Florida Bill Would Shield Travel Records Of Top State Officials And Names Of Visitors To Governor’s Mansion

The Tampa Bay Times reports:

The names of certain guests at the Governor’s Mansion would not be disclosed to the public under Senate and House bills that also would shield travel records of the governor and other state leaders.

In party-line votes Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Senate Rules Committee and House Judiciary Committee approved the bills (SB 1616 and HB 1495), positioning them to go to the full Senate and House.

The bills would create a public records exemption involving information held by law enforcement agencies related to “security or transportation services” provided to the governor, the governor’s immediate family, the lieutenant governor, Cabinet members, the House speaker, the Senate president and the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.

Read the full article.

The bill’s author, state Sen. Jonathan Martin, appeared here yesterday when the state senate advanced his bill calling for the death penalty in cases of child molestation. Just elected in November 2022, Martin first appeared here last year when as chairman of the Lee County GOP he introduced a resolution banning federal agents from Florida and declaring WHO to be a terrorist organization. Last month he sponsored the Florida Senate version of a bill that would protect Confederate monuments.