Integrity Florida issued the following release today:
Governor DeSantis, we urge you to veto Senate Bill 7014 as it poses a serious threat to Florida’s ethics laws. Senate Bill 7014, if signed into law, would have detrimental consequences for our ability to hold corrupt public officials accountable when they abuse the public trust.
SB 7014, in its current form, never received a committee hearing which would have allowed public comment and discussion. SB 7014 was amended on the floor of the House and Senate to prohibit members of the public from filing an ethics complaint unless they have “personal knowledge” of an alleged ethics violation.
“As you know Governor, the only people who have personal knowledge of a violation of the law are those who are committing the violation,” said Ben Wilcox, Research Director for Integrity Florida. “If this bill becomes law, no longer would someone be able to file an ethics complaint based on a credible report in their local newspaper. The Florida Commission on Ethics can’t even begin an investigation into a potential ethics violation unless a citizen is able to file a sworn complaint.”
Senate Bill 7014 also places new restrictions on local ethics boards like those in Jacksonville, Miami, Palm Beach County, Tallahassee and Naples. No longer would those boards be able to self-initiate investigations into anonymous complaints, regardless of how credible those complaints may be. This is particularly troublesome at the local level where government employees may fear retaliation if they put their name on a sworn complaint.
This bill threatens to undermine the very principles that our government should uphold. The bill includes provisions that would restrict the ability of citizens and watchdog organizations like Integrity Florida to hold elected officials accountable.
Furthermore, this bill allows for unethical behavior to go unchecked. It weakens ethics enforcement and oversight, making it easier for corrupt practices to occur without consequence. This is a step in the wrong direction and goes against the best interests of the people of Florida.
