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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
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to public officers and employees; 2
creating s. 20.70, F.S.; requiring certain public 3
officers and employees to be United States citizens 4
and residents of this state, and, for specified public 5
officers and employees, to reside in a certain co unty 6
or within a certain area by a specified date; 7
requiring members of a state university board of 8
trustees and members of the Board of Governors to be 9
United States citizens and either a resident of this 10
state or a graduate of a state university beginnin g on 11
a specified date; providing that specified offices are 12
deemed vacant under certain circumstances; amending s. 13
104.31, F.S.; narrowing applicability of certain 14
prohibitions regarding political activities; creating 15
s. 104.315, F.S.; providing definition s; prohibiting 16
certain state officers and employees from engaging in 17
certain political activities; prohibiting certain 18
state officers from using the authority or influence 19
of their positions for certain purposes; prohibiting 20
certain supervisors from engagi ng in certain conduct; 21
providing construction; providing a criminal penalty; 22
amending s. 110.233, F.S.; prohibiting Career Service 23
System employees from using the authority or influence 24
of their positions for certain purposes; creating s. 25
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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
112.31251, F.S.; defining the term "office" for 26
purposes of s. 5(a), Art. II of the State 27
Constitution; defining the term "employment"; amending 28
s. 1001.71, F.S.; conforming a provision to changes 29
made by the act; providing an effective date. 30
31
Be It Enacted by the Legi slature of the State of Florida: 32
33
Section 1. Section 20.70, Florida Statutes, is created to 34
read: 35
20.70 Residency requirements. —Notwithstanding any other 36
law: 37
(1)(a) Effective October 1, 2025, each of the following 38
persons must be a United States c itizen and a resident of this 39
state: 40
1. A member of a commission. 41
2. A member of a licensing board. 42
3. The chairperson of the governing board of, or the chief 43
executive of, a statewide entity that is explicitly created or 44
established by statute, rega rdless of its legal form, for a 45
public purpose or to effectuate a government program and which 46
is not under the direct control of a governmental entity. 47
4. Any other person appointed to hold state office. 48
(b) If a person listed in subparagraph (a)1., subparagraph 49
(a)2., or subparagraph (a)3. does not meet the requirements of 50
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paragraph (a), such person's office is automatically deemed 51
vacant. 52
(2)(a) Effective October 1, 2025, each of the following 53
persons must be a United States citizen, must be a resi dent of 54
this state, and must reside in the same county as his or her 55
respective department headquarters or within 30 miles of the 56
department headquarters: 57
1. The secretary of a department. 58
2. The executive director of a department of the executive 59
branch. 60
3. The chief administrative officer of any unit of state 61
government that is housed under a department for administrative 62
purposes but is not subject to the control, supervision, or 63
direction of such department. 64
(b) If a person listed in subparagraph (a)1., subparagraph 65
(a)2., or subparagraph (a)3. does not meet the requirements of 66
paragraph (a), such person's office is automatically deemed 67
vacant. 68
(3) Effective January 6, 2027, each member of a state 69
university board of trustees must be a United States citizen and 70
either a resident of this state or a graduate of the state 71
university, the administration of which is overseen by such 72
board of trustees. If any member of a board of trustees does not 73
meet the requirements of this subsection, such person's office 74
is automatically deemed vacant. 75
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(4) Effective January 6, 2027, each member of the Board of 76
Governors must be a United States citizen and either a resident 77
of this state or a graduate of a state university, a s defined in 78
s. 1000.21. If any member of the Board of Governors does not 79
meet the requirements of this subsection, such person's office 80
is automatically deemed vacant. 81
Section 2. Section 104.31, Florida Statutes, is amended to 82
read: 83
104.31 Political activities of state, county, and 84
municipal officers and employees. — 85
(1) No officer or employee of the state, or of any county 86
or municipality thereof, except as hereinafter exempted from 87
provisions hereof, shall: 88
(a) Use his or her official authority or influence for the 89
purpose of interfering with an election or a nomination of 90
office or coercing or influencing another person's vote or 91
affecting the result thereof. 92
(b) Directly or indirectly coerce or attempt to coerce, 93
command, or advise any other officer or employee to pay, lend, 94
or contribute any part of his or her salary, or any money, or 95
anything else of value to any party, committee, organization, 96
agency, or person for political purposes. Nothing in this 97
