Florida Senate - 2014 SB 1396
By Senator Montford
3-01908-14 20141396__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public records; amending s.
3 1013.505, F.S., relating to public-private projects
4 for the upgrade of state university facilities and
5 infrastructure; providing an exemption from public
6 records requirements for unsolicited proposals held by
7 a state university board of trustees for a specified
8 period; providing for future review and repeal of the
9 exemption under the Open Government Sunset Review Act;
10 providing a statement of public necessity; providing a
11 contingent effective date.
12
13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15 Section 1. Subsection (14) is added to section 1013.505,
16 Florida Statutes, as created by SB 900, 2014 Regular Session, to
17 read:
18 1013.505 Public-private partnerships; state universities
19 and private entities.—
20 (14) PUBLIC RECORDS EXEMPTION.—
21 (a) If a board receives an unsolicited proposal under this
22 section, the proposal is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a),
23 Art. I of the State Constitution until such time that the board
24 receives and ranks the proposals as described in subsection (5)
25 and provides notice of its intended decision.
26 (b) An unsolicited proposal is not exempt for more than 12
27 months after the board rejects all proposals received for the
28 project described in the unsolicited proposal or, if the board
29 does not intend to enter into an agreement for the project, the
30 date that the unsolicited proposal was received.
31 (c) This subsection is subject to the Open Government
32 Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand
33 repealed on October 2, 2019, unless reviewed and saved from
34 repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
35 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
36 necessity that an unsolicited proposal held by a state
37 university board of trustees pursuant to s. 1013.505, Florida
38 Statutes be made exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and
39 s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution until the board
40 provides notification of its decision or its intent to make a
41 decision after ranking proposals under s. 1013.505(5)(c),
42 Florida Statutes. An unsolicited proposal is not exempt for more
43 than 12 months after the board rejects all proposals received
44 for the project described in the unsolicited proposal or, if the
45 board does not intend to enter into an agreement for the
46 project, the date that the unsolicited proposal was received.
47 The protection of information contained in unsolicited
48 proposals, as set forth in s. 1013.505, Florida Statutes,
49 submitted to a state university board of trustees that serve the
50 public purpose of procuring the timely development or operation
51 of a qualifying project as defined in s. 1013.505(1)(i), Florida
52 Statutes, and serve a public need for timely and cost-effective
53 acquisition, design, construction, improvement, renovation,
54 expansion, equipping, maintenance, operation, implementation, or
55 installation of projects that will be principally used by a
56 state university in serving the university’s core mission may
57 not be wholly satisfied by existing procurement methods. These
58 unsolicited proposals may contain proprietary business
59 information and trade secrets, such as patent-pending designs
60 and financing terms. If such information is publicly available
61 before the state university board of trustees makes a decision,
62 competitors could determine the creative financing used to fund
63 these projects. Therefore, the Legislature finds that the harm
64 that may result from the release of such information outweighs
65 any public benefit that may be derived from disclosure of the
66 information.
67 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
68 SB 900 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation
69 is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension
70 thereof and becomes law.