SB 1760 Florida Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Public Officers and Employees

Summary

Public Officers and Employees; Requiring that, beginning on a specified date, secretaries and executive directors of departments, chief administrative officers of certain units of state government, members of commissions and licensing boards, chairs of governing boards or certain chief executives of certain statewide entities, or any persons appointed to hold state office in the executive branch of state government be United States citizens and residents of this state; requiring that, beginning on a specified date, members of the Board of Governors of the State University System be United States citizens and either residents of this state or have graduated from a state university; prohibiting career service employees from using the influence of their positions for specified purposes, etc.

Bill status vetoed 3 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

Vetoed

Apr 2025

Introduced Mar 10, 2025 Vetoed Apr 30, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

S 1760 c1 → S 1760 c2 · 7 edits

MODERATE

This bill version significantly expands the scope of residency and citizenship requirements for state officials, adds new restrictions on political activities for career service employees, and introduces new definitions for 'office' and 'employment' that broaden which positions are subject to these rules. The changes also add new travel reimbursement restrictions for certain high-level officials and clarify the official headquarters requirements.

Scope change

The bill now explicitly applies to positions in the executive branch of state government, adds new categories of covered positions including administrators and managers of certain corporations, and expands the definition of 'office' to include county and municipal administrators and emergency management directors.

ELIGIBILITY

Residency requirements for department secretaries and executive directors now require them to reside in the same county as their department headquarters or within 75 miles, rather than just being residents of the state.

REQUIREMENT

New requirement that all covered positions must comply with Section 114.01, which relates to political activity restrictions.

Career service employees are now prohibited from using their position's influence to secure support for or oppose candidates, parties, or issues in partisan elections.

Travel reimbursement restrictions now apply to positions described in s. 20.71(1)(a)1., 2., or 3., prohibiting reimbursement for travel between residence and official headquarters.

New positions added to the definition of 'office' including administrators/managers of certain corporations and directors of emergency management agencies.

DEFINITION

New definition of 'employment' to mean relationships where individuals do not exercise sovereign power or independent governmental authority.

TIMELINE

Effective date changed from October 1, 2025 to July 1, 2025 for the act's provisions.

S 1760 Filed → S 1760 c1 · 10 edits

MAJOR

This bill was amended to expand residency requirements for public officials, add new categories of covered positions, and establish automatic vacancy provisions for those who fail to meet citizenship and residency criteria. The changes also update the effective dates for various requirements and modify the definition of 'office' to include additional positions while clarifying exemptions.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from requiring certain public officers to be state residents to including additional requirements for university board members and adding a 75-mile radius option for department secretaries and directors. The definition of 'office' was broadened to include law enforcement officers with arrest authority and administrators of certain corporations.

REQUIREMENT

Changed residency requirement for department secretaries and executive directors from residing in the same county as headquarters to residing in the same county OR within 75 miles of headquarters.

Added automatic vacancy provisions for positions that fail to meet citizenship and residency requirements.

Added new requirement for state university board of trustees members to be either state residents or graduates of the state university they oversee.

Added new requirement for Board of Governors members to be either state residents or graduates of a state university.

Added requirement that university board of trustees members must be United States citizens.

Added exception for certain board members of Florida Healthy Kids Corporation appointed under specific statutory authority.

TIMELINE

Changed effective dates from July 1, 2025 to October 1, 2025 for most requirements, with university board requirements set for January 6, 2027.

DEFINITION

Expanded the definition of 'office' to include state, county, or municipal law enforcement officers with warrantless arrest authority and administrators/managers of certain corporations who exercise sovereign power.

Added exemption for administrators and managers of certain corporations who exercise sovereign power or independent governmental authority.

TECHNICAL

Changed statute section numbers from 20.70 to 20.71 to reflect the amended version.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 21, 2025

How they voted

22–1

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 25

Apr 21, 2025

D Democratic5

5 Yea

100% Yea

I Independent1

1 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican19

16 Yea 1 Nay 2

84% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 30, 2025

Vetoed

Substituted CS/HB 1445 (Vetoed by Governor)

upper

Apr 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review -under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Apr 21, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (22-1-2)

senate

Apr 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Rules, 04/21/25, 2:00 pm, 412 Knott Building

upper

Apr 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Apr 15, 2025

Upper · Passed

CS by Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government; YEAS 12 NAYS 0

upper

Apr 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government, 04/15/25, 12:30 pm, 412 Knott Building

upper

Mar 25, 2025

Upper · Passed

Now in Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government

upper

Mar 25, 2025

Upper · Passed

Favorable by Governmental Oversight and Accountability; YEAS 7 NAYS 0

upper

Mar 20, 2025

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Governmental Oversight and Accountability, 03/25/25, 1:30 pm, 110 Senate Building

upper

Mar 10, 2025

Introduced

upper

Mar 7, 2025

Committee

Referred to Governmental Oversight and Accountability; Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government; Rules

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors