Florida Senate - 2023                                     SB 234
       
       
        
       By Senator Avila
       
       
       
       
       
       39-00248D-23                                           2023234__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to statutorily required reports;
    3         amending s. 286.001, F.S.; defining the term “state
    4         entity”; revising the procedure for filing statutorily
    5         required or authorized reports; deleting provisions
    6         requiring that abstracts be filed for statutorily
    7         required or authorized reports; requiring state
    8         entities to redact exempt or confidential and exempt
    9         information from reports before filing; providing that
   10         the Division of Library and Information Services of
   11         the Department of State or the department, or any
   12         contractor thereof, is not responsible for redaction
   13         and may not be held liable for the failure of a state
   14         entity to redact exempt or confidential and exempt
   15         information from its reports; requiring state entities
   16         to submit a specified accompanying statement
   17         identifying the applicable provisions for such
   18         redactions; requiring the state entity to retain or
   19         archive reports in accordance with certain schedules;
   20         requiring the division to compile and annually update
   21         a list of all statutorily required reports and their
   22         submission dates; requiring the division to publish
   23         such list on the department’s website; requiring the
   24         division to compile, beginning on a specified date,
   25         bibliographic information on received reports in a
   26         specified database; requiring the division to update
   27         the bibliographic information on a quarterly basis;
   28         requiring that the bibliographic information be
   29         distributed quarterly to the Governor and the
   30         Legislature; requiring the division to implement and
   31         maintain a database for such reports by a specified
   32         date; specifying requirements for the database;
   33         deleting a provision requiring state entities to
   34         create, store, manage, update, retrieve, and
   35         disseminate statutorily required or authorized reports
   36         in an electronic format; deleting a provision related
   37         to construction; providing an appropriation; providing
   38         an effective date.
   39          
   40  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   41  
   42         Section 1. Section 286.001, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   43  read:
   44         286.001 Reports statutorily required; filing, maintenance,
   45  retrieval, and provision of copies.—
   46         (1) For purposes of this section, the term “state entity”
   47  means any agency or officer of the executive, legislative, or
   48  judicial branch of state government, the State Board of
   49  Education, the Board of Governors of the State University
   50  System, the Public Service Commission, or a water management
   51  district operating under the authority of chapter 373.
   52         (2)A state entity Unless otherwise specifically provided
   53  by law, any agency or officer of the executive, legislative, or
   54  judicial branches of state government, the State Board of
   55  Education, the Board of Governors of the State University
   56  System, or the Public Service Commission required or authorized
   57  by law to make a regular or periodic report reports regularly or
   58  periodically shall fulfill the requirement to submit the report
   59  by electronically filing such requirement by filing an abstract
   60  of the report with the statutorily or administratively
   61  designated recipients of the report and an abstract and one copy
   62  of the report with the Division of Library and Information
   63  Services of the Department of State, unless the head of the
   64  reporting entity makes a determination that the additional cost
   65  of providing the entire report to the statutorily or
   66  administratively designated recipients is justified. A one-page
   67  summary justifying the determination shall be submitted to the
   68  chairs of the governmental operations committees of both houses
   69  of the Legislature. The abstract of the contents of such report
   70  shall be no more than one-half page in length. The actual report
   71  must shall be retained by the reporting agency or officer, and
   72  copies of the report must shall be provided to interested
   73  parties and the statutorily or administratively designated
   74  recipients of the report upon request.
   75         (a)A state entity that submits a report pursuant to this
   76  section is solely responsible for redacting any portion of the
   77  report which is not subject to public inspection. The division
   78  or the department, or any contractor thereof, is not responsible
   79  for and may not be held liable for the failure of a state entity
   80  to redact exempt or confidential and exempt information from its
   81  reports.
   82         (b)If a report is redacted, the state entity submitting
   83  the report must provide to the division an accompanying
   84  statement that identifies the specific statutory basis for the
   85  redaction.
   86         (3)The state entity shall retain or archive each report in
   87  accordance with the applicable records retention schedule.
   88         (4)(2) With respect to reports statutorily required of
   89  state entities agencies or officers within the executive,
   90  legislative, or judicial branches of state government, the State
   91  Board of Education, the Board of Governors of the State
   92  University System, or the Public Service Commission, it is the
   93  duty of the division, in addition to its duties under s. 257.05,
   94  to:
   95         (a) By November 1, 2023, with assistance from the state
   96  entities, compile a list of statutorily required reports and
   97  their submission dates. The division shall update this list by
   98  each November 1 thereafter. The division shall publish the list
   99  on the Department of State’s publicly accessible website
  100  Regularly compile and update bibliographic information on such
  101  reports for distribution as provided in paragraph (b). Such
  102  bibliographic information may be included in the bibliographies
  103  prepared by the division pursuant to s. 257.05(3).
  104         (b) Beginning January 1, 2024, compile bibliographic
  105  information on each statutorily required report it receives for
  106  publication in the database implemented and maintained under
  107  paragraph (d). The division shall update the bibliographic
  108  information on a quarterly basis. The bibliographic information
  109  may be included in the bibliographies prepared by the division
  110  pursuant to s. 257.05(3).
  111         (c)Beginning April 15, 2024, and each calendar quarter
  112  thereafter, distribute the most recently completed quarter’s
  113  bibliography created pursuant to paragraph (b) to the Governor,
  114  the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
  115  Representatives.
  116         (d)By January 1, 2024, implement and maintain a publicly
  117  available Internet-based database of the statutorily required
  118  reports and bibliographic information that it receives or
  119  creates pursuant to this section. The database must be
  120  searchable, at a minimum, by the report’s designated recipient,
  121  the state entity that submitted the report, the date of the
  122  report’s submission, the law requiring the state entity to
  123  submit the report, the title or topic of the report, and
  124  identifiable keywords Provide for at least quarterly
  125  distribution of bibliographic information on reports to:
  126         1. Agencies and officers within the executive, legislative,
  127  and judicial branches of state government, the State Board of
  128  Education, the Board of Governors of the State University
  129  System, and the Public Service Commission, free of charge; and
  130         2. Other interested parties upon request properly made and
  131  upon payment of the actual cost of duplication pursuant to s.
  132  119.07(1).
  133         (3)As soon as practicable, the administrative head of each
  134  executive, legislative, or judicial agency and each agency of
  135  the State Board of Education, the Board of Governors of the
  136  State University System, and the Public Service Commission
  137  required by law to make reports periodically shall ensure that
  138  those reports are created, stored, managed, updated, retrieved,
  139  and disseminated through electronic means.
  140         (4) This section may not be construed to waive or modify
  141  the requirement in s. 257.05(2) pertaining to the provision of
  142  copies of state publications to the division.
  143         Section 2. For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the sum of $1
  144  million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund is
  145  appropriated to the Department of State for the purpose of
  146  implementing and maintaining the database of statutorily
  147  required reports and bibliographic information as required by
  148  this act.
  149         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.