FL
Florida House Bill H7001

Florida 2022 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H7001 Compare Versions

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1010 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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14+A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to implementation of the 2
1616 constitutional prohibition against lobbying by a 3
1717 public officer; creating s. 112.3121, F.S.; providing 4
1818 definitions for the purpose of implementing the 5
1919 constitutional prohibition against lobbying by a 6
2020 public officer; creating s. 112.3122, F.S.; providing 7
2121 applicability; providing for administration; requiring 8
2222 the Commission on Ethics to report certain findings 9
2323 and recommendations to the Governor; providing 10
2424 penalties for a violation of the constitutional 11
2525 prohibition against lobbying by a public officer; 12
2626 authorizing collection of such penalties by specified 13
2727 entities; providing an effective date. 14
2828 15
2929 Be It Enacted by the Legisl ature of the State of Florida: 16
3030 17
3131 Section 1. Section 112.3121, Florida Statutes, is created 18
3232 to read: 19
3333 112.3121 Definitions. —As used in this section and for 20
3434 purposes of implementing s. 8(f), Art. II of the State 21
3535 Constitution, the term: 22
3636 (1) "Administrative action" means any process or decision 23
3737 regulated by chapter 120 or, for a state government body or 24
3838 agency or a political subdivision not subject to chapter 120, 25
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4747 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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5151 any action or a decision on a license, permit, waiver of 26
5252 regulation, development order or pe rmit, or development 27
5353 agreement; any quasi -judicial proceeding on local government 28
5454 land use matters regulated by s. 286.0115(2); any decision 29
5555 subject to judicial review by petition for writ of certiorari or 30
5656 as otherwise prescribed by general law; or any oth er 31
5757 administrative procedure or procedure governed by existing law, 32
5858 ordinance, rule, or regulation, except on an issue of 33
5959 procurement. 34
6060 (2) "Compensation" means a payment, distribution, loan, 35
6161 advance, reimbursement, deposit, salary, fee, retainer, or 36
6262 anything of value provided or owed to a recipient, directly or 37
6363 indirectly, from any source for lobbying activity. 38
6464 (3) "Elected special district officer in a special 39
6565 district with ad valorem taxing authority" means an officer 40
6666 elected by the qualified electors of a special district, or 41
6767 appointed to fill an unexpired term of such officer, and does 42
6868 not include an officer elected by landowners when an election by 43
6969 qualified electors is a condition precedent to the exercise of 44
7070 the ad valorem taxing authority under s. 190.006(3). If such 45
7171 condition precedent does not apply, the term "elected special 46
7272 district officer in a special district with ad valorem taxing 47
7373 authority" means an officer elected by any method prescribed by 48
7474 law for a special district with ad valorem taxi ng authority. 49
7575 (4) "Executive director" means the chief administrative 50
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8484 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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8888 employee or officer of a department headed by a board or by the 51
8989 Governor and Cabinet. 52
9090 (5) "Federal government" means the United States Congress, 53
9191 any federal executive branch departme nt, office, agency, or 54
9292 instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, or any federal 55
9393 independent agency, including any unit thereof. 56
9494 (6) "Governmental entity" means a state government body or 57
9595 agency, the Legislature, a political subdivision, or the federal 58
9696 government. 59
9797 (7) "Issue of appropriation" means a legislative decision 60
9898 to expend or approve an expenditure of public funds, including 61
9999 decisions that are delegated to an administrator. 62
100100 (8) "Issue of policy" means a change in a law or ordinance 63
101101 or a decision, plan, or course of action designed to influence 64
102102 or determine the subsequent decisions or actions of a 65
103103 governmental entity, to sell or otherwise divest public 66
104104 property, or to regulate conduct. The term does not include a 67
105105 decision or determination of any r ights, duties, or obligations 68
106106 made on a case-by-case basis. 69
107107 (9) "Issue of procurement" means a proposal to purchase or 70
108108 acquire property, an interest in property, or services by a 71
109109 governmental entity. 72
110110 (10) "Legislative action" means introduction, sponso rship, 73
111111 testimony, debate, voting, or any other official action on a 74
112112 measure, resolution, amendment, nomination, appointment, report, 75
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121121 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125125 or other matter. 76
126126 (11)(a) "Lobby" means to influence or attempt to influence 77
127127 an action or decision through oral, written, or electronic 78
128128 communication and, with respect to: 79
129129 1. A state government body or agency, is limited to 80
130130 influencing decisions, other than administrative action, that 81
131131 are vested in or delegated to the state government body or 82
132132 agency, or an officer thereof; 83
133133 2. The Legislature or other body that is vested with 84
134134 legislative power or the power to propose revisions to the State 85
135135 Constitution, is limited to influencing a procurement decision 86
136136 or any legislative action or nonaction by either the Senate or 87
