CS/CS/CS/HB 1063 - Government Accountability

• Establishes internal control requirements for state agencies, local governments, schools, and universities to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse while ensuring reliable financial records.

• Prohibits severance pay exceeding 20 weeks of compensation for government employees and contractors; requires investigation and recovery of prohibited payments with penalties for willful violations.

• Requires counties, municipalities, special districts, and water management districts to post budget documents on websites for specified periods (45 days for tentative, 2 years for final budgets).

• Authorizes the Auditor General to conduct audits of tourist development councils and county tourism promotion agencies; lowers the state audit threshold from $750,000 to $500,000 in expenditures.

• Expands lobbyist registration requirements to include hospital districts, children's services districts, expressway authorities, port authorities, and independent special districts with annual revenues exceeding $5 million.