| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to ethics; amending s. 112.3143, F.S.; |
| 3 | defining the term "special private gain or loss"; |
| 4 | providing an exception to provisions relating to |
| 5 | voting conflicts, to conform to changes made by the |
| 6 | act; creating s. 112.31435, F.S.; providing |
| 7 | definitions; prohibiting a member of the Legislature |
| 8 | from voting upon or participating in any legislation |
| 9 | inuring to the personal gain or loss of the member or |
| 10 | his or her relative; prohibiting a member of the |
| 11 | Legislature from participating in any legislation |
| 12 | inuring to the personal gain or loss of a business |
| 13 | associate, employer, board on which the member sits, |
| 14 | principal by whom the member is retained, or parent |
| 15 | corporation or subsidiary of such principal; requiring |
| 16 | that a member disclose all such interests to the |
| 17 | applicable legislative body or committee before the |
| 18 | legislation is considered; requiring that the member |
| 19 | disclose the specific nature of any such interests |
| 20 | within a specified period after the date on which a |
| 21 | vote on the legislation occurs; requiring that such |
| 22 | disclosure be made by written memorandum and filed |
| 23 | with the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the |
| 24 | House of Representatives; requiring that the |
| 25 | memorandum be recorded in the journal of the house of |
| 26 | which the legislator is a member; requiring that |
| 27 | members of the Legislature vote on the General |
| 28 | Appropriations Act and disclose conflicts of interest |
| 29 | with any line-item appropriation; providing an |
| 30 | effective date. |
| 31 |
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| 32 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 33 |
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| 34 | Section 1. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 112.3143, |
| 35 | Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 36 | 112.3143 Voting conflicts.- |
| 37 | (1) As used in this section: |
| 38 | (a) "Public officer" includes any person elected or |
| 39 | appointed to hold office in any agency, including any person |
| 40 | serving on an advisory body. |
| 41 | (b) "Relative" means any father, mother, son, daughter, |
| 42 | husband, wife, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, |
| 43 | son-in-law, or daughter-in-law. |
| 44 | (c) "Special private gain or loss" means a gain or loss |
| 45 | that inures only to the benefit or detriment of a public officer |
| 46 | or his or her relative, principal, or corporate parent or |
| 47 | subsidiary of a corporate principal, or a gain or loss that |
| 48 | inures to the benefit or detriment of an enumerated beneficiary |
| 49 | differently than the rest of those affected by the matter. |
| 50 | (2) Except as provided in s. 112.31435, no state public |
| 51 | officer is prohibited from voting in an official capacity on any |
| 52 | matter. However, any state public officer voting in an official |
| 53 | capacity upon any measure that which would inure to the |
| 54 | officer's special private gain or loss; that which he or she |
| 55 | knows would inure to the special private gain or loss of any |
| 56 | principal by whom the officer is retained or of to the parent |
| 57 | organization or subsidiary of a corporate principal by which the |
| 58 | officer is retained; or that which the officer knows would inure |
| 59 | to the special private gain or loss of a relative or business |
| 60 | associate of the public officer shall, within 15 days after the |
| 61 | vote occurs, disclose the nature of his or her interest as a |
| 62 | public record in a memorandum filed with the person responsible |
| 63 | for recording the minutes of the meeting, who shall incorporate |
| 64 | the memorandum in the minutes. |
| 65 | Section 2. Section 112.31435, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 66 | to read: |
| 67 | 112.31435 Voting conflicts; state legislators.- |
| 68 | (1) As used in this section, the term: |
| 69 | (a) "Participate" means any attempt, other than casting a |
| 70 | vote, to influence the passage, defeat, or amendment of |
| 71 | legislation by oral or written communication made by a |
| 72 | legislator or at the legislator's direction. |
| 73 | (b) "Relative" means any father, mother, son, daughter, |
| 74 | husband, wife, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, |
| 75 | son-in-law, or daughter-in-law. |
| 76 | (c) "Special private gain or loss" means a gain or loss |
| 77 | that inures only to the benefit or detriment of a public officer |
| 78 | or his or her relative, principal, or corporate parent or |
| 79 | subsidiary of a corporate principal, or a gain or loss that |
| 80 | inures to the benefit or detriment of an enumerated beneficiary |
| 81 | differently than the rest of those affected by the matter. |
| 82 | (2) A member of the Legislature may not vote upon or |
| 83 | participate in any legislation that would inure to his or her |
| 84 | special private gain or loss or that he or she knows would inure |
| 85 | to the special private gain or loss of his or her relative. The |
| 86 | member must, before any consideration of the legislation by the |
| 87 | legislative body of which he or she is a member or any committee |
| 88 | on which he or she sits, publicly state to the body or committee |
| 89 | all of his or her interests in the legislation or all of the |
| 90 | relative's interests in the legislation which are known to the |
| 91 | member and, within 15 days after the date on which a vote on the |
| 92 | legislation occurs, disclose the specific nature of those |
| 93 | interests as a public record in a memorandum filed with the |
| 94 | Secretary of the Senate, if the member is a Senator, or filed |
| 95 | with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, if the member is |
| 96 | a Representative. The memorandum shall be spread upon the pages |
| 97 | of the journal of the house of which the legislator is a member. |
| 98 | (3) A member of the Legislature may not participate in any |
| 99 | legislation that he or she knows would inure to the special |
| 100 | private gain or loss of a principal by whom he or she is |
| 101 | retained, the parent organization or subsidiary of a corporate |
| 102 | principal by which he or she is retained, a business associate, |
| 103 | an employer, or a board on which the member sits. The member |
| 104 | must, before any consideration of the legislation by the |
| 105 | legislative body of which he or she is a member or any committee |
| 106 | on which he or she sits, publicly state to the body or committee |
| 107 | all of the interests in the legislation of the principals, |
| 108 | parent organizations or subsidiaries of a corporate principal, |
| 109 | business associates, employers, or boards which are known to the |
| 110 | member and, within 15 days after the date on which a vote on the |
| 111 | legislation occurs, disclose the specific nature of those |
| 112 | interests as a public record in a memorandum filed with the |
| 113 | Secretary of the Senate, if the member is a Senator, or filed |
| 114 | with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, if the member is |
| 115 | a Representative. The memorandum shall be spread upon the pages |
| 116 | of the journal of the house of which the legislator is a member. |
| 117 | (4) A member of the Legislature must vote on the General |
| 118 | Appropriations Act and must disclose any conflict of interest |
| 119 | that the legislator may have with a line-item appropriation in |
| 120 | the act. |
| 121 | Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2012. |