State: Fundraising papers filed while governor vacations

TALLAHASSEE -- A Broward County woman wheeled her developmentally disabled daughter before TV cameras Thursday and filed papers so Gov. Jeb Bush can begin raising the money he needs to run for re-election.

Bush is vacationing in Maine. His Florida surrogate was Berthy De La Rosa-Aponte of Cooper City.

She met Bush in the 1998 campaign, when he visited the group home where her 19-year-old daughter, Lucy, is a resident. Both women wore red "Let's Go Jeb!" campaign buttons, as did De La Rosa-Aponte's husband and son.

With Democrats pounding away at three years of Bush tax cuts for wealthy Floridians and a leveling off this year of state support for public schools, De La Rosa-Aponte's presence was an effort to reinforce Bush's image as an advocate for people who need help.

De La Rosa-Aponte met Bush in 1998, when he visited the Peaceful Haven Group Home during his run for governor. At first, she saw him as just another politician paying "lip service" to disabled people. Now, she says she misjudged him, and said Bush's efforts to improve conditions for the disabled show he's "a man of principle."

De La Rosa-Aponte, 50, is a native of Colombia. She changed her party affiliation in March 2000 from no party to Republican. The Bush camp confirmed that her trip to the capital was paid for by the Republican Party of Florida.

"This is not about politics. It's about friendship," De La Rosa-Aponte said. She called Bush "a man of principle, a humble and very spiritual person."

Al Cardenas, chairman of the state Republican Party, issued a statement Thursday in which he said it was a day to "marvel at the humble way" Bush filed for a second term without "shining the spotlight on himself."

The Bush campaign said state support of developmentally disabled services has grown by 74 percent in the past three years to a total of $886-million, allowing more than three times as many people to receive services.

Democrats saw it differently. Tony Welch, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party, said the progress in human services would not have been possible without the money from a tobacco settlement forged by Bush's Democratic predecessor, Lawton Chiles.

Welch called De La Rosa-Aponte "a photo-op for the Bush re-election campaign."

The state said that as of May 1, 4,638 Floridians remained on the waiting list for services for the developmentally disabled under the Medicaid program. Gary Gershowitz, a spokesman for the Department of Children and Families, said the new budget passed by the Legislature and signed by Bush provides enough money to serve those on the waiting list.

Bush vetoed a bill that would have appropriated $6-million for a program called the Learning Gateway, which involved mandatory testing of newborns for learning disabilities, with regular testing through age 9. Bush said he objected to the bill because some testing would have been without parental consent, resulting in "excessive intrusiveness of government in the lives of Florida's families."

Bush, 48, is in Kennebunkport, Maine, where the family will mark President George W. Bush's 55th birthday at the family estate today.

Both parties' aggressive fundraising efforts and the national implications of the campaign are expected to make the 2002 governor's race by far the most expensive in Florida's history. The first two Democratic challengers, state Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami and Tampa lawyer Bill McBride, filed fundraising papers last week.

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