| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to voting conflicts; providing a short |
| 3 | title; amending s. 112.3143, F.S.; providing an exception |
| 4 | to provisions relating to voting conflicts; creating s. |
| 5 | 112.31435, F.S.; providing definitions; prohibiting a |
| 6 | member of the Legislature from voting upon or |
| 7 | participating in any legislation inuring to the personal |
| 8 | gain or loss of the member or his or her relative; |
| 9 | prohibiting a member of the Legislature from participating |
| 10 | in any legislation inuring to the personal gain or loss of |
| 11 | a principal by whom the member is retained, or parent |
| 12 | corporation or subsidiary of such principal, a business |
| 13 | associate, employer, or board on which the member sits; |
| 14 | requiring that a member disclose all such interests to the |
| 15 | applicable legislative body or committee before such |
| 16 | legislation is considered; requiring that the member |
| 17 | disclose the specific nature of any such interests within |
| 18 | a specified period after the date on which a vote on the |
| 19 | legislation occurs; requiring that such disclosure be made |
| 20 | by written memorandum and filed with the Secretary of the |
| 21 | Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives; |
| 22 | requiring that the memorandum be displayed in the journal |
| 23 | of the house of which the legislator is a member; |
| 24 | providing an effective date. |
| 25 |
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| 26 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 27 |
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| 28 | Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Restoration of |
| 29 | Trust in Government Act." |
| 30 | Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 112.3143, Florida |
| 31 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 32 | 112.3143 Voting conflicts.-- |
| 33 | (2) Except as provided in s. 112.31435, no state public |
| 34 | officer is prohibited from voting in an official capacity on any |
| 35 | matter. However, any state public officer voting in an official |
| 36 | capacity upon any measure which would inure to the officer's |
| 37 | special private gain or loss; which he or she knows would inure |
| 38 | to the special private gain or loss of any principal by whom the |
| 39 | officer is retained or to the parent organization or subsidiary |
| 40 | of a corporate principal by which the officer is retained; or |
| 41 | which the officer knows would inure to the special private gain |
| 42 | or loss of a relative or business associate of the public |
| 43 | officer shall, within 15 days after the vote occurs, disclose |
| 44 | the nature of his or her interest as a public record in a |
| 45 | memorandum filed with the person responsible for recording the |
| 46 | minutes of the meeting, who shall incorporate the memorandum in |
| 47 | the minutes. |
| 48 | Section 3. Section 112.31435, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 49 | to read: |
| 50 | 112.31435 Voting conflicts; state legislators.-- |
| 51 | (1) For purposes of this section, the term: |
| 52 | (a) "Participate" means any attempt, other than casting a |
| 53 | vote, to influence the passage, defeat, or amendment of |
| 54 | legislation by oral or written communication made by a |
| 55 | legislator or at such legislator's direction. |
| 56 | (b) "Relative" means any father, mother, son, daughter, |
| 57 | husband, wife, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, |
| 58 | son-in-law, or daughter-in-law. |
| 59 | (2) A member of the Legislature may not vote upon or |
| 60 | participate in any legislation that would inure to his or her |
| 61 | special private gain or loss or that he or she knows would inure |
| 62 | to the special private gain or loss of his or her relative. The |
| 63 | member shall, before any consideration of the legislation by the |
| 64 | legislative body of which he or she is a member or any committee |
| 65 | on which the member sits, publicly state to the body or |
| 66 | committee all of his or her interests in the legislation or all |
| 67 | of the relative's interests in the legislation which are known |
| 68 | to the member and, within 15 days after the date on which a vote |
| 69 | on the legislation occurs, disclose the specific nature of those |
| 70 | interests as a public record in a memorandum filed with the |
| 71 | Secretary of the Senate, if the member is a Senator, or the |
| 72 | Clerk of the House of Representatives, if the member is a |
| 73 | Representative. The memorandum shall be spread upon the pages of |
| 74 | the journal of the house of which the legislator is a member. |
| 75 | (3) A member of the Legislature may not participate in any |
| 76 | legislation that he or she knows would inure to the special |
| 77 | private gain or loss of a principal by whom he or she is |
| 78 | retained, the parent organization or subsidiary of a corporate |
| 79 | principal by which he or she is retained, a business associate, |
| 80 | an employer, or a board upon which the member sits. The member |
| 81 | shall, before any consideration of the legislation by the |
| 82 | legislative body of which he or she is a member or any committee |
| 83 | on which the member sits, publicly state to the body or |
| 84 | committee all of the interests in the legislation of such |
| 85 | principals, parent organizations or subsidiaries of a corporate |
| 86 | principal, business associates, employers, or boards which are |
| 87 | known to the member and, within 15 days after the date on which |
| 88 | a vote on the legislation occurs, disclose the specific nature |
| 89 | of those interests as a public record in a memorandum filed with |
| 90 | the Secretary of the Senate, if the member is a Senator, or the |
| 91 | Clerk of the House of Representatives, if the member is a |
| 92 | Representative. The memorandum shall be spread upon the pages of |
| 93 | the journal of the house of which the legislator is a member. |
| 94 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |