RE: Veto Ethics Bill CS/SB 7014

Specifically, the bill requires ethics complaints filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics (“Commission”) to be based on personal knowledge, which is an unreasonably high evidentiary hurdle that has never existed in the 50-year history of the Commission. [...] Instead, complaints should continue to require the filer to certify that the information is true to the best of their knowledge, which already discourages false and frivolous complaints. [...] In addition to significantly reducing the ability for the public to file complaints, the new standard is contrary to basic legal principles for filing complaints in any context in Florida. [...] 1.110 (“In dealing with complaints, petitions, counterclaims and cross-claims, the rule requires that they must state a cause of action, set forth a plain statement of the ultimate facts on which the pleader relies, contain allegations of fact sufficient to show the jurisdiction of the court and contain a demand for judgment or decree for the relief to which the pleader deems himself entitled.”);. [...] 2023) (Denying a plaintiff’s efforts to use a complaint to satisfy the evidentiary requirements for pleading punitive damages because the unverified complaint was not considered evidence and the affidavit plaintiff used to “attempt to imbue the complaint and exhibits with evidentiary import” did not contain personal knowledge); Ballinger v.