No. SB 802
Filed under Local Government.
Public Officers and Employees; Requiring that, beginning on a specified date, secretaries and executive directors of departments, chief administrative officers of certain units of state government, members of commissions and licensing boards, chairs of governing boards or certain chief executives of certain statewide entities, or any persons appointed to hold state office in the executive branch of state government be United States citizens and residents of this state; providing that such an office is automatically deemed vacant if the person holding that office does not meet certain requirements; requiring the Commission on Ethics to investigate certain lobbyists or principals who make prohibited expenditures, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDBeginning October 1, 2026, department secretaries, executive directors, certain chief administrative officers, commission and licensing board members, top officials of certain statewide entities, and other executive-branch appointees must be United States citizens and Florida residents. An office is automatically vacant if its holder doesn't meet this.
Beginning January 6, 2027, university board of trustees members and Board of Governors members must be citizens who are either Florida residents or graduates of a state university. Failing to meet this also empties the office automatically.
Secretaries, executive directors, and certain chief administrative officers covered by the new residency law can no longer be reimbursed for commuting between home and headquarters, and their official headquarters is now fixed at the department's own location.
A new statute also defines 'office' for Florida's constitutional ban on holding more than one public office at a time, reaching everyone from the Governor and state legislators to sheriffs, clerks of court, and university trustees.
AIStarting October 1, 2026, department secretaries, executive directors, certain chief administrative officers, commission and licensing board members, certain statewide-entity chiefs, and other executive-branch appointees must be U.S. citizens and Florida residents. If any of them isn't, the law empties that office automatically, with no removal process specified.
AIStarting January 6, 2027, university board of trustees members and Board of Governors members must be U.S. citizens and either Florida residents or graduates of a state university, or their office is automatically vacant.
AISecretaries, executive directors, and certain chief administrative officers covered by the new residency law can't be reimbursed for commuting between home and headquarters or for per diem when staying overnight in their home county, and their official headquarters is now fixed at the department's own location.
AIThe law no longer exempts the Governor, Cabinet members, legislators, or the heads of state agencies, boards, and commissions from the ban on using official authority to interfere with an election or influence a vote.
AIA new statute spells out what counts as an 'office' under the constitutional bar on holding more than one public office at once, listing positions from the Governor and state legislators to sheriffs, clerks of court, and university trustees.
AIOverriding the state's usual gift-law exceptions, lobbyists and principals can no longer make, and district board members, executive directors, or covered employees can no longer knowingly accept, any 'expenditure.'
AIGovernment employees were barred from campaigning for elective office while on duty. That ban now covers any political campaign, including ballot measures and referenda, not only candidate races.
AIState law no longer states that university trustees face no state residency requirement -- language that would otherwise conflict with the new citizenship-and-residency mandate this same act creates in s. 20.71(2).