Florida 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0379 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
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2		-	~~ENROLLED~~
3		-	CS/HB 379 2024 ~~Legislature~~
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	3	+	CS/HB 379 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		-	1
	14	+	A bill to be entitled 1
15	15		An act relating to public records; amending s. 2
16	16		119.071, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 3
17	17		records requirements for certain financial information 4
18	18		a prospective bidder submits to an agency in order to 5
19	19		prequalify for bidding or for responding to a 6
20	20		solicitation for road or other public works projects; 7
21	21		providing for future legislative review and repeal of 8
22	22		the exemption; providing a statement of public 9
23	23		necessity; providing an effective date. 10
24	24		11
25	25		Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12
26	26		13
27	27		Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 14
28	28		119.071, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 15
29	29		119.071 General exemptions from inspection or copying of 16
30	30		public records.— 17
31	31		(1) AGENCY ADMINISTRATION. — 18
32	32		(c) Any financial statement or other financial information 19
33	33		necessary to verify the financial adequacy of a prospective 20
34	34		bidder which that an agency requires a prospective bidder to 21
35	35		submit in order to prequalify for bidding or for responding to a 22
36	36		solicitation proposal for a road or any other public works 23
37	37		project is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the 24
38	38		State Constitution. This paragraph is subject to the Open 25
39		-	~~ENROLLED~~
40		-	CS/HB 379 2024 ~~Legislature~~
	39	+
	40	+	CS/HB 379 2024
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43	43
44	44		CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
45		-	hb0379-~~02-er~~
	45	+	hb0379-01-c1
46	46		Page 2 of 3
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		Government Sunset Review A ct in accordance with s. 119.15 and 26
52	52		shall stand repealed on October 2, 2029, unless reviewed and 27
53	53		saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 28
54	54		Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 29
55	55		necessity that financial information necessa ry to verify the 30
56	56		financial adequacy of a prospective bidder which an agency 31
57	57		requires a prospective bidder to submit in order to prequalify 32
58	58		for bidding or for responding to a solicitation for a road or 33
59	59		any other public works project be made exempt from s. 1 19.07(1), 34
60	60		Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State 35
61	61		Constitution. In the prequalification process, a prospective 36
62	62		bidder will provide financial statements to the agency, and the 37
63	63		agency may request additional financial information in order to 38
64	64		verify the financial adequacy of the prospective bidder. The 39
65	65		additional financial information often contains sensitive 40
66	66		information. The risk of potential disclosure of sensitive 41
67	67		financial information defeats the purpose of protections already 42
68	68		afforded to financial statements and may have a chilling effect 43
69	69		on persons desiring to prequalify or maintain prequalification. 44
70	70		The chilling effect may result in a limited pool of potential 45
71	71		bidders and, thus, negatively impact the state's ability to 46
72	72		receive the best valu e for road and other public works projects. 47
73	73		Additionally, protecting this financial information from 48
74	74		disclosure will prevent such information from being used by 49
75	75		competitors to gain an unfair advantage against other bidders on 50
76		-	~~ENROLLED~~
77		-	CS/HB 379 2024 ~~Legislature~~
	76	+
	77	+	CS/HB 379 2024
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81	81		CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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	82	+	hb0379-01-c1
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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		road and other public works pr ojects. Lastly, protecting this 51
89	89		financial information from disclosure promotes the free 52
90	90		provision of such information to the requesting agency by 53
91	91		removing a prospective bidder's concern for attendant risks in 54
92	92		doing so. As a result, this exemption promotes the state's 55
93	93		interest in ensuring that prospective bidders on road and other 56
94	94		public works projects possess the necessary financial resources 57
95	95		to complete such projects, many of which involve immense costs 58
96	96		and may be complex and of long duration. 59
97	97		Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 60