Money Coming from Ethics Violations; Fines Are a Necessary Part of Late Filing of Disclosure Reports

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Byline: Steve Patterson

Florida will rake in cash pretty soon from people who broke state ethics rules.

But it seems like ethics workers really don't want to.

State employees spent hours calling hundreds of people recently reminding them to file paperwork that's required by law.

Thousands of other Floridians got letters spelling out when they had to file financial disclosure reports, and why. The short answer is Florida law says they have to disclose their financial interests if they could influence how taxpayer money is spent. If they didn't file the first time, they were sent more mail - some certified, some postcards that would be easy to read, …