Bill Text: FL S1584 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Public Records/Homeless Management Information System

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2018-03-10 - Died in Children, Families, and Elder Affairs [S1584 Detail]

Download: Florida-2018-S1584-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2018                                    SB 1584
       
       
        
       By Senator Stewart
       
       
       
       
       
       13-00582A-18                                          20181584__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; creating s.
    3         420.6231, F.S.; defining the term “individual
    4         identifying information”; creating a public records
    5         exemption for individual identifying information of a
    6         person under a specified age contained in a Point-in
    7         Time Count and Survey or data in a Homeless Management
    8         Information System; providing for retroactive
    9         application of the exemption; specifying that the
   10         exemption does not preclude the release of aggregate
   11         information; providing for future legislative review
   12         and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of
   13         public necessity; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Section 420.6231, Florida Statutes, is created
   18  to read:
   19         420.6231 Individual identifying information in specified
   20  homelessness surveys and databases; public records exemption for
   21  persons under 21.—
   22         (1) As used in this section, the term “individual
   23  identifying information” means information that directly or
   24  indirectly identifies a specific person, can be manipulated to
   25  identify a specific person, or can be linked with other
   26  available information to identify a specific person.
   27         (2) Individual identifying information of a person under 21
   28  years of age contained in a Point-in-Time Count and Survey or
   29  data in a Homeless Management Information System collected
   30  pursuant to 42 U.S.C. chapter 119, subchapter IV, and related
   31  regulations provided in 24 C.F.R. part 91, is exempt from s.
   32  119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. This
   33  exemption applies to individual identifying information held
   34  before, on, or after the effective date of this section.
   35         (3) This section does not preclude the release of aggregate
   36  information in a Point-in-Time Count and Survey or data in a
   37  Homeless Management Information System that does not disclose
   38  individual identifying information of a person under 21 years of
   39  age.
   40         (4) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   41  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   42  on October 2, 2023, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   43  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   44         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   45  necessity that individual identifying information of a person
   46  under 21 years of age contained in a Point-in-Time Count and
   47  Survey or data in a Homeless Management Information System
   48  collected pursuant to 42 U.S.C. chapter 119, subchapter IV, and
   49  related regulations provided in 24 C.F.R. part 91, be made
   50  exempt from public records requirements. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
   51  s. 11363, the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban
   52  Development is required to instruct service providers that they
   53  are prohibited from disclosing individual identifying
   54  information about any client, for purposes of the Homeless
   55  Management Information System, which includes information in a
   56  Point-in-Time Count and Survey. The public release of such
   57  sensitive information could lead to discrimination against or
   58  ridicule of such individuals and could make them reluctant to
   59  seek assistance for themselves or their family members, which
   60  could hinder their ability to succeed in school or at their
   61  current or future place of employment and, ultimately, to attain
   62  or maintain self-sufficiency. The public release of such
   63  information may put affected individuals at greater risk of
   64  injury as a significant proportion of such individuals are
   65  survivors of domestic violence or suffer from mental illness or
   66  substance abuse. Additionally, public access to such information
   67  may put affected individuals at a heightened risk for fraud and
   68  identity theft. The harm from disclosing such information
   69  outweighs any public benefit that can be derived from widespread
   70  and unfettered access to such information. This exemption is
   71  narrowly drawn so that aggregate information may be disclosed
   72  but does not authorize the disclosure of individual identifying
   73  information of a person under 21 years of age contained in a
   74  Point-in-Time Count and Survey or data in a Homeless Management
   75  Information System collected pursuant to 42 U.S.C. chapter 119,
   76  subchapter IV, and related regulations provided in 24 C.F.R.
   77  part 91.
   78         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.