paragraph or in any county or municipal charter or ordinance 98
shall prohibit an employee from suggesting to another employee 99
in a noncoercive manner that he or she may voluntarily 100
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contribute to a fund which is administered by a party, 101
committee, organization, agency, person, labor union or other 102
employee organization for political purposes. 103
(c) Directly or indirectly coerce or attempt to coerce, 104
command, and advise any such officer or employee as to where he 105
or she might purchase commodities or to interfere in any other 106
way with the personal rig ht of said officer or employee. 107
108
The provisions of this section shall not be construed so as to 109
prevent any person from becoming a candidate for and actively 110
campaigning for any elective office in this state. All such 111
persons shall retain the right to vote as they may choose and to 112
express their opinions on all political subjects and candidates. 113
The provisions of paragraph (a) shall not be construed so as to 114
limit the political activity in a general, special, primary, 115
bond, referendum, or other election of any kind or nature, of 116
elected officials or candidates for public office in the state 117
or of any county or municipality thereof ; and the provisions of 118
paragraph (a) shall not be construed so as to limit the 119
political activity in general or special elections of the 120
officials appointed as the heads or directors of state 121
administrative agencies, boards, commissions, or committees or 122
of the members of state boards, commissions, or committees, 123
whether they be salaried, nonsalaried, or reimbursed for 124
expense. In the event of a dual capacity of any member of a 125
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state board, commission, or committee, any restrictive 126
provisions applicable to either capacity shall apply. The 127
provisions of paragraph (a) shall not be construed so as to 128
limit the political activity in a ge neral, special, primary, 129
bond, referendum, or other election of any kind or nature of the 130
Governor, the elected members of the Governor's Cabinet, or the 131
members of the Legislature. The provisions of paragraphs (b) and 132
(c) shall apply to all officers and e mployees of the state or of 133
any county or municipality thereof, whether elected, appointed, 134
or otherwise employed, or whether the activity shall be in 135
connection with a primary, general, special, bond, referendum, 136
or other election of any kind or nature. 137
(2) An employee of the state or any political subdivision 138
may not participate in any political campaign for an elective 139
office while on duty. 140
(3) Any person violating the provisions of this section is 141
guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as 142
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. 143
(4) Nothing contained in this section or in any county or 144
municipal charter shall be deemed to prohibit any public 145
employee from expressing his or her opinions on any candidate or 146
issue or from particip ating in any political campaign during the 147
employee's off-duty hours, so long as such activities are not in 148
conflict with the provisions of subsection (1) or s. 110.233. 149
Section 3. Section 104.315, Florida Statutes, is created 150
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to read: 151
104.315 Political activities of state officers and 152
employees.— 153
(1) As used in this section, the term: 154
(a) "Contribution" has the same meaning as in s. 106.011. 155
(b) "Electioneering communications organization" has the 156
same meaning as in s. 106.011. 157
(c) "Issue" has the same meaning as in s. 106.011. 158
(d) "Political committee" has the same meaning as in s. 159
106.011. 160
(2) Except for an elected official, an officer or employee 161
of this state may not: 162
(a) Solicit or receive a contribution for, or on behalf 163
of, any of the following: 164
1. A political party. 165
2. A political committee, an affiliated party committee, 166
or any other committee. 167
3. An electioneering communications organization or any 168
other organization. 169
4. An agency. 170
5. A person. 171
(b) Participate in any political campaign, whether on 172
behalf of a candidate for public office, an elected public 173
official, an issue, a political party, a political committee, an 174
affiliated party committee, or an electioneering communications 175
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organization: 176
1. While on duty; or 177
2. Within any period of time during which the officer or 178
employee is expected to perform services for which he or she 179
receives compensation from this state. 180
(c) Use his or her official authority or influence for the 181
purpose of: 182
1. Interfering with a campaign for elective office or an 183
issue; 184
2. Coercing or influencing another person's vote in a 185
general, special, primary, or referendum election; or 186
3. Affecting, directly or indirectly, the results of a 187
campaign for elective office or an issue. 188
(3) A supervisor of an officer or employee of this state 189
may not require, request, or otherwise pressure such officer or 190
employee to engage in conduct prohibited by this section. 191
