Commission says Polk County School Board appointee cannot perform paid lobbying duties while on board in current role

The Florida Commission on Ethics on Dec. 18 adopted advisory opinion file 2827, concluding that, based on the job description submitted, Annie Kate Wallace’s current position as director of state government affairs for Charter Communications would trigger Florida’s in‑office lobbying prohibition for public officers.

Staff presenter Steve Ziolkowski told commissioners that Article II, Section 8(f)(2) of the Florida Constitution bars certain public officers from lobbying for compensation before federal, state or local agencies and that implementing statutes define exemptions. Ziolkowski said the exemption for employees acting "in their private capacity and in their normal course of job responsibilities" (as described in section 112.3121) does not apply here because the job Wallace supplied includes government‑relations duties; "any amount of lobbying for compensation will trigger the prohibition unless an exemption applies," he said.

Wallace, a recent appointee to the Polk County School Board who said she is not a registered lobbyist, told the commission she and her employer sought the opinion to identify options. She said the company and she could either omit lobbying duties from her current role or she could move to a different position described to staff as "senior manager for government and community," which the staff concluded contains no lobbying responsibilities and therefore would not trigger the ban. "I may stay in my current role and just omit the lobbying part for the recommendation, or I may evolve to that other role," Wallace said.

Commissioners asked whether the statute allows geographic or jurisdictional carve‑outs; staff said the amendment as written sweeps broadly (covering all federal, state and local agencies) and that the commission’s role is to apply the law to the facts. After discussion the chair called for a motion to adopt the draft opinion; the commission conducted a roll‑call vote and the motion passed.

The adopted opinion instructs that, under the facts presented, Wallace’s current job duties as described would not be covered by the implementing exemption and therefore would trigger the in‑office lobbying ban for compensated lobbying; taking a non‑lobbying senior manager role as described would be permissible under the staff analysis. The opinion is binding on the requester to the extent stated in the draft.