State Senate Members Undergo Ethics Training

State Senate Members Undergo Ethics Training

Tallahassee, FL-As state senate members head back for another week at the Capitol, they’ll be undergoing some mandatory ethics training.

The training comes on the heels of sweeping ethics reform passed by a senate committee last month. Those reforms are meant to cut down on the potential influence lobbyists could have on senate members.

Among the provisions of the proposed legislation include requiring senators to wait two years after leaving office before they can lobby their former colleagues.

It also asks lawmakers to abstain from voting on bills benefiting them or their families.

It also bans elected officials from taking state administrative jobs once they’re elected.

“This is a way to make sure things run smoothly, but most importantly that they run the way they should be run,” said Sen. Bill Montford who attended Wednesday senate ethics training.

Montford says the proposed changes would go a long way to restoring the public’s trust in its legislative members by putting everything out in the open.

“We owe it to the public and the public should hold us accountable and it should hold us to a higher standard, if you will,” said Montford.

The proposed ethics reform still has to pass the legislature before it can take effect, It’s expected to come up before the legislature it some time this spring.