Legislation has been filed at the capitol in Tallahassee to strengthen residency requirements for elected officials in the state. The bill aims to clarify a grey area in the law that says public officials must live within the district boundaries they represent.
According to Senate bill sponsor Jack Latvala, roughly eight to ten percent of state lawmakers actually live outside their districts.
He says some eat, sleep and get their mail at one address, but claim residency at another, purely for the sake of getting elected. He says Floridians deserve better."I believe that the people we are supposed to represent expect us to live in the districts that elect us", Latvala said. "I believe that’s just one more reason that people lose confidence in their government."
The proposal comes after questions about whether some lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, live in the districts they were elected to represent.
Since he began discussing the issue, Latvala says he has also heard many city and county elected officials also live outside their districts. They would also be covered by the bill.