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The Florida Senate

2011 Florida Statutes

Title XIV TAXATION AND FINANCE
Chapter 215 FINANCIAL MATTERS: GENERAL PROVISIONS Entire Chapter
SECTION 985
Transparency in government spending.
F.S. 215.985
215.985 Transparency in government spending.—
(1) This section may be cited as the “Transparency Florida Act.”
(2) As used in this section, the term:
(a) “Governmental entity” means any state, regional, county, municipal, special district, or other political subdivision whether executive, judicial, or legislative, including, but not limited to, any department, division, bureau, commission, authority, district, or agency thereof, or any public school, Florida College System institution, state university, or associated board.
(b) “Website” means a site on the Internet which is easily accessible to the public at no cost and does not require the user to provide any information.
(c) “Committee” means the Legislative Auditing Committee created in s. 11.40.
(3) The Executive Office of the Governor, in consultation with the appropriations committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives, shall establish a single website, directly accessible through the state’s official Internet portal, which provides information relating to each appropriation in the General Appropriations Act for each branch of state government and state agency.
(a) At a minimum, the information provided must include:
1. Disbursement data for each appropriation by the object code associated with each expenditure established within the Florida Accounting Information Resource Subsystem. Expenditure data must include the name of the payee, the date of the expenditure, the amount of the expenditure, and the statewide document number.
2. For each appropriation, any adjustments, including vetoes, approved supplemental appropriations included in legislation other than the General Appropriations Act, budget amendments, other actions approved pursuant to chapter 216, and any other adjustments authorized by law.
3. Status of spending authority for each appropriation in the approved operating budget, including released, unreleased, reserved, and disbursed balances.
4. Position and rate information for positions provided in the General Appropriations Act.
(b) All data provided through the website must be data currently available in the state’s financial management information system referenced in s. 215.93.
(4) The committee shall propose providing additional state fiscal information, which may include, but is not limited to, the following information for state agencies:
(a) Details of nonoperating budget authority established pursuant to s. 216.181.
(b) Trust fund balance reports, including cash available, investments, and receipts.
(c) General revenue fund balance reports, including revenue received and amounts disbursed.
(d) Fixed capital outlay project data, including original appropriation and disbursements throughout the life of the project.
(e) A 10-year history of appropriations indicated by agency.
(f) Links to state audits or reports related to the expenditure and dispersal of state funds.
(g) Links to program or activity descriptions for which funds may be expended.
(5) The committee shall recommend a format for collecting and displaying information from state universities, Florida College System institutions, school districts, charter schools, charter technical career centers, local governmental units, and other governmental entities.
(6) By November 1, 2012, and annually thereafter, the committee shall develop a schedule for adding additional information to the website by type of information and governmental entity, including timeframes and development entity. The schedule for adding additional information shall be submitted to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Additional information may include:
(a) Disbursements by the governmental entity from funds established within the treasury of the governmental entity, including, for all branches of state government, allotment balances in the Florida Accounting Information Resource Subsystem.
(b) Revenues received by each governmental entity, including receipts or deposits by the governmental entity into funds established within the treasury of the governmental entity.
(c) Information relating to a governmental entity’s bonded indebtedness, including, but not limited to, the total amount of obligation stated in terms of principal and interest, an itemization of each obligation, the term of each obligation, the source of funding for repayment of each obligation, the amounts of principal and interest previously paid to reduce each obligation, the balance remaining of each obligation, any refinancing of any obligation, and the cited statutory authority to issue such bonds.
(d) Links to available governmental entity websites.
(7) A counter shall be established on the website to show the number of times the website has been accessed.
(8) By August 31 of each fiscal year, each executive branch agency, the state court system, and the Legislature shall establish allotments in the Florida Accounting Information Resource Subsystem for planned expenditures of state appropriations.
(9) The committee shall coordinate with the Financial Management Information Board in developing any recommendations for including information on the website which is necessary to meet the requirements of s. 215.91(8).
(10) Functional owners as defined in s. 215.94 and other governmental entities shall provide information necessary to accomplish the purposes of this section.
(11) A municipality or special district that has total annual revenues of less than $10 million is exempt from this section.
(12) By September 1, 2011, each water management district shall provide a monthly financial statement to its governing board and make such statement available for public access on its website.
(13) This section does not require or permit the disclosure of information that is considered confidential by state or federal law.
(14) The Office of Policy and Budget in the Executive Office of the Governor shall ensure that all data added to the website remains accessible to the public for 10 years.
(15) The committee shall prepare an annual report detailing progress in establishing the single website and providing recommendations for enhancement of the content and format of the website and related policies and procedures. The first report shall be submitted to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by November 1, 2011, and annually by November 1 thereafter.
(16) The Chief Financial Officer shall provide public access to a state contract management system that provides information and documentation relating to contracts procured by governmental entities.
(a) The data collected in the system must include, but need not be limited to, the contracting agency; the procurement method; the contract beginning and ending dates; the type of commodity or service; the purpose of the commodity or service; the compensation to be paid; compliance information, such as performance metrics for the service or commodity; contract violations; the number of extensions or renewals; and the statutory authority for providing the service.
(b) Within 30 days after a major change to an existing contract or the execution of a new contract, agency procurement staff of the affected state governmental entity shall update the necessary information in the state contract management system. A major change to a contract includes, but is not limited to, a renewal, termination, or extension of the contract or an amendment to the contract.
History.—s. 2, ch. 2009-74; s. 2, ch. 2011-49.