A statewide grand jury is out with a new report that says Florida's political system is riddled with corruption.
The report recommends strengthening penalties for public officials who abuse their positions.
Only the state legislature can do that. However, policing the system from the inside out could be a tall order.
To hear it from the grand jury, here in Florida, if you want to play, you have to pay. It may be unethical, even illegal, but in most cases, it's not a criminal offense.
The grand jury investigation was called for by Governor Crist a year ago. Over his four year term, the governor's had to sanction more than 30 elected officials for different kinds of ethical violations.
One of the most common is bribery, and the grand jury says it happens all the time.
Case-in-point, former House Speaker Ray Sansom, who helped steer taxpayer money to his hometown college and later was given a job at the school. But, there could be a big hurdle to criminalizing many of the most common problems, namely, a legislature that may not want to get tough on itself. Representative Alan Williams is all in favor of reform.
“When we're talking about this new government and this 'work together' and this 'let's get to work', well, let's focus on how we can make sure that our elected officials are held accountable,” Williams says.
The reform recommendations are nothing new. Many of them were introduced as bills during last spring's legislative session, but none of them were passed.
The grand jury also recommends eliminating so-called 'three-pack' advertising. It's a strategy that allows political parties to skirt campaign finance limits and offer unlimited help to their candidates of choice.
See this story for more: Lawmakers Ponder Future of Ethics Report
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