Florida SB 1298: Juvenile Justice

Bill Text

1298 
Public Records/Public Employees Relations Commission 
2026-02-13T04:48:48Z 
Providing an exemption from public records requirements for a showing of interest signed by the employees or the group of employees who no longer desire to be represented by a certified bargaining agent; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing for the reversion of specified statutory text under certain conditions; providing statements of public necessity, etc. 
Committee Substitute 1 
2026 
S 
GB 
General Bill 
c1 

 Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 1298 

 By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability; 
 and Senator Martin 

 585-02790-26 20261298c1 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to public records; amending s. 
 3 447.308, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 
 4 records requirements for a showing of interest signed 
 5 by the employees or the group of employees who no 
 6 longer desire to be represented by a certified 
 7 bargaining agent; providing for future legislative 
 8 review and repeal of the exemption; providing for the 
 9 reversion of specified statutory text under certain 
 10 conditions; providing statements of public necessity; 
 11 providing an effective date. 
 12 
 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 14 
 15 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 447.308, Florida 
 16 Statutes, is amended to read: 
 17 447.308 Revocation of certification of employee 
 18 organization.— 
 19 (1) Any employee or group of employees which no longer 
 20 desires to be represented by the certified bargaining agent may 
 21 file with the commission a petition to revoke certification. The 
 22 petition must shall be accompanied by dated statements signed by 
 23 at least 30 percent of the employees in the unit, indicating 
 24 that such employees no longer desire to be represented for 
 25 purposes of collective bargaining by the certified bargaining 
 26 agent. The time of filing said petition is shall be governed by 
 27 the provisions of s. 447.307(3)(d) relating to petitions for 
 28 certification. The showing of interest signed by the employees 
 29 is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), 
 30 Article I of the State Constitution, except that any employee, 
 31 employer, or employee organization having sufficient reason to 
 32 believe any of the employee signatures were obtained by 
 33 collusion, coercion, intimidation, or misrepresentation or are 
 34 otherwise invalid shall be given a reasonable opportunity to 
 35 verify and challenge the signatures appearing on the petition. 
 36 The commission or one of its designated agents shall investigate 
 37 the petition to determine its sufficiency. If the commission 
 38 finds the petition to be insufficient, it may dismiss the 
 39 petition. If the commission finds that the petition is 
 40 sufficient, it shall immediately: 
 41 (a) Identify the bargaining unit and determine which public 
 42 employees shall be qualified and entitled to vote in the 
 43 election held by the commission. 
 44 (b) Identify the public employer or employers. 
 45 (c) Order an election by secret ballot, the cost of said 
 46 election to be borne equally by the parties, except as the 
 47 commission may provide by rule. The commission’s order assessing 
 48 costs of an election may be enforced pursuant to the provisions 
 49 of this part. 
 50 Section 2. The amendment made by this act to s. 447.308(1), 
 51 Florida Statutes, is subject to the Open Government Sunset 
 52 Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15, Florida Statutes, and 
 53 shall stand repealed on October 2, 2031, unless reviewed and 
 54 saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. If the 
 55 expansion of the exemption is not saved from repeal, the text of 
 56 that subsection must revert to that in existence on June 30, 
 57 2026, except that any amendment to such text enacted other than 
 58 by this act must be preserved and continue to operate to the 
 59 extent that such amendments are not dependent upon the amendment 
 60 to the text which expires pursuant to this section. 
 61 Section 3. The Legislature finds that it is a public 
 62 necessity that the showing of interest statements signed by 
 63 public employees indicating their desire to no longer be 
 64 represented by their bargaining agent be made confidential and 
 65 exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), 
 66 Article I of the State Constitution. The showing of interest 
 67 statements signed by public employees indicating their desire to 
 68 be represented by a bargaining agent are already confidential 
 69 and exempt pursuant to s. 447.307, Florida Statutes, in order to 
 70 avoid the practical effect of chilling the employees’ exercise 
 71 of the right to form and join a union. Similarly, the showing of 
 72 interest statements seeking to decertify a union must be kept 
 73 confidential in order to avoid the practical effec