HB 0009E 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to public records exemptions; amending s.
3	288.1067, F.S.; expanding the public records exemption for
4	incentive programs to include the mega fund incentive
5	program under s. 288.1089, F.S.; providing for future
6	review and repeal; providing a statement of public
7	necessity; providing a contingent effective date.
8
9	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11	Section 1. Subsections (1) and (4) of section 288.1067,
12	Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
13	288.1067 Confidentiality of records.--
14	(1) The following information held by the Office of
15	Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development, Enterprise Florida,
16	Inc., or county or municipal governmental entities, and their
17	employees or agents, pursuant to the incentive programs for
18	qualified businesses as provided in s. 220.191, s. 288.1045, s.
19	288.106, s. 288.108, or s. 288.1088, or s. 288.1089is
20	confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and
21	s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution, for a period not to
22	exceed the duration of the relevant tax refund, tax credit, or
23	incentive agreement:
24	(a) The business's federal employer identification number,
25	unemployment compensation account number, and Florida sales tax
26	registration number.
27	(b) Any trade secret information as defined in s. 812.081.
28	Notwithstanding any provision of this section, trade secret
29	information shall continue to be confidential and exempt after
30	the duration of the tax refund, tax credit, or incentive
31	agreement.
32	(c) The percentage of the business's sales occurring
33	outside this state and, for businesses applying under s.
34	288.1045, the percentage of the business's gross receipts
35	derived from Department of Defense contracts during the 5 years
36	immediately preceding the date the business's application is
37	submitted.
38	(d) The anticipated wages for the project jobs that the
39	business plans to create, as reported on the application for
40	certification.
41	(e) The average wage actually paid by the business for
42	those jobs created by the project and any detailed proprietary
43	business information or an employee's personal identifying
44	information, held as evidence of the achievement or
45	nonachievement of the wage requirements of the tax refund, tax
46	credit, or incentive agreement programs or of the job creation
47	requirements of such programs.
48	(f) Any proprietary business information regarding capital
49	investment in eligible building and equipment made by the
50	qualified business project when held by the Office of Tourism,
51	Trade, and Economic Development as evidence of the achievement
52	or nonachievement of the investment requirements for the tax
53	credit certification under s. 220.191, for the high-impact
54	performance agreement under s. 288.108, or for the Quick Action
55	Closing Fund agreement under s. 288.1088.
56	(g) The amount of:
57	1. Taxes on sales, use, and other transactions paid
58	pursuant to chapter 212;
59	2. Corporate income taxes paid pursuant to chapter 220;
60	3. Intangible personal property taxes paid pursuant to
61	chapter 199;
62	4. Emergency excise taxes paid pursuant to chapter 221;
63	5. Insurance premium taxes paid pursuant to chapter 624;
64	6. Excise taxes paid on documents pursuant to chapter 201;
65	or
66	7. Ad valorem taxes paid, as defined in s. 220.03(1),
67
68	which the qualified business reports on its application for
69	certification or reports during the term of the tax refund
70	agreement, and for which the qualified business claims a tax
71	refund under s. 288.1045 or s. 288.106, and any such information
72	held as evidence of the achievement or nonachievement of
73	performance items contained in the tax refund agreement.
74	(4) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
75	Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand
76	repealed on October 2, 2009 2007, unless reviewed and saved from
77	repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
78	Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
79	necessity to provide confidentiality for certain information
80	concerning businesses that is obtained through the
81	administration of the incentive program for qualified mega fund
82	businesses under s. 288.1089, Florida Statutes. The disclosure
83	of information such as trade secrets, tax identification
84	numbers, analyses of gross receipts, the amount of taxes paid,
85	the amount of capital investment, and the amount of employee
86	wages paid, and the detailed documentation to substantiate such
87	performance information, could injure a business in the
88	marketplace by providing its competitors with detailed insights
89	into the financial status and the strategic plans of the
90	business, thereby diminishing the advantage that the business
91	maintains over those that do not possess such information. Some
92	of the documentation supplied to support a business's incentive
93	claims could reveal private information, such as employee names
94	and social security numbers, concerning that business's
95	employees. Without this exemption, private sector businesses,
96	whose records generally are not required to be open to the
97	public, might refrain from participating in the economic
98	development program and thus would not be able to use the
99	incentives available under the program. If a business were
100	unable to use the incentives, the business might choose to
101	locate its employment and other investment activities outside
102	the state, depriving the state and the public of the potential
103	economic benefits associated with such business activities in
104	this state. The harm to businesses in the marketplace and to the
105	effective administration of the economic development program
106	caused by the public disclosure of such information far
107	outweighs the public benefits derived from its release. In
108	addition, because the confidentiality provided by this act does
109	not preclude the reporting of statistics in the aggregate
110	concerning the program, as well as the names of businesses
111	participating in the program and the amount of incentives
112	awarded and claimed, the public has access to information
113	important to an assessment of the performance of the program.
114	Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law,
115	if House Bill 3-E or similar legislation is adopted in the same
116	legislative session or an extension thereof and becomes law.