Florida's SBA Chief Called to Discuss Investment

(October 10, 2011) — Ash Williams, the head of Florida’s State Board of Administration (SBA) — which manages the state’s $100 billion-plus pension fund for public employees — is being called to discuss a $125 million investment.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos asked for the meeting as opposed to granting a request by State Sen. Mike Fasano to subpoena records from SBA, Bloomberg initially reported.

“SBA will provide information to the Senate in whatever format the Senate requests,” SBA spokesman John Kuczwanski told aiCIO. “But, there are laws regarding propriety and confidential information and case law regarding trade secret information. The Senate can request information from the fund, but the confidentiality of information remains under existing law.” In other words, while the Senate has the statutory right to information, it may be forced to be withheld from the public by law.

Kuczwanski added that to date, the SBA has not been given direction as to how the Senate will proceed with the meeting with the Florida Senate. During the meeting, which will be open to the public, Williams and his staff will be asked to be available to answer questions that the public or legislators may have about the investment. 

Following SBA head Ash Williams’ estimate that it would cost nearly $11,000 to compile and go through pension records, Fasano asked the state Senate to subpoena records from SBA. “I am appalled that the SBA would throw this unbelievable hurdle in front of my access to public information,” Fasano wrote in a letter to Haridopolos. “…It is a disgrace that the SBA could merely set a price tag on information that it does not want to see.”

In a statement to aiCIO earlier this month, the state pension asserted: “The SBA and the Trustees have a long and positive history of working closely with the Florida Legislature and legislative committees that oversee the SBA. The SBA, after receiving commitment that proprietary and confidential information would not be released, has been fully transparent with legislators and committees acting in an official capacity at no cost to the legislature…The SBA will comply with any request made by the Florida Senate to review this investment in the Senate’s official capacity, and it is our belief that in that official capacity they will abide by the same laws applicable to the SBA regarding the protection of proprietary and confidential information.”