Gov. Jeb Bush signed one of the country's strongest restrictions on lawmakers' after-hours activities Tuesday, prohibiting all gifts, meals, drinks or other perks from lobbyists. What was really funny was the arguments against it. One lady from West Palm actually said that the gifts were one of the reasons she got into politics. And you should have seen the outrage from the overweight guys: http://www.tdo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051221/NEWS02/512210318/1010
So can FL politicians still raise funds to support their re-election through donations, speech fees, and fund raising meals?? Is this the reality; I can't buy a politician a hamburger but I can give him a check for $500
well, its not a hamburger thats a problem, it the Sesna or Cigerette boat, the Trip to Hawaii and the gold plated jock strap. Money, especially larger amounts, tend to have a nice paper trail to run back to the orginal donation.
If they are really wanting a favor from a politician they can still give them cash, and there is no way to track that. This law should stop a lot of the corruption.