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Lawmaker loophole lingers

The money continues to flow from the legislator-controlled slush funds even as the Senate president works to halt it.

By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published April 25, 2006

	Chart: Following the money

TALLAHASSEE - "Floridians for Better Government" sounds like a cause anybody could get behind. But in reality, it's a fundraising committee controlled by a state senator.

Sen. JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, uses the committee to raise money from businesses with a stake in legislation, then spends it on candidates and causes he likes. Three $5,000 checks arrived in February - unsolicited, he said - even though the committee has raised no money for more than a year.

"It was a fairly modest amount of money," Alexander said.

Alexander's committee, and dozens more like it, allow lawmakers to exceed the $500 cap on campaign contributions. The loosely regulated committees with noble-sounding names can take donations of any amount - a loophole Senate President Tom Lee is trying to shut in the last two weeks of the legislative session.

"It just leaves a horrible perception of how this process works," Lee said. The Valrico Republican raised $1.1-million the same way but has disassociated himself from his committee as a candidate for chief financial officer.

At Lee's direction, a Senate committee today will consider a bill that would cap the committees' contributions to $500 if lawmakers use any money to reimburse themselves for personal expenses.

Even as Lee argues against lawmaker-controlled slush funds, lawmakers continue to rake in large donations. Since the ban on lobbyist-funded meals and drinks took effect Jan. 1, some of them use the money for lavish dinners, hotel stays, cell phones, computers and furniture:

--Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, accepted $10,000 from a personal injury law firm in Orlando for his Citizens for a Greater Florida. Recent expenses include a $331 "member dinner" at Joe's Stone Crab restaurant in Miami Beach, $53.50 for a floral arrangement and $5,000 for consulting services.

--Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, spent $351 from her Foundation for Leadership Integrity on a stone crab dinner at Joe's, and ran up smaller meal tabs at six other restaurants.

--Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, raised $48,000 since December, largely from hospitals, insurers and the sugar industry in checks of up to $5,000. His three committees maintain an office and full-time executive director.

--The Florida Mainstream Democratic Forum, controlled by 11 House Democrats, took $25,000 from Hollywood Greyhound Track.

--Rep. Ron Reagan, R-Bradenton, chairman of the House committee that controls election issues, is now linked to one of the committees by joining Sen. Mike Bennett's Citizens for Housing & Urban Growth, which has raised $134,000 from telecommunications, solid waste and development interests, among others.

Reagan and most House Republicans oppose Lee's call to ban the committees. The House view is "transparency," to let the soft-money solicitations go on, but make sure all donations are fully disclosed.

"We're pretty much set on transparency, without the limitations the Senate has," Reagan said. "We probably will not move off our position."

Lee said it's wrong for lawmakers to raise large donations from special interests and use the money for personal benefit, or what Lee calls "lifestyle enhancements."

"I'm trying to find a way to improve the image of the Florida Legislature," said Lee, whose proposal faces a vote today in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Records show some lawmakers spend the money on lavish dinners, political consultants, office furniture, computers, cell phones and floral arrangements. The committees, known as CCEs or committees of continuous existence, can accept checks of any amount, but cannot give more than $500 to a candidate or officeholder.

Alexander favors full disclosure of donations but opposes Lee's demand that the committees be banned, saying elected officials have a "constitutional right" to express their views.

"We go out in the community and advocate issues. I'm not sure why that's inappropriate," Alexander said.

Bennett, who like Alexander is among the wealthier members of the Legislature, says that legislators should be allowed to have such committees so that influence is not related to a lawmaker's personal wealth.

"It's a playing field leveling mechanism that a lot of members would not otherwise have," Bennett said. "There's not a nice way of talking about this situation without talking about the financial situation some people are in."

Hasner's trifecta of committees are called Florida on the Move I, II and III. He said he set up three to give up to $1,500 to favored candidates, or three times the legal limit. He said his goals are to promote education, the economy and energy diversification.

"I'm not a very wealthy guy," said the 36-year-old Hasner, a business consultant and an attorney. "In order to effectively get my message out, I don't have my own personal resources to do that."

Freshman Rep. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers, recently created a committee called Citizens for a Better Southwest Florida. The first donors are two citrus growing companies that gave $5,000 each. One of the committee's first expenditures was $500 to Williams' re-election.

--Steve Bousquet is at bousquet@sptimes.comor 850 224-7263.

[Last modified April 25, 2006, 05:29:01]