Ethics Reform

Members of Congress have forgotten why they were sent to Washington. Some have become part of a broken system that is more concerned with rewarding lobbyists and special interests than working for every day people.  Voters are sick of the dishonesty, lack of transparency, and corruption that has become too much the norm.  Suzanne Kosmas will go to Washington and fight for ethical reforms that put her constituents, not special interests, first. Kosmas will lead by example and encourage more openness and transparency in Congress.

• Suzanne pledges never to accept a pay raise as long as she serves in the U.S. Congress.  She will send any pay raise back to the federal treasury.

• Suzanne pledges never to lobby Congress when her time in federal office concludes.
• Suzanne wants Americans to believe in their government again. As a result, she wants to shine the bright light of transparency on the way business is done in Washington. Therefore, Suzanne will post the following information on her website: her daily schedule, any earmark requests, and her votes. Additionally, she will work to increase the amount of disclosure and transparency required of members of Congress and to make access to the public more convenient through publicly available websites.
• Suzanne will work to stop the revolving door of lobbyist influence. She supports extending the "cooling off" period that would prevent members of the House from lobbying the House or Senate for five years.
• Suzanne will ensure full disclosure between lobbyists and members of Congress. She would back a measure to force lobbyists to publicly divulge the members of Congress they lobby and the legislation they sought to influence.
• Suzanne will fight for independent ethics enforcement. She supports creating an independent agency to oversee and enforce ethics and lobbying rules and laws.  Currently, the U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee has severe limitations in upholding House ethics rules. In a place where both sides act like governing is nothing more than a partisan football game, Suzanne wants to ensure independent refs are calling the penalties.

Kosmas' Record

Kosmas Voted to Limit Soft Money Contributions:  On April 24, 2001, Kosmas voted for an Amendment 3 to Amendment 4 to HB 1925, which would have eliminated three pack campaign television advertisements, the exemption from contribution limits by parties for the non-allocable in-kind party contribution to candidates and restricting soft money contribution to parties to $5,000.  This amendment failed 46 - 65.  Feeney opposed the amendment.  [Journal of the House of Representatives, "Page 578, April 24, 2001," www.flsenate.gov]

Kosmas Voted for Limiting Three Pack Advertisements: On March 7, 2001, Kosmas voted for Amendment 1 to HB 273, which would have required political parties or committees to report all three pack advertisement expenditures on a separate report.  Three pack advertisements are party funded television ads for at least three candidates for which the party does not have to disclose how much was spent.  The report would have required disclosure of the amount spent, who the advertisement was for and the candidates that received the benefit.  The amendment failed 42 - 73.  Feeney voted against the amendment.  [Journal of the House of Representatives, "Page 119, March 7, 2001," www.flsenate.gov]

Voted for Closing Joint Endorsement Loophole: On April 13, 1998, Kosmas voted for Amendment 3 to Amendment 1 to HB 3743 and HB 3941, which would have required that joint endorsement contributions made by political parties to six or more candidates be allocated equally to all the candidates receiving the contribution.  Joint endorsements that did not meet these requirements would be labeled as a contribution to a single candidate and restricted to the $50,000 limit.  The amendments failed 47-64.  Feeney opposed closing the loophole.  [Journal of the House of Representatives, "Page 543 April 13, 1998," www.flsenate.gov]

Kosmas Supported Legislation Extending Gifts Law Applicability:  In May 2000, Kosmas voted for HB 181, (Arnall, R-Jascksonville Beach) which extended the reach of a law limiting the value of gifts officials may receive from lobbyists.  The bill applied the state gifts law to newly elected officials and clarified that the law applies to candidates as well as elected officials.  The legislation passed the House and Senate unanimously and was signed into law by the Governor.  (Journal of the House of Representatives, "Page 1656," May 5, 2000, www.flsenate.gov; Journal of the House of Representatives, "Numerical Index," www.flsenate.gov; Florida Governor Web Site, "Legislative Actions," www.flgov.com)