Senate committee preserves PSC confidentiality exemption in SPB 7,006

The Florida Senate Committee on Regulated Industries voted to report SPB 7,006 favorably after a brief presentation and no substantive debate.

Kurt Schrader, senior attorney to the committee, said the bill would remove a scheduled repeal and thereby continue exemptions that allow portions of Public Service Commission hearings containing proprietary or confidential business information to be closed to the public. "The Open Government Sunset Review Act requires the legislature to review each public record and public meeting exemption five years after enactment," Schrader said, and he described the bill as removing the scheduled repeal so the exemptions remain in place.

Schrader listed examples of the kinds of material the exemption protects, saying it can include utility records and financial filings and "power plant designs" submitted during rate proceedings. He told the committee that when the PSC previously lacked the exemption, staff and attorneys sometimes had to avoid discussing confidential materials in open session or move portions of proceedings to closed settings.

Vice Chair Pizzo moved that SPB 7,006 be submitted as a committee bill. With no objections, the motion was adopted. The clerk then called the roll; a majority of responding senators voted yes, and the chair announced that SPB 7,006 was reported favorably as a committee bill.

The bill, as explained to the committee, would take effect upon becoming law. Committee staff said they surveyed the PSC, the Office of Public Counsel and utility stakeholders, and reported unanimous recommendations that the exemption be renewed. The bill text states that the scheduled repeal date for the exemptions was 10/02/2026 before the repeal date was removed.

The committee advanced SPB 7,006 without amendment; the measure will proceed through the legislative process as a committee bill.