“EXCLUSIVE: Patronis seeks vendor transparency”
The Capitolist 
Karen Murphy
February 18, 2021
To read the full story, click here.  

Saying he believes that the more information legislators have, the better, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis told The Capitolist in an exclusive interview he is pushing an initiative to expose the countries of origin of vendors trying to do business with the state of Florida.

“My attitude is we must empower our policy leaders with more information,” said Patronis. “This session we’re going to be pursuing vendor transparency reforms. We’ve got to take a further look at China and also nonprofits and these other entities that are getting our taxpayer dollars.”

Last fall, Patronis issued a directive bolstering transparency requirements for vendors that do business with the Department of Financial Services (DFS).

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“Over the years, Florida has taken positions on countries like Venezuela, now I think its time to look at China,” Patronis told The Capitolist. “China’s got some problems. Even the Biden administration has admitted that China will eat our lunch, but I think the message out of Washington hasn’t been consistent. I think the Biden administration has been backsliding and on this issue.”

“Speaker Sprowls (has) really taken a hard stance on this, and has been fighting to ensure that our state universities disclose their connections to the Chinese state,” Patronis continued, “Senators (Rick) Scott and (Marco) Rubio have been also playing in this lane to hold China accountable.”

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“I spoke with House Speaker (Chris) Sprowls earlier this week. We’re going to work together on holding nonprofits accountable to the taxpayers. There’s a lot of these groups that literally live off the taxpayer dollars. There’s a lot of groups that get a lot of pay but they spend it on other things than services and I want to know more about that. We write the checks. We should be empowered with more details that we need to see the results of where these tax dollars are being spent,” Patronis said.

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About CFO Jimmy Patronis 
Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis is a statewide elected official and a member of Florida’s Cabinet who oversees the Department of Financial Services. CFO Patronis works each day to fight insurance fraud, support Florida’s firefighters, and ensure the state’s finances are stable to support economic growth in the state. Follow the activities of the Department on Facebook (FLDFS) and X (@FLDFS).