In the wake of its former chairman Jim Greer’s arrest for grand theft, the Republican Party of Florida enacted a whistle-blower policy this month, protecting the job of any staff member who comes forward with information about wrongdoing by party officials.

“We didn’t have this type of policy in the past,” spokeswoman Katie Gordon Betta says. “We all served at the pleasure of the chairman.” But the former chairman, charged with stealing party money by setting up a secret company he allegedly used as a slush fund, was in a position to silence critics. Now staff members can go directly to board members.

“In the future, if an employee feels their job is at risk they will be protected if they give information they feel is important,” she explains. “We felt this was needed based on what happened in the previous administration.”

The policy was part of a broad effort to tighten controls inside the party after several episodes of credit card abuse, followed by the Greer scandal. Other changes include heightened scrutiny of expense reports and an entire board review of the budget in executive session, rather than just the budget committee.