Received a phone call back yesterday from State Rep. Eric Eisnaugle, R-Orlando, about House Bill 551, the legislation he sponsored that expands the language governing exemptions for local ethics investigations. (Gov. Crist signed the bill first thing this morning.)

“We needed this bill,” he said, adding that it allows new, stronger ethics rules passed in Orange County to go into effect. “Every single ethics system in the state has this exemption,” he said. “And when Orange County passed its ethics reforms it specifically made them dependent on this type of exemption.” Eisnaugle also added that the law doesn’t restrict any current access to public records.