Florida Senators starred in a new version of the game show, To Tell the Truth, Thursday morning.
Senator Alex Villalobos' Truth in Government bill is designed to have lobbyists, legislators and their staff tell the truth. If it becomes law, anyone who lies under oath in committees could be charged with a third-degree felony and serve five years in prison.
The bill created quite a conversation about truth, lies and lobbyists. The debate produced a lot of colorful quotes:
Sen. Al Lawson voiced his objection to the bill, calling it a conspiracy that would have lawmakers' veracity frequently questioned.
Legislators took turns criticizing the Democrat from Tallahassee.
First up, not surprisingly is outgoing Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Crystal River, who made her support for the bill, plain.
"How could anybody think about voting against truth in government. ... Maybe we need to turn up the air, put new filters in here, ... eleven years I've been waiting for truth in government. How many of you think that every time a lobbyist comes in your office, he's telling you the truth, or she's telling you the truth. Sen. Lawson, I've got to talk to you, I'm going to take you out in the fresh air. ... So, take some allergy pills, learn to love truth in government and vote for this very good bill."
Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, contributed to the debate as only she could.
"... then we talk about the level of lies, the white lie, the little lie, the big lie. Now. A lie is a lie. ... There will be times, that there might be something that's called stretching the truth, or exaggeration, but I never would believe that anyone in this body would stand in front of a committee and lie about factual, factual information."
Villalobos, a Miami Republican, gives the kicker.
"You all know, that not the total truth, is a lie. To the children that are here, half truths, are not truths. ... If you don't know the answer to something, you can say, 'I don't know the answer to that.' But stop lying."