Florida 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0375 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	HB 375 2024
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7	7	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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10	10	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
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14	14	A bill to be entitled 1
15	15	An act relating to public records; amending s. 2
16	16	119.071, F.S.; revising an exemption from public 3
17	17	records requirements for sealed bids, proposals, or 4
18	18	replies received by an agency pursuant to a 5
19	19	competitive solicitation; providing for future 6
20	20	legislative review and repeal of the exemption; 7
21	21	providing a statement of public necessity; providing 8
22	22	an effective date. 9
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24	24	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11
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26	26	Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 13
27	27	119.071, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 14
28	28	119.071 General exemptions from inspection or copying of 15
29	29	public records.— 16
30	30	(1) AGENCY ADMINISTRATION. — 17
31	31	(b)1. For purposes of this parag raph, "competitive 18
32	32	solicitation" means the process of requesting and receiving 19
33	33	sealed bids, proposals, or replies in accordance with the terms 20
34	34	of a competitive process, regardless of the method of 21
35	35	procurement. 22
36	36	2. Sealed bids, proposals, or replies receiv ed by an 23
37	37	agency pursuant to a competitive solicitation are exempt from s. 24
38	38	119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution until 25
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40	40	HB 375 2024
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47	47	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
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51	51	72 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and state holidays, 26
52	52	after such time as the agency provides notice of an intende d 27
53	53	decision, if no notice of protest is filed; the deadline to file 28
54	54	any formal written protest, if no formal written protest is 29
55	55	filed; or upon the issuance of the agency's final order or an 30
56	56	appellate court mandate or order resolving the protest, if a 31
57	57	formal written protest is filed or until 30 days after opening 32
58	58	the bids, proposals, or final replies , whichever is later 33
59	59	earlier. 34
60	60	3. If an agency rejects all bids, proposals, or replies 35
61	61	submitted in response to a competitive solicitation and the 36
62	62	agency concurrently provides notice of its intent to reissue the 37
63	63	competitive solicitation, the rejected bids, proposals, or 38
64	64	replies remain exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of 39
65	65	the State Constitution until such time as provided in 40
66	66	subparagraph 2. if the agency provides notice of an intended 41
67	67	decision concerning the reissued competitive solicitation or 42
68	68	until the agency withdraws the reissued competitive 43
69	69	solicitation. Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph 2., a 44
70	70	bid, proposal, or reply is not exempt for lon ger than 12 months 45
71	71	after the initial agency notice rejecting all bids, proposals, 46
72	72	or replies. 47
73	73	4. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset 48
74	74	Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed 49
75	75	on October 2, 2029, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 50
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77	77	HB 375 2024
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81	81	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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84	84	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
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88	88	through reenactment by the Legislature. 51
89	89	Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 52
90	90	necessity that sealed bids, proposals, or replies received by an 53
91	91	agency pursuant to a competitive solicitation be made exempt 54
92	92	from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of 55
93	93	the State Constitution until 72 hours, excluding Saturdays, 56
94	94	Sundays, and state holidays, after the agency provides notice of 57
95	95	an intended decision, if no notice of protest is filed; the 58
96	96	deadline to file any formal written protest, if no formal 59
97	97	written protest is filed; or upon the issuance of the agency's 60
98	98	final order or an appellate court mandate or order resolving the 61
99	99	protest, if a formal written protest is filed, whichever is 62
100	100	later. Currently, vendor sub missions may be publicly disclosed 63
101	101	immediately after the agency gives notice of its intended 64
102	102	decision or until 30 days after opening the vendor submissions, 65
103	103	whichever is earlier. It is not uncommon for an agency's 66
104	104	evaluation of vendor submissions to take l onger than 30 days, 67
105	105	which results in such submissions becoming public before the 68
106	106	agency makes its intended decision. Additionally, if a protest 69
107	107	of the intended decision is filed and the agency's final 70
108	108	decision is to reject all vendor submissions, the submi ssions 71
109	109	become public until the time the agency provides notice of its 72
110	110	final decision to reject all submissions, at which time the 73
111	111	submissions once again become exempt from disclosure under 74
112	112	public records requirements. These loopholes allow the 75
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118	118	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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121	121	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
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125	125	competitors of a vendor's submission to view the vendor's 76
126	126	pricing and other proposed offerings before the agency makes its 77
127	127	final decision and negatively impact the business interests of 78
128	128	the vendor by damaging the vendor in the marketplace. This in 79
129	129	turn makes vendors h esitant to submit responses to competitive 80
130	130	solicitations; results in a less competitive procurement with a 81
131	131	narrower range of choices for the agency; and is contrary to the 82
132	132	state's best interests. The public and private harm in 83
133	133	disclosing sealed vendor subm issions before an agency's final 84
134	134	decision is made significantly outweighs any public benefit 85
135	135	derived from disclosure, and the public's ability to scrutinize 86
136	136	and monitor agency action is not diminished by this temporary 87
137	137	nondisclosure of vendor submissions. Protecting such vendor 88
138	138	submissions until the agency's final decision is made, including 89
139	139	the final decision under a reissued competitive solicitation, 90
140	140	ensures that the process of responding to a competitive 91
141	141	solicitation remains fair and economical for vendo rs, while 92
142	142	still preserving public oversight after a final decision is made 93
143	143	or the solicitation is withdrawn. For these reasons, the 94
144	144	Legislature finds that it is a public necessity that such 95
145	145	information be made exempt from public records requirements. 96
146	146	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 97