Once known for having some of the toughest ethics laws in the nation, Florida now lags behind much of the country.

Florida’s financial disclosure rules for public officials are weaker than those in most other major states, including California, Texas, New York and Ohio, according to the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity. At least seven states made changes last year to give the public more information on personal financial interests of lawmakers, but not Florida.

Florida requires most elected officials and some government employees to file forms that describe their assets and personal sources of income. The forms are supposed to reveal when officials make decisions that could benefit them financially.

But Florida does not make disclosure forms easily available online or even keep them all in one place. Citizens must get some reports from the Florida Commission on Ethics in Tallahassee and others from 67 county supervisors of election around the state.

Public Integrity gave Florida a “D” for informing the public of state lawmakers’ outside ties, such as income, assets and potential conflicts.

That’s about the same as Florida’s grade seven years ago. And the group only looked at state lawmakers. Most local officials in Florida are required to report even less.

Florida was rated poorly for not requiring lawmakers to report their job titles, describe their employers and corporate positions, or list the names, jobs or investments of spouses. About half the states require lawmakers to disclose jobs and investments for everyone in their household.

Florida does not even routinely check disclosure reports to see if they are filled out accurately because the ethics commission lacks such power.

“Nobody looks at them,” said state Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, who chairs the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee and has pushed bills to give the ethics commission more power. “They could say, ‘Didn’t you fill this out?’"

Under current law, public officials generally are required to disclose conflicts, refrain from voting, or both, if they would get a unique financial benefit from a public decision, or a relative or close business associate would get such benefits.

Penalties for violating state ethics law range from public censure to fines of up to $10,000 to being fired or removed from office. But penalties are almost never imposed and the commission must refer all cases involving legislators to the House or Senate.

Posey said he sees no easy way to correct gaps and errors in forms.

“Not without passing laws and enlisting a new legion of bureaucrats,” he said. Putting forms online also would cost money, he said, though he could not say how much.

What is really needed, some advocates say, is to give the ethics commission the authority to launch its own investigations and to adopt stricter laws on conflicts of interest. But legislative leaders have shown little interest.

“There’s a conflict inherently built into self-government,” said Phil Claypool, deputy executive director and general counsel for the Commission on Ethics. “We have to accept to some extent the interests they bring with them. But you have to have a line where they should not be allowed to vote. The essential question is, where do you draw the line?”

Last modified: June 04. 2006 5:41AM