DeSantis gives a green light to Florida corruption | Editorial

Reubin Askew’s reputation as one of Florida’s greatest governors owes much to his crusade for a strict code of public ethics and a bipartisan body to enforce it.

“The faith of the people, like the love of a child, cannot be demanded,” he told the Legislature a half century ago. “It must be earned, and earned, and earned again.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who’s on a trajectory to be remembered as one of Florida’s worst governors, betrayed that trust. He signed Senate Bill 7014, which sabotages the Commission on Ethics and is intended to weaken watchdog journalism.

The law stops investigations of citizen complaints if they are  not based on “personal knowledge or information other than hearsay.” That will likely stifle many complaints, especially those based on news reports.

‘Hearsay’ cases that stood up

Accusations of unethical conduct are carefully investigated. These are among many cases that likely would have failed the new test:

Andrew Gillum, DeSantis’ 2018 Democratic opponent, was fined $5,000 for taking unreported gifts from lobbyists and vendors while he was mayor of Tallahassee, including a boat excursion around the Statue of Liberty.

“The only people with ‘personal knowledge’ of that trip were the people on that boat,” said Ben Wilcox, research director at Integrity Florida.

Former Manatee Commissioner Vanessa Baugh was fined $8,000 for arranging scarce, preferential COVID-19 vaccinations for herself and neighbors in a gated community (a case that DeSantis wrongly blew off as “a joke” in 2021). Baugh’s actions came to light from local newspapers that used public records laws to obtain her emails.

Former Broward Mayor Dale Holness, who nearly won a seat in Congress, was fined $1,000 for failing to disclose rental income in a 2022 case that began with a complaint by a political opponent’s consultant.

Then there were the fines against “ghost candidates” who were cynically recruited to hoodwink voters and siphon votes from legitimate contenders, cases deeply reported by the Florida media. One “ghost” ended the political career of a capable Miami Democrat, former Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez.

Created in 1974, the ethics commission can still review financial disclosure filings, receive referrals from prosecutors and law enforcement and give guidance to public officials who seek it — but the incentive to ask for it is now badly undermined.

Typical party-line votes

In our view, no legislative candidate deserves to be elected without promising to repeal SB 7014.

Every Republican present voted for this terrible law but one, Rep. Wyman Duggan of Jacksonville. Every Democrat present voted against it except for two senators, both from Orlando, Linda Stewart and Victor Torres. Six Democratic senators did not vote either way.

DeSantis was unhappy that Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried filed three ethics complaints in 2023, accusing top DeSantis staffers of pressuring lawmakers and lobbyists for support and money for his presidential campaign while the fate of their bills hung in the balance.

A preliminary investigation followed. The ethics commission found no probable cause and dismissed Fried’s complaints, which were based on reports by NBC News and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that relied on anonymous sources.

When DeSantis isn’t signing bad bills, he’s vetoing good ones. The Legislature has yet to override any of his vetoes in utter disregard for the separation of powers, a founding American principle.

He has been particularly ruthless with line-item vetoes of their worthy local projects, including all $32 million for arts and cultural grants across the state with no explanation — a dumb political move that caught Republicans off-guard.

Going where no governor has gone before, he vetoed nearly $57 million in salaries for about 200 select legislative employees, including experts who assemble economic forecasts and revenue projections critical to writing the state budget.

Take DeSantis to court

Legislative leaders say reserve funds can replace the lost appropriations and no jobs will be lost. That misses the point. This line-item budget veto, doubly outrageous for not being explained, should be overridden or challenged in court as unconstitutional.

DeSantis axed the salaries while targeting a related provision that directed the Office of Economic and Demographic Research to study how to prohibit credit card companies from charging merchants for collecting sales taxes.

The so-called interchange fees are worth about $288 million a year. Big banks and credit card companies want to keep that money, and they have the governor’s ear. Lawmakers tucked the study into a politically safe part of the budget, but DeSantis still vetoed it.

Long before DeSantis was born, the Legislature was run, and badly, by small-town politicians, mostly Democrats, representing less than 20% of the population. They had no professional staff and relied lamely on what lobbyists told them.

Thanks to a reapportionment ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court, the 1967 Legislature was the first to represent more actual people than pine trees. A flurry of reforms followed, and by 1971, the Citizens Council on State Legislatures rated Florida’s Legislature the fourth best in the nation.

No one would say that today. It’s hard to respect legislators who would weaken ethics laws meant to ferret out corruption. They owe it to their constituents, if not their self-respect, to finally stand up to this governor’s bullying.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.