Senate Bill sb2612c1

    Florida Senate - 2006                           CS for SB 2612

    By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Productivity;
    and Senator Posey




    585-2471-06

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public records; creating s.

  3         112.3153, F.S.; creating an exemption from

  4         public-records requirements for user

  5         identification and passwords held by the

  6         Commission on Ethics pursuant to s. 112.3152,

  7         F.S.; creating an exemption from public-records

  8         requirements for statements, records, reports,

  9         and files stored in the commission's electronic

10         filing system pursuant to s. 112.3152, F.S.;

11         providing for expiration of the exemption;

12         providing for future legislative review and

13         repeal under the Open Government Sunset Review

14         Act; providing findings of public necessity;

15         providing an effective date.

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17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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19         Section 1.  Section 112.3153, Florida Statutes, is

20  created to read:

21         112.3153  Electronic filing of statements or reports;

22  confidentiality of information and draft statements or

23  reports.--All user identifications and passwords held by the

24  commission pursuant to s. 112.3152 are confidential and exempt

25  from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State

26  Constitution. Each statement, record, report, and file stored

27  in the electronic filing system pursuant to s. 112.3152 is

28  exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State

29  Constitution until such time as the statement or report has

30  been submitted as a filed statement or report. This section is

31  subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance

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






    Florida Senate - 2006                           CS for SB 2612
    585-2471-06




 1  with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2011,

 2  unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by

 3  the Legislature.

 4         Section 2.  (1)  The Legislature finds that it is a

 5  public necessity to exempt from public-records requirements

 6  all user identifications and passwords held by the Commission

 7  on Ethics pursuant to s. 112.3152, Florida Statutes. The

 8  public-records exemption is necessary to ensure accountability

 9  for the filing of false or inaccurate information. Under

10  current law, certain individuals must certify and bear

11  responsibility for the correctness of each statement or report

12  filed with the commission under pain of personal criminal

13  prosecution or administrative fine. The law uses the physical

14  signatures of such individuals on the paper statements or

15  reports as evidence of attestation to the veracity of the

16  statement or report. Electronic reporting eliminates the

17  evidentiary advantages of hard-copy signatures by persons

18  submitting statements or reports, so the provisions of law

19  creating the electronic filing system provide for the issuance

20  of secure "sign-on" information to the individuals designated

21  and provide that such individuals are responsible for all

22  filing using such "sign-on" credentials unless they have

23  notified the commission that their credentials have been

24  compromised. Without a public-records exemption for this

25  information, there would be no accountability for reporting.

26         (2)  In addition, the public-records exemption is

27  necessary to protect against the unwarranted submission of

28  false or erroneous data. Limiting access to the electronic

29  filing system will prevent unauthorized users from changing or

30  submitting false or inaccurate information that could be

31  damaging to the reporting individual and result in charges

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    Florida Senate - 2006                           CS for SB 2612
    585-2471-06




 1  being brought against the individuals accountable by statute

 2  for the veracity of the information.

 3         (3)  The Legislature also finds that it is a public

 4  necessity to exempt from public-records requirements all

 5  statements, records, reports, and files created from

 6  information entered into the electronic filing system by

 7  individuals subject to electronic-reporting requirements until

 8  such time as a final statement or report is filed with the

 9  commission. It is anticipated that best practices would

10  encourage periodic and timely updates to the draft statement

11  or report throughout the covered reporting period and that

12  this exemption would allow reporting individuals adequate time

13  to enter all the information. Some statements and reports may

14  contain individual entries for items such as dates, names,

15  assets, and liabilities. It is simply not technologically or

16  practically feasible to require all this information to be

17  manually input on the designated statutory due date. The

18  public-records exemption will allow reporting individuals to

19  update the information in their draft statements or reports

20  throughout the reporting period and subject the statements or

21  reports to internal audits to check for errors prior to

22  submission. The updated statement or report for the entire

23  reporting period can then be submitted as required by law.

24         (4)  Finally, this public-records exemption will

25  accelerate the public's access to this information compared

26  with current law, which allows for the filing of paper

27  statements and reports by mail on the designated due date and

28  results in both mailing and data-entry delays in processing

29  the information to the Internet.

30         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

31  law if Senate Bill 2642, or similar legislation creating s.

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    Florida Senate - 2006                           CS for SB 2612
    585-2471-06




 1  112.3152, Florida Statutes, to provide for electronic filing

 2  of statements is adopted in the same legislative session or an

 3  extension thereof and becomes law.

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 5          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
 6                         Senate Bill 2612

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