Two major bills passed by the Florida Legislature were signed by Governor Rick Scott late on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The bills make significant changes to the state’s ethics and campaign finance laws.

Senate Bill 2, the state’s ethics overhaul, becomes effective immediately upon becoming a law.

House Bill 569, the campaign finance bill, takes effect November 1, 2013, except for the provisions eliminating committees of continuous existence (CCEs). CCEs are prohibited from accepting contributions after August 1, 2013, and their certification will be revoked as of September 30, 2013. Additionally, the bill requires the Division of Elections to present a proposal for mandatory electronic filing to the legislature by December 1, 2013.

For previous coverage about this legislation, see “Florida Legislature Passes Campaign Finance Bill” and “Florida Ethics Bill Heads to Governor Scott” by Jennifer Zona.

Perhaps the most talked-about piece of legislation this session, Senate Bill 2 was passed unanimously by both houses of the Florida Legislature.

The final ethics bill:

• Prohibits members of the legislature from acting as lobbyists for compensation before an executive branch agency, agency official, or employee for two years after leaving office. The version passed by the House eliminated an original provision preventing legislators from becoming lobbyists or principals of lobbying firms lobbying the legislature;
• Provides for a fine of up to $5,000 for executive branch lobbyists who fail to disclose required material facts as required or knowingly provide false information;
• Allows the Commission on Ethics to investigate whether a lobbyist has made a prohibited expenditure if a complaint is filed; and
• Prohibits vendors from providing gifts to a reporting individual or procurement employee for vendors doing business with the reporting individual’s or procurement employee’s agency.

The ethics bill was a top priority of Senate President Don Gaetz. He called the bill his “proudest moment as a senator.” The bill was sent immediately to Governor Rick Scott, who has seven days to sign or veto the bill.

The Florida House and Senate reached a compromise on contribution limits, passing a comprehensive campaign finance bill.

The major changes in the bill include:

• Elimination of committees of continuous existence;
• Requiring weekly reporting by political committees and electioneering communications organizations beginning with the 60th day prior to a primary election and continuing until the 4th day before a general election, and daily reporting beginning with the 10th day before a general election;
• Increasing campaign contribution limits from $500 to $3,000 for a candidate for statewide office or retention as a justice of the state supreme court, and from $500 to $1,000 for a candidate for legislative office, retention as a judge of a district court of appeal, or circuit judge; and
• Elimination of limits on contributions to political committees.

The original bill increased all contribution limits from $500 to $10,000. At the beginning of debate on the bill, House Speaker Will Weatherford tweeted, “today is meet me halfway day.”

While critics argue the bill doesn’t go far enough and too many loopholes remain, Senator Jack Latvala, chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, said the goal is transparency. He contends money in politics isn’t going anywhere, so the best the legislature can do is require disclosure.

The bill now awaits action by Governor Rick Scott.

Governor Rick Scott has scheduled the special election for House District 2 for June 11, 2013.

A primary election will be held May 14.

The election will replace the late Representative Clay Ford, who lost his battle with cancer in March.

A bill to allow lobbyist expenditures on legislators is pending before the Florida Senate. Currently, almost all expenditures by lobbyists and principals on members and employees of the legislature are prohibited.

Senate Bill 1634 provides exceptions to the ban on lobbyist expenditures, permitting:

• Individual servings of nonalcoholic beverages provided by a lobbyist or a principal as a courtesy to the attendees of a meeting;

• A single meal not solicited by the member or employee of the legislature, served as part of a scheduled meeting of an established membership organization that is also a principal, and attended by the member or employee as a featured speaker, moderator, or participant of a panel discussion; and

• Food and beverages provided as part of a widely attended event hosted by a membership organization or governmental body that is also a principal if the cost per attendee does not exceed $25.

Widely attended event is defined as one reasonably expected to be attended by at least 25 persons other than members or employees of the legislature, open to persons from throughout a given industry or profession, or to a wide range of persons interested in a given issue presented at the event.

The bill requires the houses of the legislature to establish a rule regarding registration and approval of events at which such expenditures may be made.

The new exceptions would take effect on July 1, 2013, and would expire June 30, 2015.

On the first day of the 2013 legislative session the Florida Senate unanimously passed ethics reform bills.

The bills add revolving door provisions, increase the responsibilities of the ethics commission, and require financial disclosure reports to be posted online.

The reform package now moves to the House, where somewhat different versions of the legislation are already under consideration.

The Palm Beach County Commission voted in favor of a proposal to expand the county’s ethics commission from five members to seven. County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor pushed for the change, saying the commission needed more diversity.

