Until recently, both of Florida’s top legislative leaders worked at law firms that lobby the Legislature.
Senate President Joe Negron quit his job last month, citing the desire to remove any potential conflict of interest between his legislative duties and his legal job. Negron is pushing a bill aimed at cleaning up polluted water from Lake Okeechobee so it does not foul estuaries, including one in his home district. Gunster, his former law firm, has done legal work for a sugar company that has a big stake in such legislation.
Among the other lawmakers who work for lobbying firms are Rep. Chris Sprowls and Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, attorneys who have top leadership positions in the House. Sprowls is in line to be House speaker. Diaz is considered a possible candidate for Florida attorney general in 2018.
The list of former state lawmakers who worked for lobbying firms includes U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Dean Cannon, both former House speakers. Cannon also happens to be the lawyer responsible for pushing the Bar to rescind the ethics opinion that effectively prohibited lawmakers from working at lobbying firms.
