Senate Bill sb2170
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 2170
By Senator Holzendorf
2-1339-01
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public records; providing
3 exemption from public-records requirements for
4 documents, materials, or other information
5 furnished to the Department of Insurance by
6 insurers, producers, or their agents or
7 employees or obtained by the department
8 pursuant to certain investigations; providing
9 for future review and repeal; prohibiting the
10 department, its employees, or its agents from
11 testifying in a private civil action concerning
12 such information; authorizing the department to
13 disclose the information under specified
14 conditions; providing that such disclosure does
15 not waive the protected person's privilege;
16 providing that nothing in the act prohibits the
17 department from releasing adjudicated actions
18 available to the public to the National
19 Association of Insurance Commissioners and its
20 affiliates; providing findings of public
21 necessity; providing an effective date.
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23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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25 Section 1. (1) Any documents, materials, or other
26 information in the control or possession of the Department of
27 Insurance which is furnished by an insurer, a producer, or an
28 agent or employee thereof acting on behalf of the insurer or
29 producer, or obtained by the department in an investigation
30 pursuant to the provisions of Senate Bill ____, is
31 confidential and exempt from section 119.07(1), Florida
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 2170
2-1339-01
1 Statutes, and Section 24(a), Article I of the State
2 Constitution. Such information is not subject to subpoena or
3 to discovery and is not admissible into evidence in any
4 private civil action. The department may use the documents,
5 materials, or other information in the furtherance of any
6 regulatory or legal action brought as part of the department's
7 duties. This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
8 Review Act of 1995 in accordance with section 119.15, Florida
9 Statutes, and shall stand repealed October 2, 2006, unless
10 reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the
11 Legislature.
12 (2) Neither the Department of Insurance nor any person
13 who has received documents, materials, or other information
14 while acting under the authority of the department may testify
15 in any private civil action concerning any confidential
16 documents, materials, or information subject to subsection
17 (1)(a).
18 (3) In order to assist in the performance of the
19 duties of the Department of Insurance under this act, the
20 department:
21 (a) May share documents, materials, or other
22 information, including the confidential and privileged
23 documents, materials, or information subject to subsection
24 (1), with other state, federal, and international regulatory
25 agencies, with the National Association of Insurance
26 Commissioners, its affiliates, or its subsidiaries, and with
27 state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities,
28 provided that the recipient agrees to maintain the
29 confidentiality and privileged status of the documents,
30 materials, or other information;
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 2170
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1 (b) May receive documents, materials, or information,
2 including otherwise confidential and privileged documents,
3 materials, or information, from the National Association of
4 Insurance Commissioners, its affiliates, or its subsidiaries,
5 and from regulatory and law enforcement officials of other
6 foreign or domestic jurisdictions, and shall maintain as
7 confidential or privileged any document, material, or
8 information received with notice or with the understanding
9 that it is confidential or privileged under the laws of the
10 jurisdiction that is the source of the document, material, or
11 information; and
12 (c) May enter into agreements governing sharing and
13 use of information consistent with this section.
14 (4) No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of
15 confidentiality in the documents, materials, or information
16 occurs as a result of disclosure to the Department of
17 Insurance under Senate Bill ____ or as a result of sharing as
18 authorized in subsection (3).
19 (5) Nothing in this section prohibits the Department
20 of Insurance from releasing final, adjudicated actions
21 including for cause terminations that are open to public
22 inspection pursuant to chapter 119, Florida Statutes, to a
23 database or other clearinghouse service maintained by the
24 National Association of Insurance Commissioners, its
25 affiliates, or its subsidiaries.
26 Section 2. The Legislature finds that the exemptions
27 from public records requirements specified in section 1 are a
28 public necessity, and that it would be an invasion of an
29 insurer's or producer's, or their agent's or employee's,
30 privacy for sensitive information contained in the documents,
31 materials, and other information to be publicly available.
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 2170
2-1339-01
1 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.
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4 SENATE SUMMARY
5 Provides an exemption from the public records
requirements for documents, materials, and other
6 information furnished to the Department of Insurance by
insurers, producers, or their agents and employees or
7 obtained by the department pursuant to an investigation
authorized by Senate Bill____. Prohibits the department,
8 its agents, and its employees from testifying in a
private civil action concerning such information.
9 Authorizes the department to disclose such information
under specified circumstances. The disclosure does not
10 waive the protected person's privilege. The act does not
prohibit the department from releasing adjudicated
11 actions open to the public to the National Association of
Insurance Commissioners. Provides findings of fact and
12 for future review and repeal.
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