Back in April when some legislators wanted to install video lottery terminals that operate like slot machines at horse and dog tracks and jai alai frontons, a mysterious little committee opposed the measure. They began by sending advertisements to Floridians in some Senate districts.
They called themselves Floridians for Family Values Inc. and hired Cory Tilley, former communications director for Gov. Jeb Bush and lawyers from Greenberg Traurig, one of the state's most prominent law firms.
The newborn corporation, formed March 26, listed Tilley as chairman and two directors who turned out to be the mother and sister of Scott Keller, a lawyer with Greenberg Traurig who represents the group. They also filed papers with the state Division of Elections on April 2, declaring themselves a political action committee.
In late April, Tilley said "a good chunk of money is being spent" on a campaign against an expansion of gambling in Florida. The brochures went to constituents of Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, and other senators who were thought to support Senate President Jim King's proposal to use lottery terminals to raise more money for the state.
Tilley wouldn't say how many of the nice, color brochures comparing Florida to Las Vegas went out, and he wouldn't say who hired him to create the committee.
On July 10, the deadline for political action committees to report their contributions and expenditures, Tilley filed a letter with the state Division of Elections saying the group did not receive contributions or spend any money to influence an election during the quarter ending June 30 and had decided it should not to be a PAC at all.
It was all a mistake, Tilley said. They didn't support or oppose a candidate or an issue during an election, so they could not be legally considered a PAC.
They don't want anyone to know who spent the money to hire Tilley and the lawyers, print up brochures and mail them out by the thousand.
If they spent money while registered as a PAC, state election officials believe the committee must file accurate reports of who gave it and who got it up until the moment they dissolved the PAC. And if you don't believe anyone takes this seriously, just ask Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty who is facing fines totaling more than $400,000 for filing false reports for a committee that opposed a few Supreme Court justices.
Answers to these questions may well be forthcoming despite everyone's best efforts to keep them all a secret.
The Florida Elections Commission can't investigate election violations unless someone steps forward and files a formal complaint. We hear one will be coming shortly from the folks who operate dog tracks.
You see, they really wanted those video lottery terminals, and they don't take kindly to folks that form secret committees opposing them.
And if you don't think the dog tracks are serious players on the political scene, take a look at the $1.8-million they contributed to legislators and party coffers last year. That's about three times the amount contributed by the horse tracks.
Florida has a continuing problem with mysterious committees with nice sounding names that spring up during elections to oppose and support candidates and issues. The old law regulating them was invalidated by a federal court in 1999, and lawmakers have been slow to respond with a good new law that replaces it.
Everyone howls about the committees when they send out negative mail in the closing days before an election, but by the time the winning lawmakers get to the Capitol to consider election laws, the will to do anything mysteriously evaporates.
It's almost as though everyone likes the ability to spend money on campaigns without adequately accounting for it.
