Florida Senate - 2011                                    SB 1606
       
       
       
       By Senator Altman
       
       
       
       
       24-02081-11                                           20111606__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; creating s.
    3         626.84195, F.S.; providing an exemption from public
    4         records requirements for financial information, such
    5         as revenue, loss, and expense data, which is supplied
    6         periodically by a licensed title insurance agency to
    7         the Department of Financial Services in order to
    8         assist the department in analyzing title insurance
    9         premium rates, title search costs, and the financial
   10         viability of the title insurance industry in the
   11         state; requiring that the information be supplied to
   12         the department by a specified date; requiring the
   13         department to adopt rules; authorizing the department
   14         to disclose the total combined responses of all
   15         agencies and reporting entities; providing for future
   16         legislative review and repeal of the exemption under
   17         the Open Government Sunset Review Act; providing a
   18         statement of public necessity; providing a contingent
   19         effective date.
   20  
   21  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   22  
   23         Section 1. Section 626.84195, Florida Statutes, is created
   24  to read:
   25         626.84195Collection of title insurance information;
   26  confidential information.—
   27         (1)(a) Each title insurance agency licensed to do business
   28  in this state and each insurer doing direct, retail, or
   29  affiliated business in this state shall maintain and submit
   30  information, including revenue, loss, and expense data, as the
   31  department determines necessary to assist in the analysis of
   32  title insurance premium rates, title search costs, and the
   33  financial viability of the title insurance industry in this
   34  state.
   35         (b) This information must be transmitted to the department
   36  no later than March 31 of each year following the reporting
   37  year.
   38         (c) The department shall adopt rules pursuant to ss.
   39  120.536(1) and 120.54 to administer this section.
   40         (2) The financial information supplied by each title
   41  insurance agency or insurer is confidential and exempt from the
   42  provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
   43  Constitution in order to prevent disclosure of private
   44  information of that agency or insurer to the public. However,
   45  the total combined responses of all the agencies and reporting
   46  insurers may be disclosed to the public as long as the specific
   47  identities of the agencies or insurers are not revealed.
   48         (3) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   49  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   50  on October 2, 2016, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   51  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   52         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   53  necessity that proprietary business information relating to the
   54  title insurance industry, title insurers, and title insurance
   55  agents, including, but not limited to, trade secrets, be made
   56  confidential and exempt from the requirements of s. 119.07(1),
   57  Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State
   58  Constitution. The disclosure of information, such as revenue,
   59  loss expense data, analyses of gross receipts, the amount of
   60  taxes paid, the amount of capital investment, customer
   61  identification, the amount of employee wages paid, and the
   62  detailed documentation to substantiate such performance
   63  information, could injure a business in the marketplace by
   64  providing its competitors with detailed insights into the
   65  financial status and the strategic plans of the business,
   66  thereby diminishing the advantage that the business maintains
   67  over competitors that do not possess such information. Without
   68  this exemption, title insurance agencies and title insurers,
   69  whose records are generally not required to be open to the
   70  public, may refrain from providing accurate and unbiased data
   71  and would thus impair the Department of Financial Services in
   72  setting fair and adequate title insurance rates. Proprietary
   73  business information derives actual or potential independent
   74  economic value from not being generally known to, and not being
   75  readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can
   76  derive economic value from its disclosure or use. The Department
   77  of Financial Services, or any subsidiary or contractor of the
   78  department, in performing its lawful duties and
   79  responsibilities, may need to obtain information from the
   80  proprietary business information. Without an exemption from
   81  public-records requirements for proprietary business information
   82  held by the department or its designee, such information becomes
   83  a public record when received and must be divulged upon request.
   84  Divulgence of any proprietary business information under public
   85  records laws would destroy the value of that property to the
   86  proprietor, causing a financial loss not only to the proprietor
   87  but also to the residents of this state due to the loss of
   88  reliable financial data necessary for fair and adequate rate
   89  regulation. Release of proprietary business information would
   90  give business competitors an unfair advantage and weaken the
   91  position of the proprietor of the proprietary business
   92  information in the marketplace. The harm to businesses in the
   93  marketplace and to the effective administration of the
   94  ratemaking function caused by the public disclosure of such
   95  information far outweighs the public benefits derived from its
   96  release. In addition, the confidentiality provided by this act
   97  does not preclude the reporting of statistics in the aggregate
   98  concerning the collection of data, as well as the names of the
   99  title insurance agencies and title insurers participating in the
  100  data collection. Such aggregate reported data is available to
  101  the public and is important to an assessment of the setting of
  102  title insurance premiums. Thus, the Legislature declares that it
  103  is a public necessity that proprietary business information of
  104  title insurers, title insurance agents, and the title insurance
  105  industry held by the Department of Financial Services, or any
  106  subsidiary, contractor, or agent of the department, be made
  107  confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and
  108  s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution.
  109         Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
  110  SB ___ or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation
  111  is adopted in the same legislative session, or an extension
  112  thereof, and becomes law.