Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections Chairman Jack Latvala R-Clearwater, has wasted little time in filing a pair of bills that prohibit legislators from voting on bills that benefit them and lobbying any state agency for two years after leaving office, places greater restriction on public officials' use of political committees, and would give the state Commission on Ethics more power to collect fines.

The proposed committee bills, SPB 7006 and SPB 7008, go before the committee on Tuesday afternoon.

The bills were not unexpected as Latvala said last Tuesday, following a three-hour workshop by the committee, that he would push for the stiffer penalties on officials that fail to file required fiscal disclosure paperwork, prohibit legislators from voting on issue that directly benefit them, expand the two-year prohibition on lobbying to all state agencies, prohibit anyone from using committees of continuous existence for personal expenses, and let the Florida Commission on Ethics initiate investigations based on referrals from the governor, the Department of Law Enforcement, the state and U.S. attorneys. 

The Florida Commission on Ethics had crafted 11 proposed ethics reforms for the 2013 legislative session, with a priority on measures that would increase the civil fine the commission can impose, from $10,000 to $25,000, and strengthen the requirements for elected officials to submit their annual financial disclosure forms.

Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, both announced that ethics reform was high on their priority lists for 2013 as they were formally elected to run their respective chambers in November.

Gaetz, whose own high-profile committee of continuous existence, the Florida Leadership Alliance, was used to help bankroll a number of legislative campaigns, had also claimed some lawmakers in both parties have been using CCEs to cover daily expenses outside the political purpose of the committee.

Gaetz declined to offer names, but former Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Lake Mary, was the focus of intense media scrutiny last summer for expenses from his CCE.



Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.