In February, officials in the city of New Smyrna Beach joined dozens of local leaders in a lawsuit against the state of Florida over a public disclosure law they said was too draconian.
The law led to dozens of city and town elected officials resigning. In January, News 6′s Molly Reed reported that council members in Orange City and Daytona Beach Shores resigned over the law. On Wednesday, News 6′s Emily McLeod reported that the entire town council in Reddick resigned in December.
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The law that led to so much local government turmoil, SB 774, was meant to add more transparency to local government. Instead, it led to a backlash and a preliminary injunction by a federal judge.
What is SB 774 and Form 6?
Form 6 is the form Florida requires state lawmakers to fill out, disclosing personal net worth, income and assets worth over $1,000, including household goods and personal effects. U.S. representatives and senators do not have to fill out the form.
For decades, city and town officials had to file a less-detailed disclosure form. Then in 2023, the Florida Legislature passed SB 774, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2024. It required all local officials to file Form 6 disclosures.
This year, the legislature rejected a proposal to modify the law to push the requirement date to 2025 and exempt officials in communities with 500 people or fewer.
Supporters say the disclosure changes were meant to show potential conflicts of interest while conducting government business.
Local backlash
However, many local officials saw the new law as draconian. In the months after the bill was signed into law in 2023, more than 125 local elected officials resigned. Local officials filed the federal lawsuit against the members of the Florida Commission on Ethics.
The lead attorney for the lawsuit, Jamie A. Cole, said the law discouraged people from running for local office.
“Most municipal elected officials receive little to no compensation for their public service, yet they are being asked to disclose their precise net worth, income and assets,” Cole said in the statement.
At the New Smyrna Beach city meeting in February, city officials said they were not opposed to more transparency in government. They just thought the law went too far.
“My safety is not being considered here at all. This is a total violation of our rights,” said Vice Mayor Vallie Perrine, stating Form 6 disclosures frequently ended up in the news or social media. “This is more government overreach and not transparency at all. And it is totally wrong. Had we known this, we may not have run.”
What is happening with the law now?
In June, a federal judge barred the state from enforcing the law, saying it likely violated the First Amendment.
“Defendants have not demonstrated the need for SB 774′s heightened disclosure requirements for municipal elected officials and candidates by showing, for example, that the disclosure requirements previously in place (Form 1) were not adequate,” the judge wrote. “This conclusion is borne out by the absence of any evidence, data, or studies in the legislative record indicating that Form 1′s disclosure requirements were inadequate to address the compelling interests at stake here (deterring corruption and conflicts of interest, bolstering public confidence in state government, and educating the public).”
The state did not appeal the injunction. A case management conference is scheduled to take place next month as the lawsuit heads to trial.
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