Sen. Mike Fasano Files Ethics Bill

A bill that would ramp up Florida's ethics rules and penalties for lawmakers has been filed by Sen. Mike Fasano.

Senate Bill 1484 would increase the cap on civil law penalties from $10,000 to $100,000 and allow the Ethics Commission to investigate ethics violations on its own instead of waiting to hear complaints. Also, it calls on the governor and Cabinet officials to put their assets into a blind trust in order to eliminate conflicts of interest.

The bottom line is that public officials will no longer be allowed to skirt the law by entering into sweetheart deals with vendors, provide jobs for family members or commit other ethical breaches without facing stiff penalties. Lobbyists will be held to greater account and, perhaps most importantly, the Florida Ethics Commission will be able to act quickly to hold these violators to account, Fasano said.