Florida Senate - 2014 CS for SB 616 By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability; and Senator Evers 585-02220-14 2014616c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records; amending s. 3 338.155, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 4 records requirements for personal identifying 5 information held by the Department of Transportation, 6 a county, a municipality, or an expressway authority 7 for the purpose of paying, prepaying, or collecting 8 tolls and associated administrative charges for the 9 use of toll facilities; providing for application of 10 the exemption; providing for future legislative review 11 and repeal of the exemption under the Open Government 12 Sunset Review Act; providing a statement of public 13 necessity; providing an effective date. 14 15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16 17 Section 1. Subsection (6) of section 338.155, Florida 18 Statutes, is amended to read: 19 338.155 Payment of toll on toll facilities required; 20 exemptions.— 21 (6) Personal identifying information held byprovided to,22acquired by, or in the possession ofthe Department of 23 Transportation, a county, a municipality, or an expressway 24 authority for the purpose of paying, prepaying, or collecting 25 tolls and associated administrative charges for the use ofusing26a credit card, charge card, or check for the prepayment of27electronictoll facilitiescharges to the department, a county,28or an expressway authorityis exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 29 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. This exemption applies 30 to personal identifying information held by the department, a 31 county, a municipality, or an expressway authority before, on, 32 or after the effective date of the exemption. This subsection is 33 subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance 34 with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2019, 35 unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the 36 Legislature. 37 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 38 necessity to exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 39 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution, personal identifying 40 information of individuals held by the Department of 41 Transportation, a county, a municipality, or an expressway 42 authority for the purpose of paying, prepaying, or collecting 43 tolls and associated administrative charges for the use of toll 44 facilities. The exemption puts individuals who pay for tolls by 45 TOLL-BY-PLATE, which uses photographic images of the vehicle 46 license plate for billing purposes, on equal footing with 47 individuals who prepay for tolls by check, debit card, or credit 48 card, or who pay for tolls with cash at the toll booth. The 49 exemption protects the health and safety of the public by making 50 exempt information regarding the location, travel patterns, and 51 travel activity of individuals who use the toll road system. The 52 exemption protects the anonymity of all individuals on toll 53 roads, not just cash customers, regardless of the method they 54 use to pay tolls. The exemption also thereby promotes the use of 55 the more efficient and effective electronic toll collection 56 system, since paying for tolls by TOLL-BY-PLATE or prepaying for 57 tolls by check, debit card, or credit card not only saves 58 individuals time when passing through the toll facilities, 59 compared to individuals who pay for tolls with cash, but also 60 costs much less for the state to administer. Further, the 61 exemption protects an individual’s right to privacy by 62 prohibiting the public disclosure of private information about 63 the finances and location of an individual using the toll road 64 system. 65 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.