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