House Bill hb1769

    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1769

        By Representative Melvin






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to lobbying; amending s.

  3         11.062, F.S.; prohibiting the use of public or

  4         private funds by certain governmental entities

  5         for retaining a lobbyist; providing penalties;

  6         providing an effective date.

  7

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

  9

10         Section 1.  Subsection (2) of section 11.062, Florida

11  Statutes, is amended to read:

12         11.062  Use of state and other funds for lobbying or to

13  retain a lobbyist prohibited; penalties penalty.--

14         (2)(a)  A department of the executive branch, a state

15  university, a community college, or a water management

16  district, or an agency of the judicial branch may not use any

17  public funds to retain a lobbyist to represent it before the

18  legislative or executive branch. However, full-time employees

19  of a department of the executive branch, a state university, a

20  community college, or a water management district, or an

21  agency of the judicial branch may register as lobbyists and

22  represent that employer before the legislative or executive

23  branch.  Except as a full-time employee, a person may not

24  accept any public funds from a department of the executive

25  branch, a state university, a community college, or a water

26  management district, or an agency of the judicial branch for

27  lobbying.

28         (b)  A department of the executive branch, a state

29  university, a community college, or a water management

30  district, or an agency of the judicial branch that violates

31  this subsection may be prohibited from lobbying the

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1769

    556-137C-01






  1  legislative or executive branch for a period not exceeding 2

  2  years.

  3         (c)  This subsection shall not be construed to prohibit

  4  a department of the executive branch, a state university, a

  5  community college, or a water management district, or an

  6  agency of the judicial branch from retaining a lobbyist for

  7  purposes of representing the entity before the executive or

  8  legislative branch of the Federal Government. Further, any

  9  person so retained is not subject to the prohibitions of this

10  subsection.

11         (d)  A person who accepts any public funds as

12  compensation for lobbying in violation of this subsection may

13  be prohibited from registering to lobby before the legislative

14  or executive branch for a period not exceeding 2 years.

15         (e)  A person may file a written complaint with the

16  Commission on Ethics alleging a violation of this subsection.

17  The commission shall investigate and report its finding to the

18  President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of

19  Representatives, and the Governor and Cabinet.  Based upon the

20  report of the Commission on Ethics or upon its own finding

21  that a violation of this subsection has occurred, a house of

22  the Legislature may discipline the violator according to its

23  rules, and the Governor or the Governor and Cabinet, as

24  applicable, may prohibit the violator from lobbying before the

25  executive branch for a period not exceeding 2 years after the

26  date of the formal determination of a violation.  The

27  Commission on Ethics shall adopt rules necessary to conduct

28  investigations under this paragraph.

29         Section 2.  This act shall take effect January 1, 2002.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1769

    556-137C-01






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  2                          HOUSE SUMMARY

  3
      Extends to judicial branch agencies the prohibition
  4    against using public funds to retain a lobbyist.

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      Prohibits executive departments, state universities,
  6    community colleges, water management districts, and
      judicial branch agencies from using any funds, public or
  7    private, to retain a lobbyist.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.