HB 1285

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 Innovation 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. 288.1089 is
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, or for the Innovation
56	Incentive Program agreement under s. 288.1089.
57	(g)  The amount of:
58	1.  Taxes on sales, use, and other transactions paid
59	pursuant to chapter 212;
60	2.  Corporate income taxes paid pursuant to chapter 220;
61	3.  Intangible personal property taxes paid pursuant to
62	chapter 199;
63	4.  Emergency excise taxes paid pursuant to chapter 221;
64	5.  Insurance premium taxes paid pursuant to chapter 624;
65	6.  Excise taxes paid on documents pursuant to chapter 201;
66	or
67	7.  Ad valorem taxes paid, as defined in s. 220.03(1),
68
69	which the qualified business reports on its application for
70	certification or reports during the term of the tax refund
71	agreement, and for which the qualified business claims a tax
72	refund under s. 288.1045 or s. 288.106, and any such information
73	held as evidence of the achievement or nonachievement of
74	performance items contained in the tax refund agreement.
75	(4)  This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
76	Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand
77	repealed on October 2, 2011 2007, unless reviewed and saved from
78	repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
79	Section 2.  The Legislature finds that it is a public
80	necessity to provide confidentiality for certain information
81	concerning businesses that is obtained through the
82	administration of the Innovation Incentive Program for qualified
83	innovation businesses under s. 288.1089, Florida Statutes. The
84	disclosure of information such as trade secrets, tax
85	identification numbers, analyses of gross receipts, the amount
86	of taxes paid, the amount of capital investment, and the amount
87	of employee wages paid, and the detailed documentation to
88	substantiate such performance information, could injure a
89	business in the marketplace by providing its competitors with
90	detailed insights into the financial status and the strategic
91	plans of the business, thereby diminishing the advantage that
92	the business maintains over those that do not possess such
93	information. Some of the documentation supplied to support a
94	business's incentive claims could reveal private information,
95	such as employee names and social security numbers, concerning
96	that business's employees. Without this exemption, private
97	sector businesses, whose records generally are not required to
98	be open to the public, might refrain from participating in the
99	economic development program and thus would not be able to use
100	the incentives available under the program. If a business were
101	unable to use the incentives, the business might choose to
102	locate its employment and other investment activities outside
103	the state, depriving the state and the public of the potential
104	economic benefits associated with such business activities in
105	this state. The harm to businesses in the marketplace and to the
106	effective administration of the economic development program
107	caused by the public disclosure of such information far
108	outweighs the public benefits derived from its release. In
109	addition, because the confidentiality provided by s. 288.1067,
110	Florida Statutes, does not preclude the reporting of statistics
111	in the aggregate concerning the program, as well as the names of
112	businesses participating in the program and the amount of
113	incentives awarded and claimed, the public has access to
114	information important to an assessment of the performance of the
115	program.
116	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006, if
117	House Bill 1283 or similar legislation is adopted in the same
118	legislative session or an extension thereof and becomes a law.

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