Florida Senate - 2011 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 2088
Barcode 726646
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
04/27/2011 .
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The Committee on Rules (Thrasher) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Between lines 118 and 119
4 insert:
5 Section 2. Section 112.3142, Florida Statutes, is created
6 to read:
7 112.3142 Qualified blind trusts.—
8 (1) The Legislature finds that if a public officer creates
9 a trust and does not control the interests held by the trust,
10 his or her official actions will not be influenced or appear to
11 be influenced by private considerations.
12 (2) If a public officer holds an economic interest in a
13 qualified blind trust as described in this section, he or she
14 does not have a conflict of interest prohibited under s.
15 112.313(3) or (7) or a voting conflict of interest under s.
16 112.3143 with regard to matters pertaining to that economic
17 interest.
18 (3) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the
19 public officer may not attempt to influence or exercise any
20 control over decisions regarding the management of assets in a
21 qualified blind trust. The public officer and each person having
22 a beneficial interest in the qualified blind trust may not make
23 any effort to obtain information with respect to the holdings of
24 the trust, including obtaining a copy of any trust tax return
25 filed or any information relating thereto, except as otherwise
26 provided in this section.
27 (4) Except for communications that consist solely of
28 requests for distributions of cash or other unspecified assets
29 of the trust, there shall be no direct or indirect communication
30 with respect to the trust between the public officer or any
31 person having a beneficial interest in the qualified blind trust
32 and the trustee, unless such communication is in writing and
33 unless it relates only to:
34 (a) A request for a distribution from the trust which does
35 not specify whether the distribution is to be made in cash or in
36 kind;
37 (b) The general financial interests and needs of the public
38 officer or a person having a beneficial interest, including, but
39 not limited to, an interest in maximizing income or long-term
40 capital gain;
41 (c) The notification of the trustee of a law or regulation
42 subsequently applicable to the public officer which prohibits
43 the officer from holding an asset and which notification directs
44 that the asset not be held by the trust; or
45 (d) Directions to the trustee to sell all of an asset
46 initially placed in the trust by the public officer which, in
47 the determination of the public officer, creates a conflict of
48 interest or the appearance thereof due to the subsequent
49 assumption of duties by the public officer.
50 (5) The public officer shall report as an asset on his or
51 her financial disclosure forms the beneficial interest in the
52 qualified blind trust and its value, if the value is required to
53 be disclosed. The public officer shall report the blind trust as
54 a primary source of income on his or her financial disclosure
55 forms and its amount, if the amount of income is required to be
56 disclosed. The public officer is not required to report as a
57 secondary source of income any source of income to the blind
58 trust.
59 (6) In order to constitute a qualified blind trust, the
60 trust must be established by the public officer and meet the
61 following requirements:
62 (a) The person appointed as a trustee must not be:
63 1. The public officer’s spouse, child, parent, grandparent,
64 grandchild, brother, sister, parent-in-law, brother-in-law,
65 sister-in-law, aunt, uncle, or first cousin, or the spouse of
66 any such person;
67 2. A person who is an elected or appointed public officer
68 or a public employee; or
69 3. A person who has been appointed to serve in an agency by
70 the public officer or by a public officer or public employee
71 supervised by the public officer.
72 (b) The trust agreement that establishes the trust must:
73 1. Contain a statement that its purpose is to remove from
74 the grantor control and knowledge of investment of trust assets
75 so that conflicts between the grantor’s responsibilities as a
76 public officer and his or her private interests will be
77 eliminated.
78 2. Give the trustee complete discretion to manage the
79 trust, including, but not limited to, the power to dispose of
80 and acquire trust assets without consulting or notifying the
81 covered public officer or any person having a beneficial
82 interest in the trust.
83 3. Prohibit communication between the trustee and the
84 public officer and any person having a beneficial interest in
85 the trust concerning the holdings or sources of income of the
86 trust, except amounts of cash value or net income or loss, if
87 such report does not identify any asset or holding, except as
88 provided in this section.
89 4. Provide that the trust tax return is prepared by the
90 trustee or his or her designee and that any information relating
91 thereto is not disclosed to the public officer or to any other
92 beneficiary, except as provided in this section.
93 5. Permit the trustee to notify the public officer of the
94 date of disposition and value at disposition of any original
95 investment or interests in real property to the extent required
96 by federal tax law so that the information can be reported on
97 the public officer’s applicable tax returns.
98 6. Prohibit the trustee from disclosing to the public
99 officer and any person having a beneficial interest in the trust
100 any information concerning replacement assets to the trust,
101 except for the minimum tax information that lists only the
102 totals of taxable items from the trust and does not describe the
103 source of individual items of income.
104 (c) Within 5 business days after the agreement is executed,
105 the public officer shall file a notice with the commission
106 setting forth:
107 1. The date the agreement was executed;
108 2. The name and address of the trustee; and
109 3. Acknowledgement by the trustee that he or she has agreed
110 to serve as trustee.
111
112 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
113 And the title is amended as follows:
114 Between lines 4 and 5
115 insert:
116 creating s. 112.3142, F.S.; providing for qualified
117 blind trusts; providing legislative findings;
118 providing conditions when a public officer has no
119 conflict of interest; prohibiting a public officer
120 from influencing or exercising control over the
121 management of the blind trust; providing exceptions;
122 providing conditions for certain communications
123 between the public officer or other persons having a
124 beneficial interest and the trustee; providing that
125 the public officer report certain information relating
126 to the blind trust; providing requirements for the
127 public officer in creating a qualified blind trust;
128 prohibiting the trustee from disclosing certain
129 information to the public officer or other persons
130 having a beneficial interest in the trust; requiring
131 the public officer to provide notice and specified
132 information to the Commission on Ethics;