Ethics Commission Getting New Authority Over Debtors
Panama City, FL-- Both State Senate President Don Gaetz and house speaker Will Weatherford have made ethics reform with a top priority.
The legislature passed an Ethics Reform Bill this week and sent it to the Governor for his signature.
A key element will give the ethics commission some teeth to collect fines against public servants who failed to report financial information in a timely fashion.
The reason why so many people do have not paid the fines up to this point is because the Ethics Commission has little authority and once the four year statute of limitations ended, the debt is erased.
We caught up with former Ethics Commission member Scott Clemons and asked him about this issue,
"I think the legislature is doing the right thing because I think public's confidence in the government is at an all time low. So anything they can do to help restore the public's confidence by stronger enforcement of ethical guidelines is very positive."
Governor Rick Scott says this is one of the first bills he plans to sign.
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