HB 379 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.; providing an exemption from public 3
records requirements for financial information a 4
prospective bidder must submit to an agency to 5
prequalify for bidding or for responding to a proposal 6
for certain projects; providing for future legislative 7
review and repeal of the exemption; amending s. 8
337.14, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 9
records requirements for certain financial information 10
required by administrative rule of the Department of 11
Transportation for qualification to bid; providing for 12
future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; 13
providing a statement of public necessity; providing 14
an effective date. 15
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 17
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Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 19
119.071, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 20
119.071 General exemptions from inspection or copying of 21
public records.— 22
(1) AGENCY ADMINISTRATION. — 23
(c) Any financial statement or other financial information 24
that an agency requires a prospective bidder to submit in order 25
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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
to prequalify for bidding or for responding to a proposal for a 26
road or any other public wor ks project is exempt from s. 27
119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. This 28
paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in 29
accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 30
2029, unless reviewed and saved fr om repeal through reenactment 31
by the Legislature. 32
Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 337.14, Florida 33
Statutes, is amended to read: 34
337.14 Application for qualification; certificate of 35
qualification; restrictions; request for hearing. — 36
(1) Any contractor desiring to bid for the performance of 37
any construction contract in excess of $250,000 which the 38
department proposes to let must first be certified by the 39
department as qualified pursuant to this section and rules of 40
the department. The rules of th e department must address the 41
qualification of contractors to bid on construction contracts in 42
excess of $250,000 and must include requirements with respect to 43
the equipment, past record, experience, financial resources, and 44
organizational personnel of the applying contractor which are 45
necessary to perform the specific class of work for which the 46
contractor seeks certification. Any contractor who desires to 47
bid on contracts in excess of $50 million and who is not 48
qualified and in good standing with the depa rtment as of January 49
1, 2019, must first be certified by the department as qualified 50
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and must have satisfactorily completed two projects, each in 51
excess of $15 million, for the department or for any other state 52
department of transportation. The department may limit the 53
dollar amount of any contract upon which a contractor is 54
qualified to bid or the aggregate total dollar volume of 55
contracts such contractor is allowed to have under contract at 56
any one time. Each applying contractor seeking qualification to 57
bid on construction contracts in excess of $250,000 shall 58
furnish the department a statement under oath, on such forms as 59
the department may prescribe, setting forth detailed information 60
as required on the application. Each application for 61
certification must be accompanied by audited, certified 62
financial statements prepared in accordance with generally 63
accepted accounting principles and auditing standards by a 64
certified public accountant licensed in this state or another 65
state. The audited, certified financi al statements must be for 66
the applying contractor and must have been prepared within the 67
immediately preceding 12 months. The department may not consider 68
any financial information of the parent entity of the applying 69
contractor, if any. The department may not certify as qualified 70
any applying contractor who fails to submit the audited, 71
certified financial statements required by this subsection. If 72
the application or the annual financial statement shows the 73
financial condition of the applying contractor more than 4 74
months before the date on which the application is received by 75
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the department, the applicant must also submit interim audited, 76
certified financial statements prepared in accordance with 77
generally accepted accounting principles and auditing standard s 78
by a certified public accountant licensed in this state or 79
another state. The interim financial statements must cover the 80
period from the end date of the annual statement and must show 81
the financial condition of the applying contractor no more than 82
4 months before the date that the interim financial statements 83
are received by the department. However, upon the request of the 84
applying contractor, an application and accompanying annual or 85
interim financial statement received by the department within 15 86
days after either 4-month period under this subsection shall be 87
considered timely. An applying contractor desiring to bid 88
exclusively for the performance of construction contracts with 89
proposed budget estimates of less than $2 million may submit 90
reviewed annual or reviewed interim financial statements 91
prepared by a certified public accountant. The information 92
required by this subsection or by any department administrative 93
rule implementing this subsection is confidential and exempt 94
from s. 119.07(1). The departm ent shall act upon the application 95
for qualification within 30 days after the department determines 96
that the application is complete. The department may waive the 97
requirements of this subsection for projects having a contract 98
price of $500,000 or less if t he department determines that the 99
project is of a noncritical nature and the waiver will not 100
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endanger public health, safety, or property. This subsection is 101
subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance 102
with s. 119.15 and shall stand repea led on October 2, 2029, 103
unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the 104
Legislature. 105
Section 3. The Legislature finds that it is a public 106
necessity that the financial information required by any 107
department's administrative rule which prospective bidders are 108
required to submit in order to prequalify for bidding or in 109
response to a proposal for any public works project be made 110
exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), 111
Article I of the State Constitution. These records may contain 112
confidential information related to bidders' financial details 113
and work product which may be used by competitors to gain an 114
unfair advantage against other bidders of public works projects. 115
Subjecting such records to public records requirements may 116
discourage otherwise qualified bidders from placing bids on 117
vital public works projects. 118
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 119