Ana Ceballos
Florida would have the strictest lobbying ban in the nation under a proposed constitutional amendment that House Speaker Richard Corcoran is pushing Constitutional Revision Commission appointees to support.
Corcoran, who prides himself in running a “House of Reformers,” is seeking to close the revolving door between lobbyists and legislators by implementing a six-year lobbying ban for legislators and statewide elected officers.
In a letter sent this week to commissioners, Corcoran said they should back ethics proposals filed by Commissioners Don Gaetz, a former Senate president, and Sen. Darryl Rouson, which would be put on the ballot for voter approval if passed by the 37-member CRC panel.
Both proposals were temporarily postponed at hearings in mid-December last year.
“Recent legislative attempt to extend the lobby ban and impose stricter ethical requirements have been thwarted by the self-interested politicians we hope to regulate,” Corcoran wrote.
Currently the state constitution has a two year lobbying ban. According to National Conference of State Legislatures report, at least 34 states have a form of lobbying cooling-off period, but none exceed the two-year ban.
The term-limited Republican has advocated for a longer lobbying ban since the day he was sworn in as speaker and said, “it all ends” with him at the helm
