The Florida House of Representatives. (Photo by CD Davidson-Hiers/Florida Phoenix)
House Speaker-designate Danny Perez announced Wednesday that he plans to allow representatives to travel on planes owned by lobbyists and companies with business before the Legislature and will levy fines against lobbyists who don’t properly disclose their business activities with members.
The changes will be contained in House Resolution 10, which will be filed by Rep. Sam Garrison a Republican from Fleming Island whom Perez tapped to head the House Rules and Ethics Committee.
Perez’s announcement was one of two made by the incoming legislative leaders on Wednesday. Senate President-designate Ben Albritton released the names of the senators who will take the lead in helping the chamber craft the General Appropriations Act, or state budget, the only bill the Legislature is required by law to pass.
In the House, Perez said the changes to air travel are being made to make the House operate more like the Florida Senate.
“Many parts of our state can be difficult to access by air, particularly when traveling to and from Tallahassee. For the past few years, the House Rules have contained a blanket prohibition on traveling on any private aircraft owned by a principal. In contrast, other State officials, including Senators, may travel on private aircraft while paying the equivalent of a coach fare on a commercial airline,” Perez wrote to a memo distributed to House members as well as the news media.
“We are proposing a new House Rule that would allow Members to travel on a private flight, regardless of the ownership, but only at the cost of the actual private flight divided by the number of occupied seats on the flight. We believe this new rule will provide some additional flexibility without allowing House Members to receive a disproportionate benefit from a lobbyist or principal.”
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Perez’s memo also outlines changes regarding lobbying.
While former House members who subsequently become registered lobbyists are prevented from entering the House chamber, the ban doesn’t apply to members employed by principals with business with the body.
Perez wants to change that.
“In recent Sessions, de facto lobbying has taken place by some former Members who, while not technically registered to lobby, are employed by principals with business before the House,” Perez wrote. “Going forward, former Members who are employed by a registered principal will be treated in the same manner as former Members who are registered lobbyists.”
Other changes regarding lobbying include requiring House legislative committee staff to confirm that a lobbyist has filed a disclosure before scheduling a meeting on a specific bill, appropriation, or issue.
“Upon receipt of any information, formal or informal, that indicates that a lobbyist has failed to disclose their activities as required by the House Rules, the Rules & Ethics Committee Chair will have authority to investigate the matter,” Perez wrote.
“If a lobbyist does not promptly remedy their failure to disclose, the matter may be brought before the Rules & Ethics Committee in a public meeting for a hearing and sanctions,” Perez continued, adding that penalties for failing to disclose lobbying activity will be expanded to include financial penalties.
“The House will have a zero-tolerance policy for any attempt to avoid, manipulate, or undermine the lobbyist disclosure system,” Perez wrote.
Perez plans on allowing what he called “combined workgroups” meeting for short periods with 24-hours’ notice.
“A combined workgroup will be a forum for an intensive examination of a single issue across multiple subject matter jurisdictions. The chairs of the substantive committees forming the workgroup will be empowered to select members who will serve on the workgroup. Recommendations from the combined workgroup can be made by workgroup committee members and can be considered as the basis for a proposed committee bill by any of the substantive standing committee or subcommittees.
“We hope that you will receive these changes in the spirit in which they are offered — a desire to make our process better and fairer,” Perez wrote in the memo.
Budget crunchers
Albritton released his own memo announcing the names of the senators who will take a lead on crafting the chamber’s proposed spending plans for the state of Florida. Albritton had previously announced that Sen. Ed Hooper would head the powerful Appropriations Committee.
“Each of these appointments represents a substantial position of trust and authority. I’m grateful to each Senator listed below for agreeing to step into a key leadership position. Along with Chair Hooper, I know they will work hard to ensure all of your voices and those of your constituents are reflected in where we prioritize the limited taxpayer dollars we are entrusted with.”
Albritton appointed Sen. Gayle Harrell to chair the subcommittee on Higher Education; Sen. Danny Burgess to head the subcommittee on Pre-K–12 Education; Sen. Jason Brodeur to lead the subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government; Sen. Ileana Garcia to chair the subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice; Sen. Jay Trumbull to head the subcommittee on Health and Human Services; Sen. Nick DiCeglie as chair of the subcommittee Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development; and Sen. Bryan Avila chair of the subcommittee on Finance and Tax.
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