 Competitive procurement of postpayment claims 14
review services and dependent eligibility verification services; 15
public records exemption. — 16
(3) Records collected for purposes of dependent 17
eligibility verification services conducted for the state group 18
insurance program, as authorized under subsection (2), and held 19
by the department are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) 20
and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constit ution. This subsection 21
does not apply to records that are otherwise open for inspection 22
and copying which are held by the department for purposes other 23
than for the performance of dependent eligibility verification 24
services. This subsection is subject to t he Open Government 25
CS/HB 1445 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand 26
repealed on October 2, 2027 2022, unless reviewed and saved from 27
repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 28
Section 2. (1) The Legislature finds that it is a public 29
necessity that records collected for the purpose of dependent 30
eligibility verification services conducted for the state group 31
insurance program, as authorized under s. 110.12301(2), Florida 32
Statutes, pursuant to the amendments made by this act, and held 33
by the Department of Management Services be made confidential 34
and exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), 35
Article I of the State Constitution. The existing public records 36
exemption is expanded to include additional records that 37
employees may submit under additional specified eligibility 38
categories as part of the existing dependent eligibility 39
verification process. Such records include records relating to 40
guardianship of a child, the fostering of a child, unmarried 41
adult children, and disable d adult children, which include court 42
orders, foster care records, birth certificates, adoption 43
certificates, student academic and financial records, medical 44
records, and transcripts of filed tax returns. Like other 45
records collected and held by the Depart ment of Management 46
Services for dependent eligibility verification, these records 47
should be protected from public disclosure, as they contain 48
sensitive and personal information that may deter employees from 49
producing them in the absence of the same protect ions offered in 50
CS/HB 1445 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
connection with the current eligibility categories. If the 51
public had unfettered access to the information contained within 52
these records, employees and their family members could be 53
placed at increased risk of identity theft and fraud. 54
(2) The Legislature further recognizes that this exemption 55
is narrowly tailored and applies only to those records collected 56
for the purpose of verifying eligible dependents for enrollment 57
in the state group insurance program. 58
Section 3. This act shall t ake effect on the same date 59
that HB 1443 or similar legislation takes effect , if such 60
legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an 61
extension thereof and becomes a law. 62