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Tallahassee, FL – Democrat Loranne Ausley is in a tight race against Republican Senate President Jeff Atwater for Florida's Chief Financial Officer. On Monday, she accused Atwater of not following through on a 2005 law that requires audits of lobbyist disclosures on how much they are paid and by whom. Lynn Hatter reports.
The lobbyist disclosure law was supported by both Ausley and Atwater, but the Democrat says Atwater failed to enforce a key provision of the bill during his time as Senate President. It requires random audits of the reports that lobbyists file with the state. Lobbyists sued, saying reporting their income was unconstitutional, but they lost.
"The audits we know are part of the law," Ausley said, "and it's something that leadership is responsible for doing. There was a lawsuit and the lawsuit was upheld and it's time for the Legislature to follow the law."
The Legislature's auditing committee has said it would cost up to a million dollars to hire an outside auditor and it was difficult to find ten - the minimum number according to the law - that didn't have a conflict of interest.