Good News from Florida Legislative Leaders

After ripping apart one Florida ethics "reform" bill, it's nice to be able to say that Florida's legislative leaders are planning to do some good things this year. According to an Integrity Florida press release today, the senate and house leaders have committed themselves to do the following:

• Strengthen the garnishment provisions for public officials who don't pay their fines.


• Require that local officials undergo ethics training just like the legislature has to, annually, and apply many of the same ethics requirements presently in place for state lawmakers to local officials.


• Hold statutorily created corporations, like Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and Enterprise Florida, and direct support organizations, like Visit Florida, to state ethical standards.


• Remove officials from office for failing to file financial disclosure reports.


• Increase lobbying disclosure and registration throughout Florida's special districts.


• Strengthen open records and open government laws.


• Define clear and enforceable rules for residency requirements of public officials.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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