Florida Senate - 2025 SB 1012 By Senator Calatayud 38-01952-25 20251012__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records and meetings; 3 creating s. 468.2265, F.S.; providing an exemption 4 from public records requirements for certain 5 information held by the Department of Health or the 6 Board of Occupational Therapy pursuant to the 7 Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact; authorizing 8 disclosure of the information under certain 9 circumstances; providing an exemption from public 10 meetings requirements for certain meetings, or 11 portions of meetings, of the Occupational Therapy 12 Compact Commission; providing an exemption from public 13 records requirements for recordings, minutes, and 14 records generated during the exempt meetings or exempt 15 portions of meetings; providing for future legislative 16 review and repeal of the exemption; providing 17 statements of public necessity; providing a contingent 18 effective date. 19 20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 21 22 Section 1. Section 468.2265, Florida Statutes, is created 23 to read: 24 468.2265 Occupational Therapy Compact Commission; public 25 records and meetings exemptions.— 26 (1) An occupational therapist’s or occupational therapy 27 assistant’s personal identifying information, other than the 28 person’s name, licensure status, or licensure number, obtained 29 from the coordinated database and reporting system described in 30 Article VIII of s. 468.226 and held by the department or the 31 board is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the 32 State Constitution unless the state that originally reported the 33 information to the coordinated database and reporting system 34 authorizes the disclosure of such information by law. If 35 disclosure is so authorized, information may be disclosed only 36 to the extent authorized by law by the reporting state. 37 (2)(a) A meeting or a portion of a meeting of the 38 Occupational Therapy Compact Commission or the executive board 39 or any other committee of the commission established in Article 40 VII of s. 468.226 at which matters concerning any of the 41 following are discussed is exempt from s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), 42 Art. I of the State Constitution: 43 1. Noncompliance of a member state with its obligations 44 under the compact. 45 2. The employment, compensation, or discipline of, or other 46 matters, practices, or procedures related to, specific employees 47 or other matters related to the commission’s internal personnel 48 practices and procedures. 49 3. Current, threatened, or reasonably anticipated 50 litigation against the commission, executive board, or other 51 committees of the commission. 52 4. Negotiation of contracts for the purchase, lease, or 53 sale of goods, services, or real estate. 54 5. An accusation of any person of a crime or a formal 55 censure of any person. 56 6. Information disclosing trade secrets or commercial or 57 financial information that is privileged or confidential. 58 7. Information of a personal nature when disclosure would 59 constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. 60 8. Investigatory records compiled for law enforcement 61 purposes. 62 9. Information related to any investigative reports 63 prepared by or on behalf of or for use of the commission or 64 other committee charged with responsibility for investigation or 65 determination of compliance issues pursuant to the compact. 66 10. Matters specifically exempted from disclosure by 67 federal or member state statute. 68 (b) Recordings, minutes, and records generated during an 69 exempt meeting or an exempt portion of a meeting are exempt from 70 s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 71 (3) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset 72 Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed 73 on October 2, 2030, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 74 through reenactment by the Legislature. 75 Section 2. (1) The Legislature finds that it is a public 76 necessity that any occupational therapist’s or occupational 77 therapy assistant’s personal identifying information, other than 78 the person’s name, licensure status, or licensure number, 79 obtained from the coordinated database and reporting system 80 described in Article VIII of s. 468.226, Florida Statutes, and 81 held by the Department of Health or Board of Occupational 82 Therapy be made exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and 83 s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. Protection of 84 such information is required under the Occupational Therapy 85 Licensure Compact, which must be adopted by the Legislature in 86 order for this state to become a member state of the compact. 87 Without the public records exemption, this state would be unable 88 to effectively and efficiently implement and administer the 89 compact. 90 (2)(a) The Legislature finds that it is a public necessity 91 that any meeting or portion of a meeting of the Occupational 92 Therapy Compact Commission held as provided in Article VII of s. 93 468.226, Florida Statutes, in which matters specifically 94 exempted from disclosure by federal or state law are discussed 95 be made exempt from s. 286.011, Florida Statutes, and s. 24(b), 96 Article I of the State Constitution. 97 (b) The Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact requires 98 that any meeting or portion of a meeting of the Occupational 99 Therapy Compact Commission in which the matters specified in 100 paragraph (a) are discussed be closed to the public. In the 101 absence of a public meetings exemption, the state would be 102 prohibited from becoming a member state of the compact and, 103 thus, prohibited from effectively and efficiently administering 104 the compact. 105 (3) The Legislature also finds that it is a public 106 necessity that the recordings, minutes, and records generated 107 during a meeting or a portion of a meeting exempt pursuant to s. 108 468.2265(2), Florida Statutes, as created by this act, be made 109 exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), 110 Article I of the State Constitution. Release of such information 111 would negate the public meetings exemption. As such, the 112 Legislature finds that the public records exemption is a public 113 necessity. 114 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that 115 SB 1010 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation 116 is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension 117 thereof and becomes a law.