TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis issued a statement applauding the House Government Operations Subcommittee’s favorable hearing House Bill 1149, Required Disclosure by Contractors of Foreign Ownership or Control, which will require current and prospective contractors to disclose whether they are owned or controlled by a foreign government. As a top priority of the CFO, last September he issued a directive bolstering transparency requirements for vendors that do business with the Department of Financial Services (DFS). Among a number of provisions, the directive required DFS to review the country-of-origin vendor survey that was issued in May, prior to entering into a new contract or approving vendor contract amendments. House Bill 1149 will move next to the Public Integrity and Elections Committee.
 
CFO Jimmy Patronis said, “For nearly a year now, I’ve been fighting for vendor transparency within our state’s procurement system to empower our policy leaders with as much information as possible on who our state does business with. As it stands today, our state agencies and local governments who buy off our contracts don’t have a tool to identify this vital information. If the Legislature wants any information on which country tax dollars go to, we’re too limited. I applaud the Florida House for moving this important legislation forward today and thank you to Speaker Sprowls, Chair Fischer and Representative Plakon for their hard work to help shed more light on how Florida tax dollars are used.”