The proposal will go before the committee responsible for drafting changes to the county code, and then back to the county commission for a final vote.

Independent community groups are responsible for selecting the ethics commission’s members.

The Florida Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections is working on a proposed bill to revise the state’s ethics law.

The draft language relating to lobbying and gift law in the bill establishes a fine for executive branch lobbyists for failure to provide required information or knowingly providing false information in a report, and prohibits vendors from providing gifts to reporting individuals or procurement employees. Other changes the committee is considering include:

• Restrictions on former legislators’ employment as a lobbyist, such as ban on executive branch lobbying and a prohibition on becoming a partner, principal, or employee of a firm whose primary business is lobbying the state legislature within the two years after a legislator leaves office; and
• A prohibition on or reduced gift limit for gifts to covered individuals from committees of continuous existence, or CCEs. House Speaker Will Weatherford has called for elimination of CCEs, which are often used by legislators to pay for meals, travel, and gifts.

The committee plans to have final draft language available on January 18, and plans to consider the proposed bill at its January 22 meeting.

The Federal Election Commission issued an Advisory Opinion on December 6, 2012, concluding a federal candidate’s campaign committee may make a contribution to an independent expenditure-only committee from funds raised for the federal candidate’s terminated political campaign.

Friends of Mike H, the principal campaign committee of former candidate Mike Haridopolos, requested an opinion to determine whether it could give $10,000 or more of its excess funds raised for Mr. Haridopolos’s 2012 U.S. Senate primary election campaign in Florida, from which he withdrew, to an independent expenditure-only committee called Freedom PAC. Currently, Mr. Haridopolos does not hold federal office and is not seeking any elected federal office.

Because Friends of Mike H. is not using its funds for personal use or for any unlawful use, the Commission found Mr. Haridopolos’s political committee may make its requested contributions to Freedom PAC. The Commission also noted that “amount limitations are generally unconstitutional as applied to contributions that will be used to finance independent activity.”

Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs is calling for measures to monitor and prevent lobbyists from texting county commissioners during meetings. The county commission voted in September to delay putting a measure requiring employers to provide employees with sick time on the ballot. Three of the four commissioners who voted to delay the measure acknowledged that they were texting with lobbyists opposed to the measure during the meeting, and later deleted a number of those texts.

Mayor Jacobs released a memo stating that she ordered a system to be set up to archive text messages from county phones. She is also calling for the county to study how other governments address electronic lobbying during meetings, in consideration of a potential ban on such discussions.

Advocates for the proposed sick time ballot initiative have filed suit claiming that the county commissioners violated state public record and open meetings laws, and asking the court to set aside the vote on the measure.

The Board of County Commissioners passed an amendment to the county’s lobbying ordinance on September 6, 2012. Expenditure reports are no longer required if a lobbyist had no expenditures during the reporting period.

The ordinance previously required expenditure reports to be filed even if no lobbying expenditures were made.

The ordinance will become effective 10 days from the date of enactment.

Hollywood’s new lobbyist ordinance takes effect August 1, 2012. Lobbyist registrations now expire yearly, and will be effective from August 1 to July 31 of the following year. All current lobbyist registrations will expire July 31, 2012, and a new registration statement must be filed.

There will also be an annual registration fee of $50 for each principal or client identified on the registration statement, except for those principals or clients that do not compensate the lobbyist for lobbying. Lobbyists who do not receive compensation are now required to register.

The city clerk will also offer electronic filing of lobbyist registrations beginning August 1.

Florida: “Ethics commission wants power to collect fines – and respect” by Aaron Deslatte in the Orlando Sentinel.

Georgia: “Former director, assistant file lawsuits against ethics commission” by Aaron Gould Sheinin and Chris Joyner in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Missouri: “Ethics Commission wants state ethics laws modernized” by Mike Lear in Missourinet.

South Carolina: “Haley ethics probe shines light on dark side of S.C. politics” by Gina Smith in The State.

The new lobbyist registration ordinance in Palm Beach County took effect April 2, 2012. The expenditure report due date is now November 1 of each year, and continues to cover the period from October 1 – September 30.

Electronic registration is now available in addition to paper registration. Registrations now must also include the phone number of the lobbyist and principal, their signatures where both may be made electronically, and the county or municipalities to be lobbied.

The ordinance specifically excludes from expenditure reporting the salaries of the lobbyist and principal, office overhead expenses, and personal expenses for lodging, meals, and travel.

All registrations on file and in effect with the county prior to the ordinance’s effective date remain in full force and effect.