Florida HB 1369: Penalties For Late-filed Disclosures or Statements of Financial Interests

Bill Text

HB 1369 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1369-00
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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to penalties for late-filed 2
disclosures or statements of financial interests; 3
amending ss. 112.3144 and 112.3145, F.S.; prohibiting 4
the assessment of a fine for a reporting person's 5
first late filing of a disclosure or statement of 6
financial interests if certain conditions are met; 7
providing applicability; providing an effective date. 8
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10
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Section 1. Paragraph (f) of subsection (8) of section 12
112.3144, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 13
112.3144 Full and public disclosure of financial 14
interests.— 15
(8) Forms or fields of information for compliance with the 16
full and public disclosure requirements of s. 8, Art. II of the 17
State Constitution must be prescribed by the commission. The 18
commission shall allow a filer to include attachments or other 19
supporting documentation when filing a disclosure. The 20
commission shall give notice of disclosure deadlines and 21
delinquencies and distribute forms in the following manner: 22
(f) Except as provided in subparagraph 3., a Any person 23
who is required to file full and public disclosure of financial 24
interests and whose name is on the commission's list, and to 25

HB 1369 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1369-00
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whom notice has been sent, but who fails to timely file is 26
assessed a fine of $25 per day for each day late up to a maximum 27
of $1,500; however this $1,500 limitation on automatic fines 28
does not limit the civil penalty that may be imposed if the 29
statement is filed more than 60 days after the deadline and a 30
complaint is filed, as provided in s. 112.324. The commission 31
must provide by rule the grounds for waiving the fine and the 32
procedures by which each person whose name is on the list and 33
who is determined to have not filed in a timely manner will be 34
notified of assessed fines and may appeal. The rule must provide 35
for and make specific that the amount of the fine due is based 36
upon when the disclosure is filed on the electronic filing 37
system created and maintained by the commission as provided in 38
s. 112.31446. 39
1. Upon receipt of the disclosure statement or upon 40
accrual of the maximum penalty, whichever occurs first, the 41
commission shall determine the amount of the fine which is due 42
and shall notify the delinquent person. The notice must include 43
an explanation of the appeal procedure under subparagraph 2. 44
Such fine must be paid within 30 days after the notice of 45
payment due is transmitted, unless appeal is made to the 46
commission pursuant to subparagraph 2. The moneys shall be 47
deposited into the General Revenue Fund. 48
2. Any reporting person may appeal or dispute a fine, 49
based upon unusual circumstances surrounding the failure to file 50

HB 1369 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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on the designated due date, and may request and is entitled to a 51
hearing before the commission, which may waive the fine in whole 52
or in part for good cause shown. Any such request must be in 53
writing and received by the commission within 30 days after the 54
notice of payment due is transmitted. In such a case, the 55
reporting person must, within the 30-day period, notify the 56
person designated to review the timeliness of reports in writing 57
of his or her intention to bring the matter before the 58
commission. For purposes of this subparagraph, "unusual 59
circumstances" does not include the failure to monitor an e-mail 60
account or failure to receive notice if the person has not 61
notified the commission of a change in his or her e-mail 62
address. 63
3. A fine may not be assessed against a reporting person 64
the first time a full and public disclosure of financial 65
interests for which he or she is responsible for filing is not 66
timely filed if the full and public disclosure of financial 67
interests was filed before the reporting person accrued the 68
maximum automatic fine for that filing year and the reporting 69
person has not previously received a waiver of an automatic fine 70
pursuant to this subparagraph or s. 112.3145(8)(f)3. The 71
automatic fine shall be assessed; however, if the reporting 72
person has in a previous year accrued the maximum automatic fine 73
pursuant to this subparagraph or s. 112.3145(8)(f), or if he or 74
she has previously received a waiver of an automatic fine 75

HB 1369 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1369-00
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