Lawmakers last week approved HB 1301/SB 1980 sponsored by Sen. Dave Aronberg (D-Greenacres), which allows counties to impose tougher penalties for ethics violations forcounty officers and employees.

The legislation, which resulted from the recommendations of the Palm Beach County Grand Jury’s report on public corruption,makes local ethics violations punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to a year in jail. Currently, the maximum punishment for ethics violations is a maximum fine of $500 or up to 60 days in jail.

Aronberg said the tougher punishments would enable counties to police their local ethics violations better.With the stiffened penalties, stateattorneys can nowbring more casesfor violations of local ethics ordinances, in addition to existing state and federal ethics law, Aronberg said.

“Palm Beach County didn’t get the infamous ‘Corruption County’ moniker by accident,” said Aronberg. “This legislation will help the county provide a more effective deterrent and penalty when elected officials violate their oath of office and the public trust.”

Despite the threat by the governor of a looming special session to address the growing problem of public corruption, Aronberg’s ethics bill is the only ethics reform measure approved by the legislature this year.

The bill was sponsored in the House of Representatives by Rep. Kevin Rader (D-Delray Beach).