137137 the House of Representatives, or any committee or office 88
138138 thereof, or by such other body or a committee or office thereof; 89
139139 3. A political subdivision, is limited to influencing 90
140140 legislative actions or other discretionary decisions, but does 91
141141 not include administrativ e actions; or 92
142142 4. The federal government, is limited to influencing a 93
143143 decision of the legislative or executive branch of the United 94
144144 States government for which registration as a lobbyist is 95
145145 required. 96
146146 (b) The term "lobby" does not mean any of the followi ng: 97
147147 1. Providing or seeking to provide confidential 98
148148 information to be used for law enforcement purposes. 99
149149 2. Appearing as a witness to provide information at the 100
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158158 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162162 written request of the chair of a legislative body or committee, 101
163163 including a legislative de legation meeting. 102
164164 3. Appearing or offering written testimony under oath as 103
165165 an expert witness in any proceeding for any purpose related to 104
166166 the proceeding and communications related to such testimony. 105
167167 (12)(a) "Lobby for compensation" means being employed or 106
168168 contracting for compensation, for the purpose of lobbying, and 107
169169 includes being principally employed for governmental affairs to 108
170170 lobby on behalf of a person or governmental entity. 109
171171 (b) The term "lobby for compensation" does not include any 110
172172 of the following: 111
173173 1. A public officer carrying out the duties of his or her 112
174174 public office. 113
175175 2. A public or private employee, including an officer of a 114
176176 private business, nonprofit entity, or governmental entity, 115
177177 acting in the normal course of his or her duties, unle ss he or 116
178178 she is principally employed for governmental affairs. 117
179179 3. Advice or services to a governmental entity pursuant to 118
180180 a contractual obligation with the governmental entity. 119
181181 4. Representation of a person on a legal claim cognizable 120
182182 in a court of law, in an administrative proceeding, or in front 121
183183 of an adjudicatory body, including representation during 122
184184 prelitigation offers, demands, and negotiations, but excluding 123
185185 representation on a claim bill pending in the Legislature. 124
186186 5. Representation of a perso n in any proceeding on a 125
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195195 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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199199 complaint or other allegation that could lead to discipline or 126
200200 other adverse action against the person. 127
201201 6. Representation of a person with respect to a subpoena 128
202202 or other legal process. 129
203203 (13) "Other agency head" means the chief a dministrative 130
204204 employee or officer of a department that is not headed by an 131
205205 executive director or secretary. 132
206206 (14) "Political subdivision" means a county, municipality, 133
207207 school district, special district with ad valorem taxing 134
208208 authority, or any agency or un it thereof. 135
209209 (15) "Principally employed for governmental affairs" means 136
210210 that the principal or most significant responsibilities of the 137
211211 employee is to oversee the employer's various relationships with 138
212212 governmental entities or representing the employer in i ts 139
213213 contacts with governmental entities. 140
214214 (16) "Secretary" means the head of a department who is 141
215215 appointed by the Governor. 142
216216 (17) "State government body or agency" means any 143
217217 department, agency, commission, council, board, or 144
218218 instrumentality created by the State Constitution or established 145
219219 by general law and any official or officer thereof. The term 146
220220 includes, but is not limited to, a state attorney, a public 147
221221 defender, a criminal conflict and civil regional counsel, and a 148
222222 capital collateral regional counsel. 149
223223 Section 2. Section 112.3122, Florida Statutes, is created 150
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232232 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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236236 to read: 151
237237 112.3122 Enforcement and penalties for constitutional 152
238238 prohibition against lobbying by a public officer. — 153
239239 (1) Section 8(f), Art. II of the State Constitution 154
240240 applies to persons serv ing as public officers on or after 155
241241 December 31, 2022. 156
242242 (2) For purposes of administrative enforcement, a 157
243243 violation of s. 8(f), Art. II of the State Constitution is 158
244244 deemed a violation of this part. 159
245245 (3) If the commission finds that there has been a 160
246246 violation of s. 8(f)(3), Art. II of the State Constitution, the 161
247247 commission must report its findings and recommendations for 162
248248 appropriate action to the Governor who has the power to invoke 163
249249 any of the penalties under subsection (4). 164
250250 (4) A violation of s. 8(f), Ar t. II of the State 165
251251 Constitution may be punished by one or more of the following: 166
252252 (a) Public censure and reprimand. 167
253253 (b) A civil penalty not to exceed $10,000. 168
254254 (c) Forfeiture of any pecuniary benefits received for 169
255255 conduct that violates this section. The amount of the pecuniary 170
256256 benefits must be paid to the General Revenue Fund. 171
257257 (5) The Attorney General and Chief Financial Officer are 172
258258 independently authorized to collect any penalty imposed under 173
259259 this section. 174
260260 Section 3. This act shall take effect December 31, 2022. 175