Bill Text: FL H0587 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Voting Conflicts

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Governmental Affairs Policy (EDCA) [H0587 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-H0587-Introduced.html

---

HB 587

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to voting conflicts; providing a short
3	title; amending s. 112.3143, F.S.; providing an exception
4	to provisions relating to voting conflicts, to conform to
5	changes made by the act; creating s. 112.31435, F.S.;
6	providing definitions; prohibiting a member of the
7	Legislature from voting upon or participating in any
8	legislation inuring to the personal gain or loss of the
9	member or his or her relative; prohibiting a member of the
10	Legislature from participating in any legislation inuring
11	to the personal gain or loss of a business associate,
12	employer, board on which the member sits, principal by
13	whom the member is retained, or parent corporation or
14	subsidiary of such principal; requiring that a member
15	disclose all such interests to the applicable legislative
16	body or committee before such legislation is considered;
17	requiring that the member disclose the specific nature of
18	any such interests within a specified period after the
19	date on which a vote on the legislation occurs; requiring
20	that such disclosure be made by written memorandum and
21	filed with the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the
22	House of Representatives; requiring that the memorandum be
23	displayed in the journal of the house of which the
24	legislator is a member; providing an effective date.
25
26	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
27
28	Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Restoring Trust
29	in Government Act."
30	Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 112.3143, Florida
31	Statutes, is amended to read:
32	112.3143 Voting conflicts.-
33	(2) Except as provided in s. 112.31435, no state public
34	officer is prohibited from voting in an official capacity on any
35	matter. However, any state public officer voting in an official
36	capacity upon any measure which would inure to the officer's
37	special private gain or loss; which he or she knows would inure
38	to the special private gain or loss of any principal by whom the
39	officer is retained or to the parent organization or subsidiary
40	of a corporate principal by which the officer is retained; or
41	which the officer knows would inure to the special private gain
42	or loss of a relative or business associate of the public
43	officer shall, within 15 days after the vote occurs, disclose
44	the nature of his or her interest as a public record in a
45	memorandum filed with the person responsible for recording the
46	minutes of the meeting, who shall incorporate the memorandum in
47	the minutes.
48	Section 3. Section 112.31435, Florida Statutes, is created
49	to read:
50	112.31435 Voting conflicts; state legislators.-
51	(1) As used in this section, the term:
52	(a) "Participate" means any attempt, other than casting a
53	vote, to influence the passage, defeat, or amendment of
54	legislation by oral or written communication made by a
55	legislator or at such legislator's direction.
56	(b) "Relative" means any father, mother, son, daughter,
57	husband, wife, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law,
58	son-in-law, or daughter-in-law.
59	(2) A member of the Legislature may not vote upon or
60	participate in any legislation that would inure to his or her
61	special private gain or loss or that he or she knows would inure
62	to the special private gain or loss of his or her relative. The
63	member shall, before any consideration of the legislation by the
64	legislative body of which he or she is a member or any committee
65	on which the member sits, publicly state to the body or
66	committee all of his or her interests in the legislation or all
67	of the relative's interests in the legislation which are known
68	to the member and, within 15 days after the date on which a vote
69	on the legislation occurs, disclose the specific nature of those
70	interests as a public record in a memorandum filed with the
71	Secretary of the Senate, if the member is a Senator, or the
72	Clerk of the House of Representatives, if the member is a
73	Representative. The memorandum shall be spread upon the pages of
74	the journal of the house of which the legislator is a member.
75	(3) A member of the Legislature may not participate in any
76	legislation that he or she knows would inure to the special
77	private gain or loss of a principal by whom he or she is
78	retained, the parent organization or subsidiary of a corporate
79	principal by which he or she is retained, a business associate,
80	an employer, or a board upon which the member sits. The member
81	shall, before any consideration of the legislation by the
82	legislative body of which he or she is a member or any committee
83	on which the member sits, publicly state to the body or
84	committee all of the interests in the legislation of such
85	principals, parent organizations or subsidiaries of a corporate
86	principal, business associates, employers, or boards which are
87	known to the member and, within 15 days after the date on which
88	a vote on the legislation occurs, disclose the specific nature
89	of those interests as a public record in a memorandum filed with
90	the Secretary of the Senate, if the member is a Senator, or the
91	Clerk of the House of Representatives, if the member is a
92	Representative. The memorandum shall be spread upon the pages of
93	the journal of the house of which the legislator is a member.
94	Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

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