Florida Senate - 2012 CS for SB 714 By the Committee on Regulated Industries; and Senator Bogdanoff 580-01763-12 2012714c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records; creating s. 3 551.303, F.S.; providing definitions; providing an 4 exemption from public records requirements for 5 confidential and proprietary business information and 6 trade secrets received by the Department of Gaming 7 Control; providing an exemption from public records 8 requirements for information held that would reveal 9 investigation techniques and procedures used by the 10 Department of Gaming Control; providing a definition; 11 providing an exception to the exemption for other 12 governmental entities having oversight or regulatory 13 or law enforcement authority; providing penalties for 14 an employee of the department who violates the 15 provisions of the act; providing for future review and 16 repeal of the exemption under the Open Government 17 Sunset Review Act; providing a statement of public 18 necessity; providing a contingent effective date. 19 20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 21 22 Section 1. Section 551.303, Florida Statutes, is created to 23 read: 24 551.303 Confidentiality of records.— 25 (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 26 (a) “Proprietary confidential business information” means 27 information that is owned or controlled by an applicant for a 28 license or a licensee under this part who requests 29 confidentiality under this section; that is intended to be and 30 is treated by the applicant or licensee as private in that the 31 disclosure of the information would cause harm to the business 32 operations of the applicant or licensee; that has not been 33 disclosed unless disclosed pursuant to a statute or rule, an 34 order of a court or administrative body, or a private agreement 35 providing that the information may be released to the public; 36 and that is information concerning: 37 1. Business plans; 38 2. Internal auditing controls and reports of internal 39 auditors; or 40 3. Reports of external auditors for privately held 41 companies. 42 (b) “Trade secret” has the same meaning as in s. 688.002. 43 (2) TRADE SECRETS.—Trade secrets held by the Department of 44 Gaming Control are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and 45 s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 46 (3) PROPRIETARY CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION. 47 Proprietary confidential business information held by the 48 Department of Gaming Control is confidential and exempt from s. 49 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution until 50 such information is otherwise publicly available or is no longer 51 treated by an applicant for a license or a licensee under this 52 part as proprietary confidential business information. 53 (4) IDENTIFICATION, ACCOUNT, AND REGISTRATION NUMBERS.—A 54 federal employer identification number, unemployment 55 compensation account number, or Florida sales tax registration 56 number held by the Department of Gaming Control is confidential 57 and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 58 Constitution. 59 (5) INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES.— 60 (a) As used in this subsection, the term “investigation 61 techniques and procedures” means the methods, processes, and 62 guidelines used to evaluate regulatory compliance and to collect 63 and analyze data, records, and testimony for the purpose of 64 documenting violations of this part and the rules adopted 65 thereunder. 66 (b) Information that would reveal examination techniques or 67 procedures used by the Department of Gaming Control pursuant to 68 this part is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 69 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 70 (c) Confidential and exempt information that would reveal 71 examination techniques or procedures may be provided by the 72 Department of Gaming Control to another governmental entity 73 having oversight or regulatory or law enforcement authority. 74 (6) PENALTIES.—Any person who is an employee of the 75 Department of Gaming Control who violates this section commits a 76 misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 77 775.082 or s. 775.083. 78 (7) LEGISLATIVE REVIEW OF EXEMPTIONS.—This section is 79 subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance 80 with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2017, 81 unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the 82 Legislature. 83 Section 2. (1) It is the finding of the Legislature that it 84 is a public necessity that information relating to proprietary 85 confidential business information and trade secrets under part 86 III of chapter 551, Florida Statutes, be made confidential and 87 exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), 88 Article I of the State Constitution. This exemption is necessary 89 to ensure that the best qualified applicants are not deterred 90 from applying for licenses by the prospect of the disclosure of 91 proprietary confidential business information and trade secrets. 92 (2) Part III of chapter 551, Florida Statutes, provides for 93 a competitive process for the award of a destination resort 94 license. The selection of the best qualified applicant for a 95 license is critical for the state to ensure that the state 96 receives the most economic benefits and greatest amount of tax 97 revenues in granting a resort license. 98 (3)(a) It is the finding of the Legislature that it is a 99 public necessity that information that would reveal 100 investigation techniques or procedures used by the Department of 101 Gaming Control pursuant to part III of chapter 551, Florida 102 Statutes, be made confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), 103 Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State 104 Constitution. This exemption is necessary to ensure the 105 Department of Gaming Control’s ability to effectively and 106 efficiently enforce compliance with part III of chapter 551, 107 Florida Statutes, which would be significantly impaired without 108 the exemption. 109 (b) Investigations are an essential component of gaming 110 regulation. The mere existence of an investigation program 111 fosters regulatory compliance and deters fraud and abuse by 112 industry participants. Investigations often detect violations in 113 their early stages. Early detection allows corrective action to 114 be taken before significant harm can be done to the state. Due 115 to the importance of such investigations, state regulators 116 devote extensive resources to devising effective investigation 117 techniques and procedures. 118 (c) Allowing access to information revealing investigation 119 techniques or procedures would undermine the investigation 120 process and facilitate evasion of the law. Any advance notice of 121 the areas of inquiry to be explored during an examination might 122 prompt a person to conceal evidence of deficiencies or fabricate 123 evidence of compliance. Without the exemption, the Department of 124 Gaming Control’s ability to uncover misconduct and evaluate 125 policies and procedures through the investigation process would 126 be significantly impaired. 127 (d) Additionally, without such an exemption, the Department 128 of Gaming Control’s ability to participate in joint 129 investigations with other regulators would be impaired as 130 release of this information relating to investigations by other 131 regulators would compromise the integrity of such joint 132 investigations. The Department of Gaming Control also would not 133 be able to accept or use confidential examination techniques and 134 procedures developed by other regulators. Thus, the absence of 135 an exemption would create a situation that reduces the 136 Department of Gaming Control’s ability to leverage its limited 137 resources. 138 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that 139 CS for SB 710 or similar legislation takes effect, if such 140 legislation is enacted in the same legislative session, or an 141 extension thereof, and becomes law, and only if this act is 142 enacted by a two-thirds vote of the membership of each house of 143 the Legislature.