Sen. Ken Pruitt, in line for Senate president, tells who fattened his PAC. That leaves one holdout, a fellow Republican.
By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published December 4, 2003
TALLAHASSEE - A powerful state senator has finally revealed who gave more than $400,000 to the political committee he controls, voluntarily lifting a veil of secrecy allowed under state election laws.
Sen. Ken Pruitt, a Port St. Lucie Republican, collected donations of as much as $25,000 from a who's who of lobbyists and special interests over two years. He identified the donors more than two months after the St. Petersburg Times detailed the secrecy shrouding the legislative funds.
"I think we've crossed all the T's and dotted all the I's," said Pruitt, who is in line to become Senate president in 2006.
While other lawmakers already have disclosed donors and the amounts they gave, Rep. Don Brown, R-De Funiak Springs, refuses, saying he will not be swayed by the decisions of fellow legislators.
Republican Gov. Jeb Bush has called for full disclosure. Sen. Tom Lee, the Brandon Republican in line to be Senate president late next year, has said the practice undermines the public's trust. Both favor changing state law.
Pruitt's newly disclosed contributors, nearly 300 in all, include sugar growers, medical clinics, law firms, phone companies, racetracks and others with a major stake in legislation. Pruitt is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which allows him to shape the state budget and major legislation.
Pruitt raked in large donations from competing forces on the same issues. For example, HMOs and trial lawyers gave during the debate over medical malpractice. Pruitt joined the Senate leadership in siding with trial lawyers.
The money was used to promote two of Pruitt's priorities, the Bright Futures and prepaid scholarship programs, pay for polls in individual lawmakers' districts or contribute $500, the maximum allowed, to lawmakers' campaigns.
"It fulfilled the purpose for which it was intended," Pruitt said. "Prepaid is alive and well and Bright Futures is alive and well. I appreciate all of those who have contributed."
The funds have multiplied since 1999 as lawmakers, hemmed in by term limits and a $500 ceiling on contributions to their own campaigns, sought large sums of money quickly to bankroll campaigns for Senate president and House speaker. The committees can accept unlimited amounts of money without public disclosure.
The legislators have exploited a 30-year-old loophole in Florida law created to help trade associations avoid listing dues from hundreds of members. Legislators formed committees and solicited big donations from groups and individuals dependent on legislative goodwill.
In most cases, the information must be reported annually to the Internal Revenue Service.
Like Pruitt, most other legislators who control similar funds have agreed to reveal the names and occupations of donors.
Brown is the last holdout.
"I intend to report every detail required by law, and if the law changes I will abide by the law," he said. "I will not make my decisions based on what others do."
Brown is chairman, and his wife, Glenda, is treasurer of the Committee for Florida's Economic Future. Formed in July, it has collected $44,300.
Brown is an insurance agent who serves on the House Insurance Committee and played a key role in shaping a House workers' compensation bill favorable to insurers and employers. Brown said Wednesday he created the fund partly to advance the House speaker ambitions of Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, who has since abandoned his bid.
Other lawmakers who have retroactively agreed to disclose the names of contributors include Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach; Rep. Donna Clarke, R-Sarasota; and Rep. Marco Rubio, R-Coral Gables, who claims enough votes to become House speaker in 2006.
The largest single donor to Atwater's Spirit of America fund was Richard Parrillo, owner of United Auto Insurance, of North Miami Beach. Parrillo has contributed more than $150,000 to the Republican Party and to GOP candidates.
Pruitt said he expects forthcoming changes in federal campaign laws to limit the power of committees to accomplish his goals. He has formed a new tax-exempt nonprofit group, the Brighter Futures Foundation, to support his educational agenda.
Pruitt names names
State Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, recently identified the names of 288 donors to his political committee, Floridians for a Brighter Future, in response to a request by the St. Petersburg Times. Here are the top 20:
CONTRIBUTOR/AMOUNT
Florida Crystals Corp. (sugar)/$40,000
End Stage Renal Disease Laboratory (medical clinic)/$27,500
Gulfstream Charters of the Palm Beaches (fishing)/$25,000
