Florida Senate - 2025 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SB 1146 Ì636522ÈÎ636522 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House Comm: RCS . 04/01/2025 . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability (Burgess) recommended the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete everything after the enacting clause 4 and insert: 5 Section 1. Subsection (5) is added to section 23.44, 6 Florida Statutes, as created by SB 1144 or similar legislation, 7 2025 Regular Session, to read: 8 23.44 Hope Florida Office; eligibility to participate; 9 duties.— 10 (5)(a) A participant's personal identifying information 11 contained in records held by the office or any other agency 12 designated to participate in the administration of the program 13 before, on, or after the effective date of this exemption is 14 exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 15 Constitution. 16 (b) This subsection is subject to the Open Government 17 Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand 18 repealed on October 2, 2030, unless reviewed and saved from 19 repeal by the Legislature. 20 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 21 necessity to make the personal identifying information of Hope 22 Florida participants contained in records held by the Office of 23 Hope Florida or any other agency that participates in the Hope 24 Florida program exempt from public records requirements. The 25 Hope Florida program collects personal identifying information 26 regarding program participants in order to fulfill its mission 27 to assist and serve Florida residents who are in vulnerable 28 situations and subject to abuse or exploitation. The Hope 29 Florida program collects information regarding its participants' 30 employment status, housing status, domestic situation, and 31 access to medical care and other basic needs. As such, 32 information provided would be personal, sensitive information 33 related to a person's physical or mental health or income 34 status. Matters of personal health and financial status are 35 traditionally private concerns, and for this reason, a person's 36 expectation of a right to privacy regarding these matters 37 necessitates the exemption. Furthermore, the exemption ensures 38 the protection of the participant's identity, who may be subject 39 to abuse or exploitation as a result of his or her vulnerable 40 situation. If the participant's personal identifying information 41 were not protected, the program's mission would be significantly 42 impaired because applicants would be less inclined to 43 participate if their personal information would be made 44 available to the public. The Legislature finds that the harm 45 that may result from the release of such information outweighs 46 the public benefit that may be derived from the disclosure of 47 the information. 48 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that 49 SB 1144 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation 50 is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension 51 thereof and becomes a law. 52 53 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 54 And the title is amended as follows: 55 Delete everything before the enacting clause 56 and insert: 57 A bill to be entitled 58 An act relating to public records; amending s. 23.44, 59 F.S.; providing an exemption from public records 60 requirements for the personal identifying information 61 of a participant in the Hope Florida program contained 62 in records held by the Office of Hope Florida or any 63 other agency designated to participate in the 64 administering the program; providing retroactive 65 application; providing for future legislative review 66 and repeal; providing a statement of public necessity; 67 providing a contingent effective date.