Florida Senate - 2014                              CS for SB 318
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Senator Stargel
       
       
       
       
       585-02540-14                                           2014318c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public meetings; amending s.
    3         1004.28, F.S.; providing an exemption from public
    4         meeting requirements for any portion of a meeting of
    5         the board of directors of a university direct-support
    6         organization, or of the executive committee or other
    7         committees of such board, at which any proposal
    8         seeking research funding from the organization or a
    9         plan or program for either initiating or supporting
   10         research is discussed; providing for review and repeal
   11         of the exemption; providing a statement of public
   12         necessity; providing an effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 1004.28, Florida
   17  Statutes, is amended to read:
   18         1004.28 Direct-support organizations; use of property;
   19  board of directors; activities; audit; facilities.—
   20         (5) ANNUAL AUDIT; PUBLIC RECORDS EXEMPTION; PUBLIC MEETINGS
   21  EXEMPTION.—
   22         (a) Each direct-support organization shall provide for an
   23  annual financial audit of its accounts and records to be
   24  conducted by an independent certified public accountant in
   25  accordance with rules adopted by the Auditor General pursuant to
   26  s. 11.45(8) and by the university board of trustees. The annual
   27  audit report shall be submitted, within 9 months after the end
   28  of the fiscal year, to the Auditor General and the Board of
   29  Governors for review. The Board of Governors, the university
   30  board of trustees, the Auditor General, and the Office of
   31  Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability shall have
   32  the authority to require and receive from the organization or
   33  from its independent auditor any records relative to the
   34  operation of the organization. The identity of donors who desire
   35  to remain anonymous shall be protected, and that anonymity shall
   36  be maintained in the auditor’s report.
   37         (b) All records of the organization other than the
   38  auditor’s report, management letter, and any supplemental data
   39  requested by the Board of Governors, the university board of
   40  trustees, the Auditor General, and the Office of Program Policy
   41  Analysis and Government Accountability shall be confidential and
   42  exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1).
   43         (c) Any portion of a meeting of the board of directors of
   44  the organization, or of the executive committee or other
   45  committees of such board, at which any proposal seeking research
   46  funding from the organization or a plan or program for either
   47  initiating or supporting research is discussed is exempt from s.
   48  286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution. This
   49  paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in
   50  accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2,
   51  2019, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment
   52  by the Legislature.
   53         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   54  necessity that any portion of a meeting of the board of
   55  directors of a direct-support organization established under s.
   56  1004.28, Florida Statutes, or of the executive committee or
   57  other committees of such board, at which any proposal seeking
   58  research funding from the organization or a plan or program for
   59  either initiating or supporting research is discussed should be
   60  held exempt from s. 286.011, Florida Statutes, and s. 24(b),
   61  Article I of the State Constitution. The resources raised by
   62  direct-support organizations are frequently used to initiate,
   63  develop, and fund plans and programs for research that routinely
   64  contain sensitive proprietary information, including university
   65  connected research projects, which provide valuable
   66  opportunities for faculty and students and may lead to future
   67  commercial applications. This activity requires the direct
   68  support organization to develop research strategies and evaluate
   69  proposals for research grants that routinely contain sensitive
   70  or proprietary information, including specific research
   71  approaches and targets of investigation, the disclosure of which
   72  could injure those conducting the research. Maintaining the
   73  confidentiality of research strategies, plans, and proposals is
   74  a hallmark of a responsible funding process, is practiced by the
   75  National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of
   76  Health, and allows for candid exchanges among reviewers. The
   77  state has recognized these realities by expressly making most of
   78  the records of direct-support organizations confidential and
   79  exempt from the state’s public records requirements, including
   80  proposals seeking research funding. Failure to close meetings in
   81  which these activities are discussed would significantly
   82  undermine the confidentiality of the strategies, plans, and
   83  proposals themselves. Without the exemption from public meeting
   84  requirements, the release during a public meeting of a proposal
   85  seeking research funding from the direct-support organization or
   86  a plan or program for either initiating or supporting research
   87  would defeat the purpose of the public records exemption. It is
   88  therefore the finding of the Legislature that the exemption from
   89  public meeting requirements is a public necessity.
   90         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2014.