Florida Senate - 2024 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for SB 734 Ì673892KÎ673892 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House Comm: RCS . 02/05/2024 . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Committee on Ethics and Elections (Ingoglia) recommended the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete lines 131 - 216 4 and insert: 5 with the commission to lobby a county, municipality, or special 6 district. The commission shall note in a public database that 7 such person is registered to lobby a county, municipality, or 8 special district. Such registration is due upon the person’s 9 initial retention as a lobbyist and is renewable on a calendar 10 year basis thereafter. Such person shall, at the time of 11 registration, provide a statement signed by the principal or 12 principal’s representative stating that the registrant is 13 authorized to represent the principal. The statement must also 14 identify and designate the principal’s main business and 15 authorize the registrant pursuant to a classification system 16 approved by the commission. Any changes in the information 17 provided pursuant to this subsection must be disclosed within 15 18 days after the change occurs by the lobbyist filing a new 19 registration form. The lobbyist shall disclose under oath on a 20 lobbyist registration form used by the commission all of the 21 following information: 22 (a) The lobbyist’s name and business address. 23 (b) The name and business address of each principal 24 represented. 25 (c) The existence of any direct or indirect business 26 association, partnership, or financial relationship the lobbyist 27 has with any officer or employee of the county, municipality, or 28 special district that he or she lobbies or intends to lobby. 29 (3) The commission shall make the registrations of 30 lobbyists who register to lobby a county, municipality, or 31 special district available to the public on its website. 32 (4) A lobbyist shall promptly send a written statement to 33 the commission canceling the registration for a principal upon 34 termination of the lobbyist’s representation of that principal. 35 The commission may remove the name of a lobbyist from the list 36 of registered lobbyists for counties, municipalities, and 37 special districts if the principal notifies the state that a 38 person is no longer authorized to represent that principal 39 before such entity. 40 (5) A county, municipality, or special district shall be 41 diligent in determining whether persons required to register 42 with the commission pursuant to this section have complied. A 43 county, municipality, or special district may not knowingly 44 authorize a person who is not registered pursuant to this 45 section to lobby the county, municipality, or special district. 46 (6) Upon receipt of a sworn complaint alleging that a 47 lobbyist or principal has failed to register with the commission 48 to lobby a county, municipality, or special district or has 49 knowingly submitted false information in a report or 50 registration required under this section, the commission shall 51 investigate the lobbyist or principal pursuant to the procedures 52 established under s. 112.324. The commission shall provide the 53 chief executive officer of the county or municipality or the 54 governing body of the special district with a report of its 55 findings and recommendations arising out of any investigation 56 conducted under this subsection. The chief executive officer of 57 the county or municipality or the governing body of the special 58 district may enforce the commission’s findings and 59 recommendations. 60 (7) This section preempts and supersedes any ordinance or 61 charter provision establishing a lobbyist registration program 62 adopted before July 1, 2024. 63 64 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 65 And the title is amended as follows: 66 Delete lines 10 - 35 67 and insert: 68 registered as a lobbyist with the Commission on 69 Ethics; establishing registration requirements; 70 requiring that lobbyist registrations be made 71 available to the public on its website; establishing 72 procedures for canceling a lobbyist’s registration; 73 requiring counties, municipalities, or special 74 districts to be diligent in determining whether 75 certain persons have registered with the commission; 76 prohibiting counties, municipalities, or special 77 districts from authorizing nonregistered persons to 78 lobby specified entities; requiring the commission to 79 investigate a lobbyist or principal upon receipt of a 80 sworn complaint containing certain allegations; 81 requiring the commission to provide the chief 82 executive officer of the county or municipality or the 83 governing body of the special district with a report 84 on the findings and recommendations arising out of the 85 investigation; authorizing the chief executive officer 86 of the county or municipality or the governing body of 87 the special district to enforce the findings and 88 recommendations; providing that specified provisions 89 preempt and supersede specified ordinances or charter 90 provisions adopted before a specified date; amending 91 s. 125.73, F.S.; prohibiting