There are silly bills and then there are the bat-crazy, dangerous, shoot-it-before-it-reaches-the-border bills. SB 1560 fits nicely into the latter category.
SB 1560 is an ethics bill proposed by Sen. John Thrasher, with Senate President-designate Don Gaetz on board, that would ban lawmakers from working with universities or colleges while they serve and for two years after they leave the Legislature.
You well may ask why.
College and university employees apparently are different from other lawmakers with potential conflicts -- dare I say it, lawyers, for example, whose firms represent clients with a crush of business before the Legislature. Thrasher claims college employees are paid by the state in civilian life, and paid by the state again while they serve in office, and that's a bad thing.
"We're funding colleges and universities with taxpayer dollars," Thrasher said when he announced the bill in committee. "They in turn are hiring members of the Florida Legislature -- I'm not going to say it's to do their bidding, but it sometimes gives the appearance that's the case." He didn't cite a single example among current legislators.
Now, there are three reasons why this bill is, or should be, destined for the Dumpster.
First, as sure as the sun comes up over our beloved Atlantic shoreline, there's going to be a lawsuit.
Why propose a bill you know is doomed to be challenged based on discrimination? It should not have made it out of committee, but it did, in a 7-6 vote last week. When it goes to court, it will be taxpayer dollars fighting to defend it. Watch the law firms take a number to challenge the state on this one.
Thrasher since has said he doesn't expect the bill to pass this session, he just wants to start a conversation on ethics.
Which takes us to the second reason why this is loser legislation.
It's a can of worms the St. Augustine Republican doesn't want to open. Not really.
This is one ethics conversation that could jump up and bite him on the keister. It's a conversation that could turn to lawyers -- of which, oops, he is a proud fraternal member. In fact, Thrasher is one of 11 senators and 33 representatives in the Legislature who admit to earning an income as a lawyer.
Few legislator-lawyers are so independently wealthy that they can practice alone, that they don't work for law firms either with a truckload of business before the Legislature, or an agenda that includes currying the favor of some office of government, whether it's Enterprise Florida or Transportation or Tourism. Most lawyers' clients are propped up like Fort Knox with some kind of government funding -- taxpayer dollars, in fact, no different than the university folks.
Said Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, during the Associated Industries of Florida reception earlier in the month, "If that bill passes, I couldn't run again -- and that's ridiculous. If we're looking at conflicts of interest, then we need a full-throttle look at who's on committees and who's proposing bills or not proposing bills." Rehwinkel Vasilinda is a lawyer-legislator who works at Tallahassee Community College.
The point is, open the lawyer can, expect the dirt.
The third and perhaps most important reason why this bill is bad -- even dangerous -- is because it threatens the definition of the legislative branch of Florida government as a "citizens Legislature."
The idea always was to elect men and women who would bring to Tallahassee knowledge and real-world experience on a variety of issues so that bills could be crafted with a high level of expertise.
Legislators' salaries are kept low for a reason. Those elected are supposed to be employed in their home districts. They are supposed to be improving on their skills, listening to their constituents, combining it all to write and pass the bills that govern Florida.
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SB 1560 is contrary to that tradition in Florida government. It is a politics-of-the-moment attempt to legislate out a whole group of citizens for a perceived ethical problem that might very well be a worse problem elsewhere in the legislative body.
At present there are eight lawmakers with ties to a Florida university or college: Sen. Dennis Jones, R-St. Petersburg; Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island; Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah; Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami; Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna; Rep. Ana Rivas-Logan, R-Miami; Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilina, D-Tallahassee; and Rep. John Tobia, R-Melbourne.
I have never been one to shy away from a good ethics conversation. But it should never have begun with a discriminatory bill.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews or at (850) 727-0859.
