Legislators fundraising frenzy is getting crowded

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© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 24, 2001

Seven years ago, the Florida Legislature took a good, hard look in the mirror.

At the urging of Peter Wallace, a St. Petersburg Democrat who was then at the apex of his power as the incoming speaker, the House passed a rule preventing members from accepting or soliciting campaign contributions during the regular 60-day session.

It was long overdue. Anecdotal evidence had convinced many that the Capitol was for sale. A lobbyist would visit a lawmaker to mention "my little bill" and leave a pile of $500 checks on his way out. A Senate president once left the rostrum in midsession in 1988 to shake down insurance lobbyists for $2-million for a race for insurance commissioner.

Wallace wisely wanted to put some distance between the groveling for cash and the casting of votes. The Senate quickly followed, but as so often happens in Tallahassee, there were unintended consequences.

Today, legislators simply grovel twice as hard during the weeks outside the spring session, because fundraising is still permitted during special sessions and weeks throughout the year when lawmakers hold committee meetings.

So many receptions are squeezed into those weeks that the political parties now compile the events into lists and fax them all over town. At dusk, the sidewalk from the Capitol to College Avenue resembles a political red-light district, an unbroken stretch of fundraising from Clyde's bar to the Florida Restaurant Association offices to the Governor's Club.

Then there's the institutionalized fundraising by people and groups with a stake in specific legislation such as Dr. Alan Mendelsohn, a Broward eye surgeon. He wants the Legislature to stop optometrists from performing minor office surgeries.

Mendelsohn's "Getting Florida Back to Business" fundraiser at his home Dec. 11 uses Senate President John McKay's name as bait, and lists 10 Republican senators as "confirmed distinguished attendees."

Next week, as lawmakers return for a second special session, Republican Sens. Anna Cowin, Howard Futch and Jim King will hold events Monday. Democratic Reps. Tim Ryan, Bob Henriquez, Perry McGriff, Jack Seiler and others too numerous to list will follow.

"My event has been canceled five times. I'm literally running out of time," says King, who has raised just $5,100 for his 2002 race. "I don't want to be sitting there during the session with no money raised while anybody who wishes to run against me can go out there and raise as much money as they want."

Indeed, circumstances seem to be conspiring to make it as difficult as possible for legislators to stockpile contributions.

First came the attacks of Sept. 11. It looked crass to be money-grubbing.

Then came the October budget-cutting session. McKay urged senators to expand the no-fundraising rule to include special sessions. When some resisted, citing events planned far in advance or costly statewide races, McKay "strongly requested" senators to cancel events. Most did.

Now, for the second special session, McKay has agreed to let the fundraising go on, partly because the regular session starts sooner, in January, because of reapportionment. That will force lawmakers to turn off the fundraising spigot sooner. So while they cut Florida's budget, they must race against time to build re-election budgets.

Campaign contributions are not inherently evil. But there has to be a better way, such as free advertising or public money to candidates who voluntarily agree to limit their campaign expenses. An idea advanced in Wallace's time would be to ban corporate and political action committee money except for the five months before the election.

While those proposals would provoke constitutional questions, they would stimulate a healthy debate. Every seven years or so, it can't hurt for the Legislature to take a good, hard look in the mirror.

- Steve Bousquet is deputy chief of the St. Petersburg Times' capital bureau.

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