Florida Senate - 2024 SB 320 By Senator Wright 8-00224A-24 2024320__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records; amending s. 3 119.071, F.S.; providing an exemption for certain 4 financial information submitted to an agency from 5 prospective bidders for a road or other public works 6 project from certain public records requirements; 7 providing for future legislative review and repeal of 8 the exemption; amending s. 337.14, F.S.; conforming a 9 provision to changes made by the act; providing a 10 statement of public necessity; providing an effective 11 date. 12 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 15 Section 1.Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 16 119.071, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 17 119.071General exemptions from inspection or copying of 18 public records. 19 (1)AGENCY ADMINISTRATION. 20 (c)Any financial statement or other financial information 21 required by any departments administrative rules which that an 22 agency requires a prospective bidder to submit in order to 23 prequalify for bidding or for responding to a proposal for a 24 road or any other public works project is exempt from s. 25 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. This 26 paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in 27 accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 28 2029, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment 29 by the Legislature. 30 Section 2.Subsection (1) of section 337.14, Florida 31 Statutes, is amended to read: 32 337.14Application for qualification; certificate of 33 qualification; restrictions; request for hearing. 34 (1)Any contractor desiring to bid for the performance of 35 any construction contract in excess of $250,000 which the 36 department proposes to let must first be certified by the 37 department as qualified pursuant to this section and rules of 38 the department. The rules of the department must address the 39 qualification of contractors to bid on construction contracts in 40 excess of $250,000 and must include requirements with respect to 41 the equipment, past record, experience, financial resources, and 42 organizational personnel of the applying contractor which are 43 necessary to perform the specific class of work for which the 44 contractor seeks certification. Any contractor who desires to 45 bid on contracts in excess of $50 million and who is not 46 qualified and in good standing with the department as of January 47 1, 2019, must first be certified by the department as qualified 48 and must have satisfactorily completed two projects, each in 49 excess of $15 million, for the department or for any other state 50 department of transportation. The department may limit the 51 dollar amount of any contract upon which a contractor is 52 qualified to bid or the aggregate total dollar volume of 53 contracts such contractor is allowed to have under contract at 54 any one time. Each applying contractor seeking qualification to 55 bid on construction contracts in excess of $250,000 shall 56 furnish the department a statement under oath, on such forms as 57 the department may prescribe, setting forth detailed information 58 as required on the application. Each application for 59 certification must be accompanied by audited, certified 60 financial statements prepared in accordance with generally 61 accepted accounting principles and auditing standards by a 62 certified public accountant licensed in this state or another 63 state. The audited, certified financial statements must be for 64 the applying contractor and must have been prepared within the 65 immediately preceding 12 months. The department may not consider 66 any financial information of the parent entity of the applying 67 contractor, if any. The department may not certify as qualified 68 any applying contractor who fails to submit the audited, 69 certified financial statements required by this subsection. If 70 the application or the annual financial statement shows the 71 financial condition of the applying contractor more than 4 72 months before the date on which the application is received by 73 the department, the applicant must also submit interim audited, 74 certified financial statements prepared in accordance with 75 generally accepted accounting principles and auditing standards 76 by a certified public accountant licensed in this state or 77 another state. The interim financial statements must cover the 78 period from the end date of the annual statement and must show 79 the financial condition of the applying contractor no more than 80 4 months before the date that the interim financial statements 81 are received by the department. However, upon the request of the 82 applying contractor, an application and accompanying annual or 83 interim financial statement received by the department within 15 84 days after either 4-month period under this subsection are shall 85 be considered timely. An applying contractor desiring to bid 86 exclusively for the performance of construction contracts with 87 proposed budget estimates of less than $2 million may submit 88 reviewed annual or reviewed interim financial statements 89 prepared by a certified public accountant. The information 90 required by this subsection is confidential and exempt from s. 91 119.07(1). Additionally, any information required by department 92 rule by any applying contractor is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and 93 s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution as provided in s. 94 119.071(1)(c). The department shall act upon the application for 95 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 the department determines that the 99 project is of a noncritical nature and that the waiver will not 100 endanger public health, safety, or property. 101 Section 3.The Legislature finds that it is a public 102 necessity that the financial information required by any 103 departments administrative rule which prospective bidders are 104 required to submit in order to prequalify for bidding or in 105 response to a proposal for any public works project be made 106 exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), 107 Article I of the State Constitution. These records may contain 108 confidential information related to bidders financial details 109 and work product which may be used by competitors to gain an 110 unfair advantage against other bidders of public works projects. 111 Subjecting such records to public records requirements may 112 discourage otherwise qualified bidders from placing bids on 113 vital public works projects. 114 Section 4.This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.