But there is renewed scrutiny of such employment.
“I think it corrupts the Legislature and it corrupts the lawyers,” said Thomas Gallen, a Bradenton judge and former state lawmaker who quietly has been urging the Bar to reinstate the ethics rule.
Gallen’s efforts have been rejected so far, but he gained a high-profile ally recently when Gov. Rick Scott raised the issue and recommended that lawmakers incorporate it into ethics reforms initiated by the House.
Hot topic
Ethics issues have been a hot topic in the run-up to the two month legislative session that begins March 7.
House Speaker Richard Corcoran has made ethics reform his top priority, implementing several rule changes for the chamber aimed at reining in lobbyists. He wants to go further and change the Florida Constitution to ban lawmakers and other state officials from becoming lobbyists for six years, which would be the toughest law in the nation to curb the revolving door of lawmakers becoming lobbyists.
But some have called Corcoran a hypocrite because he works for a law firm that lobbies.
