Full disclosure by lobbyists passes Senate unanimously
Today is Day 32 of the 60-day session of the Florida Legislature.
By Times staff writers, Associated Press
Published April 8, 2005
Hoping to erase a dark cloud of public suspicion, the Senate voted 39-0 Thursday to force lobbyists to disclose their fees and identify the people they wine and dine.
Senate President Tom Lee has made the bill his top priority, saying he wants to change the culture that surrounds lawmaking.
"Floridians have the right to know who is paying ... so they can gauge the influence," said Sen. Robert Clary, R-Destin.
Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, said the Legislature needs to change the paradigm between lobbyists and lawmakers. "We owe it to the public we serve," he said. "The (Senate) president has seen the dark cloud of public perception that hangs over the Legislature. The president wants the people of Florida to know that when we vote on a health care bill it's because we want a healthy Florida."
The bill goes to the House, where a less restrictive measure is headed to the floor. The final bill will likely be negotiated in the Legislature's closing days in early May.
-LUCY MORGAN, ALISA ULFERTS
Left-lane driving penalty on verge of final passage
Slow drivers in the left lane of the highway would have to move to the right or face a fine under a bill the Senate passed 27-10. The bill (HB 157) says anyone driving on a four-lane highway, interstate or some other highways can only drive in the left lane when passing.
Minor changes sent the bill back to the House, which earlier passed it 109-4.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
House votes to consign primary runoff to history
Runoff elections in Florida would finally become extinct under a bill that won overwhelming passage in the House.
The vote was 76-37 to make permanent the temporary runoff ban in effect since 2002. The Senate is also considering a ban.
"It's a waste of resources," said Rep. Juan-Carlos Planas, R-Miami. "... It's too much of a burden on all of the players involved."
The runoff, in place for a century, has become more unpopular because of new legislative deadlines for mailing absentee ballots to overseas and military voters. If runoffs continued, election supervisors said they would need at least eight weeks between elections. That could push the primaries to July or August, when many voters are vacationing or paying little attention to elections.
"It's important that we finally have some finality," said House Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando.
Most House members who supported keeping the runoff were Democrats. Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors, linked opposition to the runoff with a trend among lawmakers limiting public access to government records.
"It's a dangerous trend when we all get up here in Tallahassee and we somehow want to erode public involvement. It's not right," Seiler said.
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