Florida leaders say they want to get tough on the state’s ethics laws for this upcoming legislative Session. Incoming Senate President Don Gaetz says one of his main priorities is raising the standard of ethical conduct for members of the state Legislature.
Incoming Senate President Don Gaetz says he wants to make sure financial disclosures forms filed by elected officials are easily accessible to the public. He says currently, for the average citizen, it’s a treasure hunt to find that kind of information. Gaetz says he also wants to take care of how lawmakers declare conflict of interests.
“Under the Senate rule, a Senator declares a conflict of interest, 15 days after she or he votes. At the very least, we should declare the conflict," said Gaetz. "But, I think if you or your family benefits directly from a piece of legislation, you should declare the conflict, you shouldn’t vote, and you shouldn’t try and influence the vote.”
Gaetz says the House has a stronger conflict of interest rule than the Senate, but he’d like to see both chambers of the Legislature under more stringent rules.
Gaetz is also hoping to toughen up Florida’s ethics laws by eliminating what is known as CCEs, or Committees of Continuous Existence. And, Dan Krassner with the non-partisan government watchdog group Integrity Florida says he supports the plan.
“CCEs are able to just exist indefinitely and raise significant amount of money on candidate races and issue campaigns with minimal disclosure, not the level of accountability and transparency that we would like to see in our politics today,” Krassner remarked.
Similar to Political Action Committees, CCEs can make contributions to candidates, committees, or political parties. The matter is becoming a sore subject among the Legislature, after it was revealed some state lawmakers, like Representative Chris Dorworth, are utilizing CCEs for personal expenses.
Incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford has said he too supports ethics reform for the coming session.
For more news updates, follow Sascha Cordner on twitter @SaschaCordner.
