SB 520 / HB 1087 — FRS public records exemption

What was SB 520?

SB 520 was filed by Senator Simon for the 2026 Regular Session, with HB 1087 as the House companion. The bill would have broadened the public records exemption for FRS retirement plan participants. SB 520 died in Governmental Oversight and Accountability on March 13, 2026. HB 1087 was committee-substituted twice (CS/CS/HB 1087) and repurposed into an unrelated Office of Financial Regulation public records bill — the FRS retirement provision was stripped during that process. The FRS public records exemption did not pass in any form this session.

What current law says

Under s. 121.031(5), F.S., there is a limited exemption for FRS Pension Plan members: retiree names and addresses cannot be released in aggregate, compiled, or list form to the general public. However, any person can view or copy an individual's retirement records at the Department of Management Services, one record at a time, by submitting a separate written request for a named individual. Investment Plan members have a separate, broader protection under s. 121.4501(19), F.S.: all personal identifying information — including name, Social Security number, account balances, and asset allocation — is exempt from public records requirements. This creates an asymmetry: Investment Plan participants have comprehensive protection, while Pension Plan participants have only a narrow restriction on bulk data releases.

What the bill would have changed

SB 520 would have replaced the existing limited exemption with a broad one: all records identifying participants in any state retirement plan administered by the Division of Retirement — held by either the Division or the State Board of Administration — would have been exempt from public records requirements under s. 119.07(1) and Article I, Section 24(a) of the State Constitution. The exemption would have applied uniformly across all FRS plans, eliminating the current asymmetry. The bill's public necessity statement explicitly cited this goal: providing uniform protection regardless of the retirement plan a member selects. The exemption would have been subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act, set to repeal on October 2, 2031, unless reenacted. The bill would have preserved the ability to disclose information to other governmental entities for official duties without waiving the exemption.

Why this matters for FRS members

The bill's public necessity statement identified a specific concern: that releasing information identifying retirement plan participants could allow predatory individuals and organizations to target members. Under current law, someone can request your individual Pension Plan retirement records from DMS by name. The bill would have closed that access point. It also would have addressed a fairness gap: members who chose the Investment Plan already have their personal identifying information protected, while Pension Plan members do not have equivalent protection. This issue has been raised in prior sessions and is likely to return. The underlying tension — Florida's strong public records tradition versus protecting public employees' financial information — is not going away.