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Citizen legislators
Sorting through the finances of legislators
By Times Staff Writer
Published February 20, 2005
Under the Sunshine Amendment to the state Constitution, 35,000 elected officials and candidates in Florida are required to file financial disclosure reports by July 1 each year. The reports are supposed to include:
** The filer's net worth - the value of all assets minus the value of all liabilities.
** The aggregate value of household goods and personal effects.
** A list of each asset valued at more than $1,000, plus a description of each asset.
** A list of each liability of more than $1,000, including the name and address of each creditor.
** A copy of the most recent income tax return, including all attachments, OR a list of each source and amount of income that exceeds $1,000 and a list of secondary sources of income (for filers who own part or all of a business).
** A list of all business entities in which the filer has an interest, plus other details of the ownership interest.
As the charts show, most state legislators and statewide elected officials have seen their net worths increase while in office.
Some of them apparently figured their net worth incorrectly, too. In those cases, we have recalculated their net worth by subtracting their total liabilities from their total assets.
Note that the reports for each legislator do not cover the same period of time, but are from the first year each legislator was initially elected.
[Last modified February 20, 2005, 01:10:42]
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