Florida Senate - 2008 SB 2780

By Senator Dockery

15-02953D-08 20082780__

A bill to be entitled

An act relating to voting conflicts; providing a short

title; amending s. 112.3143, F.S.; providing a cross-

reference to conform to changes made by the act; creating

s. 112.31435, F.S.; providing definitions; prohibiting a

member of the Legislature from voting upon or

participating in any legislation inuring to the personal

gain or loss of the member or his or her relative;

prohibiting a member of the Legislature from participating

in any legislation inuring to the personal gain or loss of

a business associate, employer, board on which the member

sits, principal by whom the member is retained, or parent

corporation or subsidiary of such principal; requiring

that a member disclose all such interests to the

applicable legislative body or committee before such

legislation is considered; requiring that the member

disclose the specific nature of any such interests within

a specified period after the date on which a vote on the

legislation occurs; requiring that such disclosure be made

by written memorandum and filed with the Secretary of the

Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives;

requiring that the memorandum be displayed in the journal

of the house of which the legislator is a member;

providing an effective date.

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

Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Restoring Trust in

Government Act."

Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 112.3143, Florida

Statutes, is amended to read:

112.3143 Voting conflicts.--

(2) Except as provided in s. 112.31435, no state public

officer is prohibited from voting in an official capacity on any

matter. However, any state public officer voting in an official

capacity upon any measure which would inure to the officer's

special private gain or loss; which he or she knows would inure

to the special private gain or loss of any principal by whom the

officer is retained or to the parent organization or subsidiary

of a corporate principal by which the officer is retained; or

which the officer knows would inure to the special private gain

or loss of a relative or business associate of the public officer

shall, within 15 days after the vote occurs, disclose the nature

of his or her interest as a public record in a memorandum filed

with the person responsible for recording the minutes of the

meeting, who shall incorporate the memorandum in the minutes.

Section 3. Section 112.31435, Florida Statutes, is created

to read:

112.31435 Voting conflicts; state legislators.--

(1) For purposes of this section, the term:

(a) "Participate" means any attempt, other than casting a

vote, to influence the passage, defeat, or amendment of

legislation by oral or written communication made by a legislator

or at such legislator's direction.

(b) "Relative" means any father, mother, son, daughter,

husband, wife, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law,

son-in-law, or daughter-in-law.

(2) A member of the Legislature may not vote upon or

participate in any legislation that would inure to his or her

special private gain or loss or that he or she knows would inure

to the special private gain or loss of his or her relative. The

member shall, before any consideration of the legislation by the

legislative body of which he or she is a member or any committee

on which the member sits, publicly state to the body or committee

all of his or her interests in the legislation or all of the

relative's interests in the legislation which are known to the

member and, within 15 days after the date on which a vote on the

legislation occurs, disclose the specific nature of those

interests as a public record in a memorandum filed with the

Secretary of the Senate, if the member is a Senator, or the Clerk

of the House of Representatives, if the member is a

Representative. The memorandum shall be spread upon the pages of

the journal of the house of which the legislator is a member.

(3) A member of the Legislature may not participate in any

legislation that he or she knows would inure to the special

private gain or loss of a principal by whom he or she is

retained, the parent organization or subsidiary of a corporate

principal by which he or she is retained, a business associate,

an employer, or a board upon which the member sits. The member

shall, before any consideration of the legislation by the

legislative body of which he or she is a member or any committee

on which the member sits, publicly state to the body or committee

all of the interests in the legislation of such principals,

parent organizations or subsidiaries of a corporate principal,

business associates, employers, or boards which are known to the