Senate bars all political fundraising during session
Leaders won't say if the House will follow. A rule now only bars members from raising money for their own campaigns while legislating.
By LUCY MORGAN
Published March 3, 2004
TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Senate took a strong stand against campaign fundraising during legislative sessions Tuesday, passing a new rule that forbids members from seeking money for political parties or other groups.
House and Senate rules already forbid members from raising money for their own campaigns while they are creating new laws and hobnobbing with lobbyists, but dozens of lawmakers have continued raising money for political committees they use to win legislative leadership posts.
Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, proposed the change, saying the rule should apply to all fundraising, especially committees that have been raising thousands of dollars with unlimited donations.
"If it is important enough to ban the acceptance of $500 for individual campaigns, we should ban the acceptance of much larger contributions," Lee said.
The rule bans fundraising "directly or indirectly" for any political party, committee or individual campaign.
House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, R-Plant City, said he would look at the Senate rule, but he made no promises to adopt it for the House.
House Rules Chairman Allan Bense, R-Panama City, scheduled to replace Byrd as speaker in November, said he will recommend that members not raise money during the 60-day session that began Tuesday.
Bense and Lee already have joined Gov. Jeb Bush in proposing legislation to force the committees to fully disclose contributions and expenditures.
Bush proposed the bill after the St. Petersburg Times reported on the growing number of campaign slush funds established by lawmakers, some of whom refused to identify contributors.
Several lawmakers have since disclosed the information.
The committees began proliferating in the 1990s after lawmakers established a $500 limit on contributions that could be made to individual candidates.
The committees are unregulated and can accept unlimited amounts of money from anyone.
In the past four years more than two dozen lawmakers raised $3-million in unlimited contributions through committees with names like "Floridians for Effective Government" and "Floridians for a Brighter Future."
Some lawmakers filed complete reports on contributions, and others did not.
Byrd said he favors disclosure of contributors.
Without naming him, Byrd singled out Sen. Ken Pruitt's committee, which accepted $50,000 last year while lawmakers were debating medical malpractice.
"The perception is that if someone gives $50,000, it would affect the medical malpractice debate," Byrd said. "We have to deal with the perception."
Bush praised the Senate but said it's up to the House to determine its own rules.
The new Senate rule does not apply to members who are candidates in federal races who plan to continue raising money during the session.
Byrd and Sen. Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden, are running for the U.S. Senate, and Sen. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, and Reps. Bev Kilmer, R-Quincy, and Carole Green, R-Fort Myers, are running for the U.S. House of Representatives.
