TALLAHASSEE — As Minnesota reels from the murder of one state lawmaker and the shooting of another, Florida could shield from public disclosure the home addresses of legislators, other elected officials and their family members.
Florida lawmakers in April overwhelmingly passed a bill (SB 268) to create a public-records exemption that would prevent the release of home addresses and telephone numbers of legislators and members of Congress. Also, the exemption would apply to the governor, lieutenant governor, state Cabinet members, county commissioners, property appraisers, elections supervisors, school superintendents, school board members, mayors and city commissioners.
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The bill, which needs Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature to become law, drew relatively little attention during this year’s legislative session.
But lawmakers said they have been threatened and harassed and have had people show up at their homes.
“All of us here are public servants,” House bill sponsor Susan Valdes, R-Tampa, said April 29, shortly before the House voted to give final approval to the measure. “We deserve to be protected. Our families deserve to be protected.”
Rep. Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, said safety is “paramount.”
“A lot of us deal with this, we kind of deal with this in silence,” she said.
The issue of lawmaker safety has drawn national attention after a gunman murdered former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband early Saturday at their home and shot Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife at their home. The Associated Press reported Monday morning that suspected gunman Vance Boelter had been arrested after a manhunt.
Florida law already provides public-records exemptions for home addresses and telephone numbers for a variety of people such as law-enforcement officers, judges, prosecutors, public defenders and tax collectors. The exemptions also generally apply to those officials’ spouses and children.
But the new bill would go much further in applying exemptions to elected officials and their family members. It passed the House in a 113-2 vote, after getting approved by the Senate in a 34-2 vote.
The bill, however, drew opposition from the First Amendment Foundation, which said it would reduce “transparency.” As an example, disputes have arisen in the past about whether lawmakers live in their districts — which might become harder for reporters and members of the public to check if addresses are shielded.
“While the bill will do little to deter bad actors, it makes it extremely difficult for people to check whether their elected officials actually live in their districts,” the First Amendment Foundation said in a report on its website.
Part of the bill includes a legislative finding that a “public necessity” exists for shielding addresses and telephone numbers. Under the bill, cities and ZIP codes where elected officials live would remain public, but not their actual addresses.
The bill, which would take effect July 1, said “public officers and their families may receive threats, including, but not limited to, verbal threats, harassment, and intimidation, while carrying out their official duties.”
“Vulnerability to such threats may discourage residents of this state from seeking elected office in order to protect themselves and their families,” the bill said. “The Legislature further finds that the harm that may result from the release of such personal identifying and location information outweighs any public benefit that may be derived from the disclosure of the information.”
