Bill Text: FL S0320 | 2024 | Regular Session | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Public Records/Prospective Bidders/Department of Transportation

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-03-04 - Laid on Table, refer to CS/HB 379 [S0320 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S0320-Comm_Sub.html
       Florida Senate - 2024                              CS for SB 320
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Transportation; and Senator Wright
       
       
       
       
       
       596-02417-24                                           2024320c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; amending s. 337.14,
    3         F.S.; providing an exemption from public records
    4         requirements for certain financial information
    5         provided by a prospective bidder to the Department of
    6         Transportation for prequalification purposes;
    7         providing for future legislative review and repeal of
    8         the exemption; providing a statement of public
    9         necessity; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 337.14, Florida
   14  Statutes, is amended to read:
   15         337.14 Application for qualification; certificate of
   16  qualification; restrictions; request for hearing.—
   17         (1)(a) Any contractor desiring to bid for the performance
   18  of any construction contract in excess of $250,000 which the
   19  department proposes to let must first be certified by the
   20  department as qualified pursuant to this section and rules of
   21  the department. The rules of the department must address the
   22  qualification of contractors to bid on construction contracts in
   23  excess of $250,000 and must include requirements with respect to
   24  the equipment, past record, experience, financial resources, and
   25  organizational personnel of the applying contractor which are
   26  necessary to perform the specific class of work for which the
   27  contractor seeks certification. Any contractor who desires to
   28  bid on contracts in excess of $50 million and who is not
   29  qualified and in good standing with the department as of January
   30  1, 2019, must first be certified by the department as qualified
   31  and must have satisfactorily completed two projects, each in
   32  excess of $15 million, for the department or for any other state
   33  department of transportation. The department may limit the
   34  dollar amount of any contract upon which a contractor is
   35  qualified to bid or the aggregate total dollar volume of
   36  contracts such contractor is allowed to have under contract at
   37  any one time. Each applying contractor seeking qualification to
   38  bid on construction contracts in excess of $250,000 shall
   39  furnish the department a statement under oath, on such forms as
   40  the department may prescribe, setting forth detailed information
   41  as required on the application. Each application for
   42  certification must be accompanied by audited, certified
   43  financial statements prepared in accordance with generally
   44  accepted accounting principles and auditing standards by a
   45  certified public accountant licensed in this state or another
   46  state. The audited, certified financial statements must be for
   47  the applying contractor and must have been prepared within the
   48  immediately preceding 12 months. The department may not consider
   49  any financial information of the parent entity of the applying
   50  contractor, if any. The department may not certify as qualified
   51  any applying contractor who fails to submit the audited,
   52  certified financial statements required by this paragraph
   53  subsection. If the application or the annual financial statement
   54  shows the financial condition of the applying contractor more
   55  than 4 months before the date on which the application is
   56  received by the department, the applicant must also submit
   57  interim audited, certified financial statements prepared in
   58  accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and
   59  auditing standards by a certified public accountant licensed in
   60  this state or another state. The interim financial statements
   61  must cover the period from the end date of the annual statement
   62  and must show the financial condition of the applying contractor
   63  no more than 4 months before the date that the interim financial
   64  statements are received by the department. However, upon the
   65  request of the applying contractor, an application and
   66  accompanying annual or interim financial statement received by
   67  the department within 15 days after either 4-month period under
   68  this paragraph subsection shall be considered timely. An
   69  applying contractor desiring to bid exclusively for the
   70  performance of construction contracts with proposed budget
   71  estimates of less than $2 million may submit reviewed annual or
   72  reviewed interim financial statements prepared by a certified
   73  public accountant. The information required by this paragraph
   74  subsection is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1). The
   75  department shall act upon the application for qualification
   76  within 30 days after the department determines that the
   77  application is complete. The department may waive the
   78  requirements of this subsection for projects having a contract
   79  price of $500,000 or less if the department determines that the
   80  project is of a noncritical nature and the waiver will not
   81  endanger public health, safety, or property.
   82         (b) In addition to the information required by paragraph
   83  (a), any financial information required by the department for
   84  prequalification purposes which would reveal the revenue,
   85  profit, loss, expenses, gross receipts, taxes paid, or capital
   86  investment of any applying contractor is confidential and exempt
   87  from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
   88  Constitution. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government
   89  Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand
   90  repealed on October 2, 2029, unless reviewed and saved from
   91  repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
   92         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   93  necessity that any financial information required by the
   94  Department of Transportation for prequalification purposes,
   95  including information that would reveal the revenue, profit,
   96  loss, expenses, gross receipts, taxes paid, or capital
   97  investment from any applying contractor, be made exempt from s.
   98  119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the
   99  State Constitution. In the prequalification process, an applying
  100  contractor will provide financial statements to the department,
  101  and the department may request additional financial information
  102  in order to verify the financial adequacy of the prospective
  103  bidder. These records may contain sensitive information related
  104  to an applying contractor’s financial condition. The risk of
  105  potential disclosure of sensitive financial information defeats
  106  the purpose of protections already afforded to financial
  107  statements and may have a chilling effect on entities desiring
  108  to prequalify or maintain prequalification. The chilling effect
  109  may result in a limited pool of prequalified bidders, thus
  110  negatively impacting the department’s ability to receive the
  111  best value for projects. Additionally, protecting this financial
  112  information from public disclosure will prevent such information
  113  from being used by competitors to gain an unfair advantage
  114  against other bidders on the project. Lastly, protecting this
  115  information from disclosure promotes the free provision of such
  116  information to the department by removing a prospective bidder’s
  117  concern for attendant risks in doing so. As a result, this
  118  exemption promotes the state’s interest in ensuring that
  119  prospective bidders on transportation projects possess the
  120  necessary financial resources to complete such projects, many of
  121  which involve immense costs and may be complex and of long
  122  duration.
  123         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.

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