Senate Bill 2038

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 2038

    By Senator Latvala





    19-1389-98

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to gifts; amending s. 112.3148,

  3         F.S.; providing criminal penalties for the

  4         acceptance of or the failure by public officers

  5         or public employees to report gifts of a

  6         specified amount during a calendar year;

  7         providing an effective date.

  8

  9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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11         Section 1.  Subsections (4) and (8) of section

12  112.3148, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

13         112.3148  Reporting and prohibited receipt of gifts by

14  individuals filing full or limited public disclosure of

15  financial interests and by procurement employees.--

16         (4)(a)  A reporting individual or procurement employee

17  or any other person on his or her behalf is prohibited from

18  knowingly accepting, directly or indirectly, a gift from a

19  political committee or committee of continuous existence, as

20  defined in s. 106.011, or from a lobbyist who lobbies the

21  reporting individual's or procurement employee's agency, or

22  directly or indirectly on behalf of the partner, firm,

23  employer, or principal of a lobbyist, if he or she knows or

24  reasonably believes that the gift has a value in excess of

25  $100; however, such a gift may be accepted by such person on

26  behalf of a governmental entity or a charitable organization.

27  If the gift is accepted on behalf of a governmental entity or

28  charitable organization, the person receiving the gift shall

29  not maintain custody of the gift for any period of time beyond

30  that reasonably necessary to arrange for the transfer of

31  custody and ownership of the gift.

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 2038
    19-1389-98




  1         (b) Any person who, in the same calendar year, accepts

  2  a gift or gifts in violation of paragraph (a) which

  3  individually or in the aggregate are valued in excess of

  4  $1,000 commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable

  5  as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

  6         (8)(a)  Each reporting individual or procurement

  7  employee shall file a statement with the Secretary of State on

  8  the last day of each calendar quarter, for the previous

  9  calendar quarter, containing a list of gifts which he or she

10  believes to be in excess of $100 in value, if any, accepted by

11  him or her, except the following:

12         1.  Gifts from relatives.

13         2.  Gifts prohibited by subsection (4) or s.

14  112.313(4).

15         3.  Gifts otherwise required to be disclosed by this

16  section.

17         (b)  The statement shall include:

18         1.  A description of the gift, the monetary value of

19  the gift, the name and address of the person making the gift,

20  and the dates thereof.  If any of these facts, other than the

21  gift description, are unknown or not applicable, the report

22  shall so state.

23         2.  A copy of any receipt for such gift provided to the

24  reporting individual or procurement employee by the donor.

25         (c)  The statement may include an explanation of any

26  differences between the reporting individual's or procurement

27  employee's statement and the receipt provided by the donor.

28         (d)  The reporting individual's or procurement

29  employee's statement shall be sworn to by such person as being

30  a true, accurate, and total listing of all such gifts.

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 2038
    19-1389-98




  1         (e)  If a reporting individual or procurement employee

  2  has not received any gifts described in paragraph (a) during a

  3  calendar quarter, he or she is not required to file a

  4  statement under this subsection for that calendar quarter.

  5         (f) Any person who, in the same calendar year,

  6  knowingly fails to report a gift or gifts in violation of

  7  paragraph (a) which individually or in the aggregate are

  8  valued in excess of $1,000 commits a misdemeanor of the second

  9  degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

10         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1998.

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13                          SENATE SUMMARY

14    Provides criminal penalties for reporting individuals or
      procurement employees who accept or fail to report gifts
15    of more than $1,000 aggregate value in a calendar year.

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