Bill to shield personal information of homeless individuals headed to House floor

A bill that would keep homeless individuals’ data from becoming a public record received its third committee nod Thursday, which will send it to the full House for a vote.

Republican Rep. Fiona McFarland of Sarasota filed the bill (HB 699) so that workers who collect homeless information for a federal database don’t have to worry about creating a public record that might expose personal information, she said. Also, people who experience homelessness won’t have to worry that their past might come back to haunt them.

The House Health & Human Services Committee Thursday signed off on the bill. Sen. Joe Gruters has proposed similar legislation (SB 934). It has received approval from the full Senate with just one vote against it.

The bill passed unanimously in Thursday’s committee hearing without any objections or debate. McFarland did explain, however, that a person’s name, Social Security number, veteran status and other personal information is collected even if they stay in a shelter for just one night.

“This is consistent with the intent of the federal database,” she said of the exemption.

In earlier committee testimony, McFarland said the unique circumstances of the last two years that upended many lives made this the time to pass this law.

“So many people have experienced housing insecurity coming out of COVID,” McFarland said. “The last thing we would want to do is take any of that information and have it negatively affect them as they apply for jobs or get their lives back on track.”

McFarland said people who tally the homeless census that is reported to the federal government are leaving people out of the census because being counted could expose their information, she said. 

“They don’t use the (federal information system) because of fear of triggering a public record,” McFarland said.

Yet, an accurate count is important because it is used to make decisions about allocating resources, she said.

The bill’s final passage will require a two-thirds vote of approval from the full House because it creates a new exemption to the state’s broad Sunshine Law, according to an analysis.