(4) This section may not be construed so as to limit a 192
person's right to vote as he or she may choose or to express his 193
or her opinions on all political subjects and candidates. 194
(5) Any person violating this section is guilty of a 195
misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 196
775.082 or s. 775.083. 197
Section 4. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 198
110.233, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 199
110.233 Political activities and unlawful acts 200
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prohibited.— 201
(4) As an individual, each employee retains all rights and 202
obligations of citizenship provided in the Constitution and laws 203
of the state and the Constitution and laws of the United States. 204
However, no employee in the career service shall: 205
(b) Use the authority or influence of his or her position 206
for any of the purposes described in s. 104.315(2) to secure 207
support for, or oppose, any candidate, party, or issue in a 208
partisan election or affect the results thereof . 209
Section 5. Section 112.31251, Florida Statutes, is created 210
to read: 211
112.31251 Definition of the term "office." — 212
(1)(a) For purposes of s. 5(a), Art. II of the State 213
Constitution, the term "office," when referring to an office in 214
this state, means any position in state, county, or municipal 215
government that: 216
1. Delegates to the individual holding such position a 217
portion of the sovereign pow er of the government. 218
2. Requires the exercise of independent governmental 219
authority, which is performed in an official capacity and is not 220
based solely on a contractual or employment relationship. 221
3. Has a prescribed tenure. 222
4. Exists independently of the individual holding such 223
position. 224
(b) The term "office" includes, but is not limited to, all 225
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of the following positions: 226
1. The Governor. 227
2. The Lieutenant Governor. 228
3. A member of the Cabinet. 229
4. A state senator. 230
5. A state representative. 231
6. A county commissioner. 232
7. A sheriff. 233
8. A tax collector. 234
9. A property appraiser. 235
10. A supervisor of elections. 236
11. A clerk of the circuit court. 237
12. A member of the Board of Governors of the State 238
University System. 239
13. A member of a board of trustees for a state 240
university. 241
14. A member of a district school board. 242
15. The county or municipal administrator. 243
16. The director of a county or municipal emergency 244
management agency. 245
17. A member of a state, county, or municipal board or 246
commission that exercises governmental authority and is not 247
purely advisory in nature. 248
18. A member of the board of the Citizens Property 249
Insurance Corporation established under s. 627.351(6). 250
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19. A member of the board of the Florida Housing Finance 251
Corporation established under s. 420.504. 252
20. A member of the board of the Florida Healthy Kids 253
Corporation established under s. 624.91. 254
(2) The term "office" does not include either of the 255
following: 256
(a) A legislative designation of an officer to perform ex 257
officio the functions of another office; or 258
(b) The position of an individual whose relationship with 259
a state, county, or municipal government is considered 260
employment. For purposes of this subsection, the term 261
"employment" means a relationship with a state, county, or 262
municipal government where an individual does not exercise in 263
his or her own right any sovereign power or any prescribed 264
independent authority of a governmental nature. 265
Section 6. Subsection (1) of section 1001 .71, Florida 266
Statutes, is amended to read: 267
1001.71 University boards of trustees; membership. — 268
(1) Pursuant to s. 7(c), Art. IX of the State 269
Constitution, each local constituent university shall be 270
administered by a university board of trustees compris ed of 13 271
members as follows: 6 citizen members appointed by the Governor 272
subject to confirmation by the Senate; 5 citizen members 273
appointed by the Board of Governors subject to confirmation by 274
the Senate; the chair of the faculty senate or the equivalent; 275
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and the president of the student body of the university. The 276
appointed members shall serve staggered 5 -year terms. In order 277
to achieve staggered terms, beginning July 1, 2003, of the 278
initial appointments by the Governor, 2 members shall serve 2 -279
year terms, 3 members shall serve 3 -year terms, and 1 member 280
shall serve a 5-year term and of the initial appointments by the 281
Board of Governors, 2 members shall serve 2 -year terms, 2 282
members shall serve 3 -year terms, and 1 member shall serve a 5 -283
year term. There shall be no state residency requirement For 284
university board members, but the Governor and the Board of 285
Governors shall consider diversity and regional representation. 286
Beginning July 2, 2020, for purposes of this subsection, 287
regional representation shall incl ude the chair of a campus 288
board established pursuant to s. 1004.341. 289
Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 290