HB 891

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to state public officials; creating s.
3	112.3142, F.S.; defining the terms "cabinet member" and
4	"covered public official"; requiring a covered public
5	official to place all of his or her personal investments
6	of stocks and bonds into a publicly traded mutual fund or
7	a qualified blind trust; providing for after-acquired
8	financial interests; setting forth the requirements for a
9	qualifying blind trust; requiring that a copy of the
10	qualified blind trust agreement be filed with the
11	Commission on Ethics within a specified period; providing
12	for the revocation of a qualified blind trust; prohibiting
13	a covered public official from attempting to influence or
14	exercise any control over decisions regarding the
15	management of the qualified blind trust or engaging in any
16	activity involving a violation of the standards of conduct
17	for public officers set forth in law; providing an
18	effective date.
19
20	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22	Section 1.  Section 112.3142, Florida Statutes, is created
23	to read:
24	112.3142  Qualified blind trusts.--
25	(1)  As used in this section, the term:
26	(a)  "Cabinet" member has the same meaning as in s. 20.03.
27	(b)  "Commission" means the Commission on Ethics.
28	(c)  "Covered public official" means the Governor, the
29	Lieutenant Governor, and each member of the Cabinet.
30	(2)(a)  A covered public official shall, before taking
31	office, place all of his or her personal investments of stocks
32	and bonds into a publicly traded mutual fund or a qualified
33	blind trust.
34	(b)  During the covered public official's term of office,
35	he or she may not voluntarily acquire any personal investment in
36	a stock or bond except in the form of publicly traded mutual
37	funds.
38	(c)  If the covered public official acquires a financial
39	interest in the stock or bond of a business entity during the
40	covered public official's term of office due to events or
41	actions beyond the covered public official's control, the
42	covered public official shall immediately sell the financial
43	interest or place the financial interest in a qualified blind
44	trust.
45	(3)  In order to constitute a qualified blind trust, the
46	trust must be established by the covered public official and
47	meet the following requirements:
48	(a)  The person appointed as a trustee of the qualified
49	blind trust must be:
50	1.  A disinterested party. A disinterested party may not be
51	the covered public official's spouse, child, parent,
52	grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, parent-in-law,
53	brother-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt, uncle, or first cousin, or
54	the spouse of any such person.
55	2.  A person who is not an elected or appointed public
56	officer or a public employee.
57	3.  A person who has not been appointed to serve in an
58	agency by the covered public official or by a public officer or
59	public employee supervised by the covered public official.
60	(b)  The qualified blind trust agreement must give the
61	trustee complete discretion to manage the trust, including, but
62	not limited to, the power to dispose of or acquire trust assets
63	without consulting or notifying the covered public official.
64	(c)  The trustee must notify the covered public official of
65	the date of disposition and value at disposition of any original
66	investment or interest in real property in order that the
67	information may be reported on the covered public official's
68	statement of financial interests and applicable tax returns.
69	(d)  The qualified blind trust agreement must prohibit the
70	trustee from disclosing to the covered public official any
71	information concerning replacement assets to the trust, except
72	for information required for inclusion in disclosure forms
73	required under this part and the minimum tax information that
74	lists only the totals of taxable items from the trust and does
75	not describe the source of individual items of income.
76	(4)  A copy of the qualified blind trust agreement must be
77	filed with the commission no later than 5 business days after
78	the agreement is executed and must include:
79	(a)  A listing of the assets placed in the qualified blind
80	trust;
81	(b)  A statement detailing the date the agreement was
82	executed;
83	(c)  The name and address of the trustee; and
84	(d)  A separate statement signed by the trustee, under
85	penalty of perjury, certifying that he or she has not revealed
86	any information to the covered public official except for
87	information that is authorized under this section, and that, to
88	the best of the trustee's knowledge, the submitted qualified
89	blind trust agreement complies with this section.
90	(5)  If the trust is revoked by the covered public official
91	while the official remains a covered public official, or if the
92	covered public official learns of any replacement assets that
93	are added to the qualified blind trust, the covered public
94	official must file an amendment to his or her most recent
95	statement of financial interests. The amendment must be filed no
96	later than 60 days after the date of revocation or the addition
97	of the replacement assets. The covered public official must
98	disclose the previously unreported pro rata share of the
99	qualified blind trust's interests in investments or income
100	deriving from any such investments. For the purpose of this
101	section, any replaced asset of which the covered public official
102	learns shall thereafter be treated as though the asset were an
103	original asset of the qualified blind trust.
104	(6)  A covered public official may not:
105	(a)  Attempt to influence or exercise any control over
106	decisions regarding the management of the qualified blind trust.
107	(b)  Engage, directly or indirectly, in an activity
108	involving any financial interest of the public official which
109	violates s. 112.313.
110	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

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