HB 1689

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to unemployment compensation records;
3	creating s. 443.17161, F.S.; requiring the Agency for
4	Workforce Innovation to contract with consumer-reporting
5	agencies to provide creditors with secured electronic
6	access to employer-provided information relating to the
7	quarterly wages reports; providing conditions; requiring
8	consent from the credit applicant; prescribing information
9	that must be included in the written consent; providing
10	for confidentiality; limiting use of the information
11	released; providing for termination of contracts under
12	certain circumstances; defining the term "creditor";
13	requiring the agency to establish minimum audit, security,
14	net worth, and liability insurance standards and other
15	requirements it considers necessary; providing that any
16	revenues generated from a contract with a consumer-
17	reporting agency must be used to pay the entire cost of
18	providing access to the information; providing that any
19	additional revenues generated must be paid into an agency
20	trust fund for the administration of the unemployment
21	compensation system; providing restrictions on the release
22	of information under the act; defining the term "consumer-
23	reporting" agency; providing an effective date.
24
25	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27	Section 1.  Section 443.17161, Florida Statutes, is created
28	to read:
29	443.17161  Authorized electronic access to employer
30	information.--
31	(1)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
32	the Agency for Workforce Innovation shall contract with one or
33	more consumer-reporting agencies to provide creditors with
34	secured electronic access to employer-provided information
35	relating to the quarterly wages report submitted in accordance
36	with the state's unemployment compensation law. Such access is
37	limited to the wage reports for the preceding 16 calendar
38	quarters.
39	(2)  Creditors must obtain written consent from the credit
40	applicant. Any such written consent from a credit applicant must
41	be signed and must include the following:
42	(a)  Specific notice that the individual's wage and
43	employment history information will be released to a consumer-
44	reporting agency;
45	(b)  Notice that such release is made for the sole purpose
46	of reviewing a specific application for credit made by the
47	individual;
48	(c)  Notice that the files of the Agency for Workforce
49	Innovation containing wage and employment history information
50	submitted by the individual or his or her employers may be
51	accessed; and
52	(d)  A listing of the parties authorized to receive the
53	released information.
54	(3)  Consumer-reporting agencies and creditors accessing
55	information under this section must safeguard the
56	confidentiality of such information and shall use the
57	information only to support a single consumer credit transaction
58	for the creditor to satisfy standard financial underwriting
59	requirements or other requirements imposed upon the creditor,
60	and to satisfy the creditor's obligations under applicable state
61	or federal Fair Credit Reporting laws and rules governing this
62	section.
63	(4)  If any consumer-reporting agency or creditor violates
64	any provision of this section, the Agency for Workforce
65	Innovation shall, upon 30 days' written notice to the consumer-
66	reporting agency, terminate the contract established between the
67	agency and the consumer-reporting agency resulting from this
68	section.
69	(5)  The agency shall establish minimum audit, security,
70	net-worth, and liability-insurance standards, technical
71	requirements, and any other terms and conditions considered
72	necessary in the discretion of the state agency to safeguard the
73	confidentiality of the information released under this section
74	and to otherwise serve the public interest. The agency shall
75	also include, in coordination with any necessary state agencies,
76	necessary audit procedures to ensure that these rules are
77	followed.
78	(6)  In contracting with one or more consumer-reporting
79	agencies under this section, any revenues generated by such
80	contract must be used to pay the entire cost of providing access
81	to the information. Further, in accordance with federal
82	regulations, any additional revenues generated by the agency or
83	the state under this section must be paid into the Employment
84	Security Administration Trust Fund for the administration of the
85	unemployment compensation system.
86	(7)  The agency may not provide wage and employment history
87	information to any consumer-reporting agency before the
88	consumer-reporting agency or agencies under contract with the
89	agency pay all development and other startup costs incurred by
90	the state in connection with the design, installation, and
91	administration of technological systems and procedures for the
92	electronic-access program.
93	(8)  The release of any information under this section must
94	be for a purpose authorized by and in the manner permitted by
95	the United States Department of Labor and any subsequent
96	regulations adopted by that department.
97	(9)  As used in this section, the term:
98	(a)  "Consumer-reporting agency" has the same meaning as
99	that set forth in the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15
100	U.S.C. s. 1681a.
101	(b)  "Creditor" has the same meaning as that set forth in
102	the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. ss.
103	1692 et seq.
104	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.