Florida Attorney General to Pension: $11K Bill for Public Records Is Indefensible; SBA Defends Actions

(October 4, 2011) – A Florida Attorney General is criticizing the state’s pension fund for asking for nearly $11,000 to turn over public records.

According to the Miami Herald, Attorney General Pam Bondi — who is one of three state officials who act as trustees of Florida’s pension fund — told the executive director of the State Board of Administration (SBA) that it was indefensible to charge thousands of dollars in order to provide records related to a $125 million investment. State Sen. Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey) initially made the request for the information in June on behalf of the St. Petersburg Times, the AP reported. At first, SBA Director Ash Williams offered to make certain documents available. However, in August, the state senator requested more detailed information, which Williams claimed would take hundreds of hours to compile. Williams added that any breach of confidentiality “will create liability and could result in economic loss, potentially material economic loss to our beneficiaries,” the Miami Herald reported.

SBA, however, has defended its actions. “After providing a significant amount of information (230 pages worth of documentation) at no charge showing our processes and procedures were followed and after multiple offers to answer questions or concerns, we received a second records request that was 46 individual requests and far more expansive than even the original request,” SBA’s John Kuczwanski told aiCIO. “Due to current exemptions to Florida’s public records laws, a majority of the information requested required a review by outside investment firms and consultants to first determine if any of the information fell under the existing exemption, under penalty of perjury.”

Despite SBA’s claims, Bondi told Williams: “I’ve lost sleep over this bill.” The attorney general noted concerns that Williams estimated it would take 300 hours to complete the request of proving public records related to a $125 million investment.

Following 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. The state board manages the state’s $100 billion-plus pension fund for public employees. “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 Senate President Mike 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, 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.”