Florida Republicans introduced a bill to prevent state employees from conducting traditional campaign-type activities during working hours. The move comes after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used government staffers to help him directly raise campaign contributions at least twice over the past year.
HB 1445, as the bill is officially called, was introduced last week after NBC News first reported last month that staffers in DeSantis' administration solicited political contributions for his presidential bid and have asked lobbyists to commit money to a political committee as first lady Casey DeSantis considers a run for governor in 2026.
DeSantis enlisted his chief of staff to serve as the chairman of a political committee targeting ballot measures related to abortion and marijuana in the last election cycle, as well as administration officials like Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo participated in official news conferences advocating against the issues. Employees at a Florida health agency also launched a state-sponsored website that took a position against the abortion ballot measure.
"What this says is that whether it's after hours or during hours, which is already prohibited, you cannot solicit funds, you cannot be engaged in the political campaign fundraising process," the bill sponsor, state Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Melbourne, said during a House committee hearing last week.
She did not specifically mention DeSantis, who would veto the bill if it passes the Legislature.
The bill would also prohibit state employees and officers from participating in any political campaigns, whether it be on behalf of a candidate, a political committee or an issue on the ballot, while on duty or during hours for which they are compensated by the state. And state employees would be barred from using their positions to influence or interfere with an issue on the ballot.
State employees who violate the fundraising or political campaign provisions could be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison, according to the bill.
The recent bill is the latest indication of rising tensions between the Sunshine State's Legislature and the executive branch. Friction between the two first rose in January, when lawmakers fought a DeSantis-led immigration proposal that was designed to align state law with a wave of immigration-related executive orders Trump signed shortly after he took office.
Republicans in the House are also pushing to investigate $10 million Florida received as part of a settlement with one of its biggest Medicaid operators. The cash, The Miami Herald reported, went to a Casey DeSantis-run charity called the Hope Florida Foundation.
The sweeping House ethics proposal also demonstrated how House Republican leaders are trying to rein in an executive branch that has increasingly blurred the lines between campaign politics and state duties by using taxpayer-funded resources, The Miami Herald argued.
The governor has previously denied any wrongdoing, particularly with the Hope Florida Foundation episode, accusing House Republicans of working with the "liberal media" in a smear campaign against the governor and his wife.
"I got to tell you, I'm used to the baseless smears from liberal media. I'm used to the baseless smears from Democrats. I've been dealing with it for over six years. It's par for the course. But I think now we have Republican leadership in the Florida House joining with liberal media and joining with Democrats to launch baseless smears against Hope Florida and by extension, myself and the First Lady," the governor said Thursday.
Originally published on Latin Times
