S7000 is a Florida Open Government Sunset Review Act bill that continues a public records exemption for the address and telephone number of a person who was provided public emergency shelter during a storm or catastrophic event. The bill amends section 252.385, Florida Statutes, to remove the scheduled repeal date for this exemption, thereby keeping the confidentiality protection in place beyond October 2, 2026.
The exemption applies to information held by the agency that provided the emergency shelter and shields those records from Florida’s general public records law and the related constitutional public records provision. In practical terms, the bill preserves privacy protections for evacuees and shelter residents whose contact information is collected during emergency response operations.
Impact
The bill preserves and extends an existing public records exemption in section 252.385, Florida Statutes, by deleting the sunset provision that would otherwise cause it to expire. As a result, agencies that operate or administer public emergency shelters may continue to withhold the addresses and telephone numbers of sheltered persons from public disclosure, subject to the same statutory limits already in place. The bill does not create a new exemption or expand the category of protected records; it simply reenacts and keeps the current exemption in force.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have broad bipartisan support and little visible controversy. It passed Senate committees and floor votes with strong majorities, and the House approved it unanimously. The vote history suggests general agreement that the privacy protection for people using emergency shelters should remain in place.
Contention
There is no recorded committee transcript indicating substantive debate, and the vote margins suggest minimal opposition. The only identifiable point of policy tension is the usual Open Government Sunset Review question of whether a public records exemption should continue or expire; in this case, supporters favored preserving privacy for vulnerable evacuees, while any potential concern would center on limiting public access to government-held information. The final votes indicate that any such concern did not generate significant resistance.