Sen. Jack Latvala blunted consumer-protection efforts Thursday by winning approval of an amendment to authorize the continued sale of Floridians' Social Security numbers.
But the fight is far from over, and will be rejoined Tuesday when the Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability takes up the bill again.
Senate Bill 1208 would have prohibited the state Department of Financial Services from disseminating some 3.3 million Social Security numbers to registered attorneys, CPAs and private investigators.
But Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, won a 6-4 vote on the oversight and accountability committee to continue the practice by redacting the last four numbers of personal Social Security accounts.
Joining Latvala were Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale; Charlie Dean, R-Inverness; Gwen Margolis, D-Miami; Gary Siplin, D-Orlando; and Jeremy Ring, D-Margate.
Voting no on the amendment were Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Wellington; Anitere Flores, R-Miami; Bill Montford, D-Marianna; and Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, was absent.
The DFS and state Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater have called for an end to the distribution of Social Security numbers, noting that Florida is the only state that does so.
Atwater's press secretary, Anna Alexopoulos, said, "The CFOs position has not changed. The goal of this bill is to protect Social Security numbers whether whole or in part. As public servants we have an obligation to protect sensitive and confidential information on behalf of the citizens of Florida."
After Latvala's amendment was tacked on, the bill was temporarily postponed by the committee. It is scheduled for another vote on Tuesday.
Pat Traylor, president of Professional Locators Association for Florida, said the amended version of SB 1208 would enable her members to continue to track down owners of millions of dollars of unclaimed property.
"That will work for us," said Traylor, who added that Florida, with the help of professional locators, returns the second most unclaimed property in the nation after California.
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
