Bill Text: FL S7054 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Public Records/Gaming Control Board/Department of Gaming Control

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (N/A - Dead) 2014-02-24 - On Committee agenda-- Gaming, 03/03/14, 1:30 pm, 110 Senate Office Building --Discussed/Workshop [S7054 Detail]

Download: Florida-2014-S7054-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2014         (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL) SPB 7054
       
       
        
       FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Gaming
       
       
       
       
       
       584-01589-14                                          20147054__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; creating s.
    3         551.427, F.S.; defining the term “proprietary
    4         confidential business information”; providing an
    5         exemption from public records requirements for such
    6         information in license or license renewal applications
    7         submitted to the Gaming Control Board or the
    8         Department of Gaming Control by a gaming license
    9         applicant or licensee; providing for future
   10         legislative review and repeal of the exemption;
   11         providing a statement of public necessity; providing a
   12         contingent effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Section 551.427, Florida Statutes, is created to
   17  read:
   18         551.427 Public records exemption.—
   19         (1) As used in this section, the term “proprietary
   20  confidential business information” means information that is
   21  submitted to the board or department pursuant to ss. 551.41,
   22  551.42, and 551.422 in an application for license or license
   23  renewal, that is treated by the applicant or licensee as private
   24  information because the disclosure of the information would
   25  cause harm to the applicant or licensee or the applicant’s or
   26  licensee’s business operations, and that has not been disclosed
   27  unless disclosed pursuant to a statutory provision, an order of
   28  a court or administrative body, or a private agreement that
   29  provides that the information will not be released to the
   30  public. The term includes, but is not limited to:
   31         (a) Trade secrets.
   32         (b) Business plans.
   33         (c) Internal auditing controls and reports of internal
   34  auditors.
   35         (d) Security measures, systems, or procedures.
   36         (e) Information relating to competitive interests, the
   37  disclosure of which would impair the competitive business of the
   38  person providing the information.
   39         (2) Proprietary confidential business information submitted
   40  in an application for license or license renewal pursuant to s.
   41  551.41, s. 551.42, or s. 551.422 is confidential and exempt from
   42  s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution if
   43  the person submitting such information to the board or
   44  department:
   45         (a) Requests that the information be kept confidential and
   46  exempt;
   47         (b) Informs the board or department of the basis for the
   48  claim of the proprietary confidential business information; and
   49         (c) Clearly marks each page of a document or specific
   50  portion of a document containing information claimed to be
   51  proprietary confidential business information as “proprietary
   52  confidential business information.”
   53         (3) If the department receives a public records request for
   54  a document or portion of a document that is marked “proprietary
   55  confidential business information” under this section, the
   56  department must promptly notify the applicant or licensee who
   57  submitted the information and identified it as proprietary
   58  confidential business information. The notice must inform the
   59  applicant or licensee that the applicant or licensee has 30 days
   60  following receipt of such notice to file an action in circuit
   61  court seeking a determination whether the document or portion of
   62  the document in question contains proprietary confidential
   63  business information and an order barring public disclosure of
   64  the document or portion of the document. If the applicant or
   65  licensee files an action within 30 days after receipt of notice
   66  of the public records request, the department may not release
   67  the document or portion of the document pending the outcome of
   68  the legal action. The failure to file an action within 30 days
   69  constitutes a waiver of any claim of confidentiality, and the
   70  department shall release the document or portion of the document
   71  as requested.
   72         (4) Information made confidential and exempt under this
   73  subsection may be disclosed:
   74         (a) To an officer or employee of another governmental
   75  entity in the performance of his or her duties or
   76  responsibilities; or
   77         (b) If relevant, in a proceeding under this section. Those
   78  persons involved in a proceeding under this section, including,
   79  but not limited to, an administrative law judge, a hearing
   80  officer, or a judge or justice, must maintain the
   81  confidentiality of any proprietary confidential business
   82  information revealed at such proceeding.
   83         (5) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   84  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   85  on October 2, 2019, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   86  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   87         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   88  necessity that proprietary confidential business information be
   89  made confidential and exempt from public records requirements.
   90  The disclosure of proprietary confidential business information
   91  could harm an applicant for license or license renewal in the
   92  marketplace by giving competitors insights into the applicant or
   93  licensee’s financial status and business plan, thereby putting
   94  the applicant or licensee at a competitive disadvantage. The
   95  Legislature finds that requiring the applicant or licensee to
   96  identify the information the applicant or licensee considers
   97  proprietary confidential business information under the
   98  statutory definition is appropriate as the applicant or licensee
   99  is the owner of such information. Identification of proprietary
  100  confidential business information by the applicant or licensee
  101  puts the department on notice without requiring the department
  102  to have to attempt to determine what the applicant or licensee
  103  might consider confidential. The Legislature also finds that the
  104  harm to an applicant for license or license renewal in
  105  disclosing proprietary confidential business information
  106  significantly outweighs any public benefit derived from
  107  disclosure of the information. For these reasons, the
  108  Legislature declares that any proprietary confidential business
  109  information identified by an applicant for license or license
  110  renewal in the application submitted to the board or department
  111  pursuant to ss. 551.41, 551.42, and 551.422, Florida Statutes,
  112  is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes,
  113  and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution.
  114         Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
  115  SB __ or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation
  116  is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension
  117  thereof and becomes a law.