Florida Senate - 2017                                     SB 372
       
       
        
       By Senator Stargel
       
       22-00467-17                                            2017372__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to reemployment assistance fraud;
    3         amending s. 322.142, F.S.; authorizing reproductions
    4         from certain files or digital records maintained by
    5         the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to
    6         be made and issued to the Department of Economic
    7         Opportunity pursuant to an interagency agreement for
    8         specified purposes; providing an effective date.
    9  
   10         WHEREAS, the incidence of identity theft and the resulting
   11  fraud has reached a crisis level, and
   12         WHEREAS, identity theft is especially problematic in this
   13  state, and the Federal Trade Commission reports that Florida has
   14  the highest per capita rate of reported fraud in the nation, and
   15         WHEREAS, stolen identities are used to commit an ever
   16  expanding range of fraud, including public assistance fraud, and
   17         WHEREAS, identity theft and related fraud harm those whose
   18  identities are stolen, rob the social safety net of precious
   19  resources, impose unwarranted costs on taxpayers, and undermine
   20  public confidence in government, and
   21         WHEREAS, the Department of Economic Opportunity’s efforts
   22  to detect, prevent, and prosecute fraud have revealed that
   23  thousands of fraudulent claims for reemployment assistance are
   24  being filed, and
   25         WHEREAS, the Department of Economic Opportunity has made
   26  prevention, detection, and prosecution of reemployment
   27  assistance fraud a top priority and has identified additional
   28  resources and tools necessary to effectively combat fraud, NOW,
   29  THEREFORE,
   30  
   31  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   32  
   33         Section 1. Present paragraphs (k), (l), and (m) of
   34  subsection (4) of section 322.142, Florida Statutes, are
   35  redesignated as paragraphs (l), (m), and (n), respectively, and
   36  a new paragraph (k) is added to that subsection, to read:
   37         322.142 Color photographic or digital imaged licenses.—
   38         (4) The department may maintain a film negative or print
   39  file. The department shall maintain a record of the digital
   40  image and signature of the licensees, together with other data
   41  required by the department for identification and retrieval.
   42  Reproductions from the file or digital record are exempt from
   43  the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and may be made and issued only:
   44         (k) To the Department of Economic Opportunity pursuant to
   45  an interagency agreement to facilitate the validation of
   46  reemployment assistance claims and the identification of
   47  fraudulent or false reemployment assistance claims.
   48         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.