Gov. Rick Scott signed 94 more bills into law last week, including one from state Rep. Dan Raulerson, R-Plant City, that has some government observers applauding.
H.B. 1385 shifts the management of inspectors general from individual department heads to the chief inspector general.
Inspectors general are typically responsible for maintaining the accountability, efficiency and integrity in a government department. However, many lawmakers said the positions were easy to influence, since each inspector general’s boss was the head of the department, and made it difficult to implement needed changes.
Integrity Florida, a nonpartisan government watchdog group, championed the bill.
“Inspectors general are the public’s watchdogs within state government, but they need more independence to do their jobs effectively,” Integrity Florida executive director Dan Krassner said, in a release. “This law should reduce the influence of state agency heads over the internal government watchdogs who audit and investigate their agencies.”
Before the new law, state agency heads could appoint and remove their own inspectors general, Krassner said, which created built-in conflicts of interest.
“Agency heads and their deputies should not be able to prevent an inspector general from conducting an audit or investigation,” he added.
Other bills recently signed into law from local lawmakers were:
S.B. 272 – Water Utilities
Introduced by state Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, this law now gives water customers the right to petition the Florida Public Service Commission if they feel their water quality is unsatisfactory.
Someone wanting to start a petition would have to first let the commission know of their complaint, and then wait 10 days for instructions. After that, the customer has 90 days to collect signatures from 65 percent of the customers in the affected area, specifically outlining the problems they have with the water.
Depending on the outcome with the commission, a water utility would then have to meet with the customers and outline immediate ways to resolve the problems. If the utility doesn’t work to correct the issues, it could be subject to fines, according to a staff analysis of the bill.
This bill passed the Senate 37-0 and the House 99-15 in late April.
S.B. 536 – Reclaimed Water
Also introduced by Simpson, this law requires the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the five water management districts — including the Southwest Florida Water Management District — to conduct a study and submit a report by the end of next year on how to expand the use of reclaimed water in the state.
It passed both the House and Senate unanimously in April.
S.B. 1070 – Fuel Terminals
Introduced by Simpson, this law would prevent local governments from outlawing existing fuel terminals.
Terminals, according to a staff analysis of the bill, are typically storage and distribution facilities that serve as nodes to deliver fuels throughout the region. Florida has 42 active fuel terminals, with 11 of them in the Tampa Bay area. The Port of Tampa alone receives approximately 500 petroleum ships a year, and 2.4 billion gallons of fuel.
The law also allows fuel terminals that were damaged or destroyed by natural disaster or other catastrophe to be rebuilt to their previous condition, whether a local government says they are conforming or not to its code of ordinances.
It passed the Senate 36-0, and the House 112-5 in April.
S.B. 1142 – Ticket Sales
First introduced by state Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, this new law increases the criminal penalties for counterfeit tickets and “multi-use tickets” at theme parks, in many cases upgrading the crime from a misdemeanor to a felony for repeat offenders.
It’s currently a first-degree misdemeanor to counterfeit, forge, alter or possess any ticket with the intention to defraud a facility, according to a Senate analysis of the bill. However, a second violation — or any violation that involves 10 or more tickets — would elevate the charge from a misdemeanor to a third-degree felony.
Multi-use tickets can’t be transferred if part of the ticket has already been used. Penalties here have been increased from a second-degree to first-degree misdemeanor for the first offense, and a third-degree felony for later offenses.
The legislation passed both the House and Senate unanimously.
Published June 18, 2014
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