The Florida Commission on Ethics has decided not to open negotiations to settle a lawsuit advanced by scores of elected municipal officials that challenges a new Florida state law requiring detailed disclosures of personal finances.

The panel, which supported the state Legislature’s passage of Senate Bill 774 last year, voted 6-2 on Nov. 26 to reject an effort to discuss settlement terms with the plaintiffs, who see the new law’s heightened financial reporting requirements for local elected officials as a violation of their First Amendment rights. 

For decades, local elected officials had to file what’s called Form 1, titled “Statement of Financial Interests,” rather than a more detailed form that’s filled out by state lawmakers and elected statewide officials, called Form 6. SB 774 sought to hold local elected officials to the higher standard.