The Tallahassee City Commission adopted Ordinance No. 22-O-20 and Resolution 22-R-22, amending certain lobbying provisions.

Ordinance No. 22-O-20 repeals the requirement of quarterly compensation reports and requires lobbyists to register individually rather than by firm.

Resolution 22-R-22 raises the registration fee from $25 to $500. The changes are effective December 31.

The Tallahassee Commission on Ethics introduced an ordinance to change lobbying rules including a repeal of quarterly compensation reporting and a requirement for lobbyists to begin registering individually rather than by firm.

The commission also adopted a 10-year ban on lobbying for certain felons and a fee resolution raising the current registration fee from $25 to $500.

Ordinance 22-O-20 is scheduled for a second reading and public hearing on September 7.

If passed, the new rules will become effective January 1, 2023.

Following an ethics workshop discussing recommendations by the city’s Independent Ethics Board, the Tallahassee City Commission voted to move forward with introducing ordinances amending the city’s ethics code, including a ban on contingency lobbying.

However, the commission declined to move forward on other recommended changes to lobbying laws including changes to the definition of lobbyist; a lobbyist contact log requirement; and a charter amendment to give the Independent Ethics Board direct oversight over lobbyists.

The Tallahassee City Commission is holding an ethics workshop to discuss and consider several proposed changes to the city’s ethics ordinances.

The proposals by the city’s Independent Ethics Board include clarifying the definition of lobbyist and expanding disclosure requirements.

Other proposals include broadening the board’s jurisdiction and the city’s whistleblower protections.

On December 4, the Tallahassee City Commission approved an ordinance amending the city’s ethics code.

The ordinance expands the Independent Ethics Board’s jurisdiction to covered individuals including:

• Each public official
• An employee or member of a city board, commission, or council required to file financial disclosures, or with purchasing authority exceeding $35,000
• Employees participating in the procurement of services or commodities exceeding $10,000

The amended ethics code extends the ban on solicitation and acceptance of gifts to covered individuals.

Additionally, the amended code extends the prohibition against misuse of public position to all public officials and employees of the city.

The ordinance becomes effective January 1, 2020.

On Tuesday, the Tallahassee Independent Ethics Board proposed changes to expand the city’s ethics code.

The proposal expands the Board’s jurisdiction to procurement employees and individuals required to file state financial disclosures.

Additionally, the proposal increases the fines faced by lobbyists to $1,000 for the first intentional violation, and prohibits covered individuals from accepting or soliciting all gifts regardless of value from vendors and lobbyists.

The draft ordinance will head to the city commission for final approval later this spring.

The city commission adopted changes to Tallahassee’s ethics rules, taking aim at improper interactions between elected officials and those seeking official action.

Changes to the ordinance include a ban on city officials soliciting gifts from vendors and lobbyists and a prohibition on city officials accepting gifts totaling more than $100 in a calendar year.

These changes are effective upon final passage.

After multiple attempts, and multiple special sessions, the Florida Legislature adjourned the third special session of the year on November 5, 2015 without reaching a redistricting agreement for the state senate. The adjournment came a day earlier than expected after the two chambers reached an impasse on the latest version of the map.

Now a Tallahassee Circuit Court judge will likely choose a map from drafts submitted throughout the process. This latest roadblock has renewed calls for an independent commission to handle redrawing the map.

Photo of the Old and New Florida State Capitols by Infrogmation on Wikimedia Commons.

Tallahassee voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum creating a city ethics code and new campaign finance restrictions. An independent ethics board will be appointed by the city to assist with the development and enforcement of the code.

Additionally, the code creates a $250 cap on campaign contributions to candidates for city commissioner. Initial appointments to the board must take place within 90 days and the city has six months from election day to enact the ethics code.

The Tallahassee city commission has approved the volunteers appointed to the newly-created ethics advisory panel.

The panel will spend six months reviewing the city’s policies on ethics, financial disclosure, and transparency to determine whether to keep the current policies or adopt new ones.

The meetings will be publicly noticed, and the panel has already invited several outside experts to give feedback.