CS/SB 234 — Statutorily Required Reports
by Fiscal Policy Committee and Senator Avila
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee (GO)
The bill (Chapter 2023-41, L.O.F.) requires the Division of Library and Information Services (division) within the Department of State to create and administer an Internet-based system to which state agencies, water management districts, and other state entities must electronically submit their statutorily required reports.
The online system must be implemented by January 1, 2024, and must allow members of the public to search for and access statutorily required reports by recipient, submitter, date, applicable statute, title, topic, or keyword. Additionally, the online system must provide users with the ability to receive notifications of the filing of statutorily required reports based on user-defined criteria.
Each state entity must redact its submissions if the submissions include any information that is not subject to public inspection. This bill does not impact a state entity’s duties to retain or archive documents in accordance with law.
The bill requires the division to compile a list of statutorily required reports and their submission dates by November 1, 2023. By January 1, 2024, and each quarter thereafter, the division must also update bibliographic information for each statutorily required report and provide it to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The bill appropriates $1 million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund to implement and maintain the new system.
These provisions were approved by the Governor and take effect July 1, 2023.
Vote: Senate 39-0; House 113-0