Florida Senate - 2012                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1584
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 306632                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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       The Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability
       (Dean) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 28 - 31
    4  and insert:
    5         (1) Payment instrument transaction information held by the
    6  office pursuant to s. 560.311 which identifies a licensee,
    7  payor, payee, or conductor is confidential and exempt from s.
    8  119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
    9         Delete lines 50 - 71
   10  and insert:
   11         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   12  necessity that payment instrument transaction information held
   13  by the Office of Financial Regulation pursuant to s. 560.311,
   14  Florida Statutes, which identifies a licensee, payor, payee, or
   15  conductor be made confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1),
   16  Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State
   17  Constitution.
   18         (1) Pursuant to s. 560.311, Florida Statutes, money
   19  services businesses that cash a payment instrument exceeding
   20  $1,000 must submit information about the transaction to the
   21  Office of Financial Regulation in order to deter money
   22  laundering through these entities and in response to the
   23  findings of the Money Service Business Facilitated Workers’
   24  Compensation Fraud Work Group that these entities are being used
   25  to facilitate financial crimes, including fraud relating to
   26  workers’ compensation. The report issued by the group found that
   27  this type of workers’ compensation fraud could be costing the
   28  state upwards of $1 billion dollars annually in unreported
   29  payroll taxes, unreported premium taxes, and higher costs to
   30  insurance carriers who must process workers’ compensation claims
   31  from uninsured workers. This type of fraud places tremendous
   32  pressure on law-abiding businesses to absorb these costs.
   33         (a) Submission of this information to the office is
   34  intended to assist the office, the Department of Financial
   35  Services, law enforcement agencies, and other governmental
   36  agencies in detecting and deterring these financial crimes and
   37  related fraudulent activities.
   38         (b) The availability of this information to these agencies
   39  will help to increase premium collection, lower costs to
   40  insurance carriers, and alleviate premium avoidance, as well as
   41  reduce the cost of administering these public programs.
   42         (2) However, the public availability of payment instrument
   43  transaction information would reveal sensitive, personal
   44  financial information about payees and conductors who use check
   45  cashing programs, including paycheck amounts, salaries, and
   46  business activities, as well as information regarding the
   47  financial stability of these persons. Such information is
   48  traditionally private and sensitive. Protecting the
   49  confidentiality of information that would identify these payees
   50  and conductors would provide adequate protection for these
   51  persons while still providing public oversight of the program.
   52         (3) The public release of payment instrument transaction
   53  information would also identify licensees or payors and reveal
   54  private business transaction information that is traditionally
   55  private and could be used by competitors to harm licensees or
   56  payors in the marketplace. If such information were publicly
   57  available, competitors could determine the amount of business
   58  conducted by other licensees and payors.
   59         (4) Therefore, the Legislature finds that information that
   60  would identify the licensee, payor, payee, or conductor in
   61  payment instrument transaction information be made confidential
   62  and exempt from public records requirements.
   63  
   64  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   65         And the title is amended as follows:
   66         Delete lines 4 - 8
   67  and insert:
   68         records requirements for payment instrument
   69         transaction information held by the Office of
   70         Financial Regulation; providing