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JONI JAMESThe Senate leaders say they paid their own way on the trip with business owners and the leader of the Miccosukee Tribe.
TALLAHASSEE - Top Florida Senate leaders traveled to Las Vegas for Super Bowl weekend with the chairman of an Indian tribe that wants the Legislature to give it authority to decide when law enforcement agencies can visit the reservation.
Senate President Jim King of Jacksonville and Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla of Miami, both Republicans, said Tuesday they paid their own way on a personal trip void of legislative business.
They joined Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, Thursday on a private plane with Billy Cypress, chairman of the politically active Miccosukee Tribe.
After quadrupling its campaign contributions during the 2002 election cycle, the tribe pushed unsuccessfully last year with King's help to strip jurisdiction on Indian lands from state and local law enforcement agencies.
"I don't think this is the kind of thing people want to see their legislators doing," said Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause Florida, non-partisan watchdog group. "It raises all sorts of questions about the access these people have to their legislators. It's far greater than you and I or any citizen would have, and I think that's an unfair advantage."
The private plane was chartered by Preston and Betsy Henn, owners of the Swap Shop in Fort Lauderdale, the state's largest flea market.
King, Diaz de la Portilla and Bennett said they did not know until they boarded the plane in Tallahassee that Cypress would be on board. They said they opted for the private flight only days before when Henn invited King.
"I've been going to the Super Bowl or going to Vegas to watch the Super Bowl since before I was in politics," King said. "It's much ado about nothing."
State law prohibits lawmakers from accepting gifts worth more than $100 from lobbyists or individuals with business before the Legislature. Gifts worth more than $25 must be reported.
The senators said no legislative business was conducted, though King said a brief conversation with Cypress as he boarded the plane included an acknowledgement he planned to back the Miccosukee's law enforcement bill again.
"It was just cursory," King said. "He already knew that."
The Senate president and tribe also have another common interest they have failed to achieve: The legalization of slot machines at state-regulated parimutuel facilities, such as dog tracks. That would effectively legalize slot machines on the Miccosukee and Seminole Indian reservations. Both tribes have slots, though state and federal law enforcement officials have said they are illegal.
King and Diaz de la Portilla, who pushed the measure last year as an answer to the state's budget crunch, are not expected to try again this legislative session, which starts March 2.
King said he became acquainted with Preston Henn in the early 1980s when the Legislature considered requiring flea market vendors to provide receipts to customers. Henn lobbied King to oppose the bill, which failed.
King said their relationship is now personal.
Last year the Swap Shop hired David Ericks, one of Broward County's most prominent lobbyists, to advance their interests in the Legislature.
Bennett and Diaz de la Portilla said they had dinner and attended a George Strait concert with Cypress and the Henns on Saturday night. The senators said they paid their own way.
"It was a personal trip, and the last time I checked a senator can take a personal trip," said Diaz de la Portilla, who holds the office of Senate president pro tem, the No. 2 post in the chamber.
King, Diaz de la Portilla and Bennett said they wrote checks to Henn to cover the cost of the flight. Bennett said his check was for $1,700. King said he wrote one for $3,000, which included compensation for staying in a room the MGM Grand provided for the Henns. Bennett and Diaz de la Portilla said they paid for their own rooms.
Henn said that he, his wife and King traditionally spend Super Bowl weekends together, either at the game or in Las Vegas, where betting on the game is popular.
"He always writes me a check for what he estimates for first-class airline travel," Henn said. "And even though I'm a gambler and don't have to pay to stay there, he pays me for the room, too."
Cypress could not be reached for comment.
All three senators said they won bets on the game, partly because the Carolina Panthers' 3-point loss undercut the 7-point spread. Only Bennett picked the winning New England Patriots.
"I think there was some Southern bias that everyone wanted the Panthers," Bennett said. "I told them you don't ever bet with your heart."