Donations pay for ‘access’
Big donors race to woo Florida lawmakers with cash, then push legislative agenda
TALLAHASSEE – In an annual Tallahassee tradition, a spree of fundraising events will take place Monday on Adams Street, next door to the Capitol, as special interests race to pad lawmakers’ political committees with cash before the start of the legislative session the next day.
Legislators are prohibited from receiving donations during the 60-day session, but on Tuesday those interests will begin to ask those same lawmakers to pass or kill bills, put money in the budget for a special project, steer a state contract their way or find a way to ease important regulations.
Those millions of dollars in donations help drive a largely hidden agenda that goes beyond the big issues lawmakers must decide each year.
Despite a set of campaign finance reforms passed in 2013, donors can still give large sums and then see their interests advanced by lawmakers. And the money often flows through many committees before being trans-
formed into an ad or a mailer, making it harder to track.
“It’s people trying to get influence,” said Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach. “Going into session, it’s a lot easier — just the way the human brain works — it’s a lot easier to remember who gave you that last set of checks.’’
Mac Stipanovich, a veteran GOP consultant and Tallahassee lobbyist, said extensive fundraising by major players is part of the legislative process and doesn’t mean donors hold sway over lawmakers.
“I think what you get with being a major donor to either or both parties is you get access, you get the meeting. You get to make your pitch,” Stipanovich said. “But I can tell you from long experience that that doesn’t mean you get your way.”
Here are some industries’ campaign donations to campaigns controlled by or benefitting Gov. Ron DeSantis, as well as top legislative leaders of both major parties, and a glimpse at what they are pushing for this year in Tallahassee. The numbers came from campaign finance reports filed with the state.
Disney-Universal
Since 2015, Florida’s top two theme park giants, Disney and Universal, have given more than $4.5 million to campaign committees controlled by legislative leaders and the major political parties.
Senate President Bill Galvano received $325,000 for his Innovate Florida committee from Disney from 2015 through 2018, and $20,000 from NBC Universal and its parent company, Comcast. Disney gave a total of $2.7 million to the Florida Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Florida in that time span; Universal gave the parties $512,500.
Comparatively little — $5,000 from Comcast and NBC Universal — was given to the committee controlled by House Speaker Jose Oliva, reflecting the House’s hard push the past two years against tourism advertising subsidies.
In 2017 the tourism industry and Gov. Rick Scott teamed up to thwart an attempt by House Speaker Richard Corcoran to neuter Visit Florida, the state’s tourism advertising group. Corcoran argued the $76 million a year it gets in taxpayer money was a form of “corporate welfare.”
This year, Visit Florida’s existence is scheduled to expire Oct. 1 if lawmakers don’t pass a law extending it. Oliva isn’t keen on passing such a law, but Sen. Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican and the chairman of the state GOP, is sponsoring a measure to make Visit Florida a permanent fixture.
Helping them in the fight will be trade groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.
Political committees associated with the chamber gave $678,500 to committees run by Oliva, Galvano and DeSantis since 2015. FRLA gave $10,000 to Galvano and $37,500 to the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, run by state Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Lighthouse Point, to aid Democratic Senate campaigns.
The chamber also has been pushing a variety of business tax cuts in recent years, including an eventual phase-out of the business rent tax. Lawmakers have reduced the 5 percent tax by 0.3 percent in the past two years.
In addition to cash, both amusement park giants offer in-kind donations to candidates in both parties, giving free passes, food, drinks and other expenses for fundraisers and get-togethers. Disney has made more than $900,000 in such donations to the GOP since 2011 and $1.9 million to Democrats since 2005; Universal has given $1.7 million to both parties in the past 10 years.
Top GOP legislative leaders hold an annual fundraiser at Universal Studios before the legislative session each year. This year’s event took place Feb. 9, with a VIP tour of the parks and dinner at City Walk, according to Florida Politics. Democrats are scheduled to hold a similar event in the summer.
Four days after the Republican event, a bill backed by Universal to allow beer companies to advertise within theme parks came up in a House committee. Though beer distributors are against the bill and are also big donors to the main committees, it passed by a 8-7 vote.
Stipanovich, a lobbyist for Universal, suggested the timing was a coincidence and didn’t play a role in the bill’s progress since similar bills have been discussed the past three years. A representative for Disney did not respond to a request for comment.
Big Sugar
Florida’s two major sugar conglomerates, U.S. Sugar and Florida Crystals, have given more than $3.3 million to the Republican and Democratic parties and to political committees led by legislative leaders over the past four years. But they have one big problem: DeSantis.
Big Sugar backed DeSantis’ GOP primary opponent, Adam Putnam, giving him $650,000. DeSantis, who earned the ire of sugar companies by voting against federal subsidies for the industry when he was in Congress, received nothing, even after the primary.
As governor, DeSantis called for the resignation of the South Florida Water Management District board and put a handful of environmentalists in their place, after the old board approved a land lease that benefited the industry. The governor also has called for a $650 million package to clean up state waterways.
It remains to be seen whether the industry’s influence will thwart DeSantis’ agenda.
The sugar industry has been blamed by environmentalist groups and others for contributing to the water pollution in South Florida that led to blue-green algae that killed marine life and choked waterways last year.
That reputation has made them unpopular among many Democrats, but the FDP received $280,000 from U.S. Sugar and $15,000 from Florida Crystals the last two election cycles.
The companies have given Republicans much more, including more than $2.3 million to the state party in the last two election cycles. U.S. Sugar gave $105,000 to Oliva’s committee and $340,000 to Galvano’s.
In 2015, the year after voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring more money to be spent on land conservation, the GOP-led Legislature passed a budget criticized by environmental groups for counting operating toward conservation. A funding fight has ensued every year since.
Utilities
Florida’s largest utility companies are among the biggest donors to committees controlled by legislative leaders and the major parties. Florida Power & Light, Gulf Power, Duke Energy and Tampa Electric Co. gave nearly $6.3 million to the state GOP, state Democrats, and committees led by Oliva, Galvano and Senate Democrats and Republicans since 2015.
The companies have lobbied lawmakers to pass bills to make it more difficult for homeowners to install rooftop solar.
This year, according to the House’s lobbyist registry, lobbyists for FPL have signed up to lobby against SB 222, a measure filed by Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, that would allow solar panel owners to sell excess power to other tenants and homeowners. Similar bills by Rodriguez have failed the past two years.
Tobacco
In recent years, taking money from the major tobacco firms became taboo as the industry shelled out billions of dollars in settlements from 1990s lawsuits they lost after lying about the deadly damage their product caused.
But that stigma has largely worn off, at least with Florida Republicans and Democrats.
From 2000 through 2018, three major tobacco companies – Altria (formerly Phillip Morris), RAI Services (also known as RJ Reynolds) and Dosal Tobacco – have given committees controlled by top Republicans and Democrats more than $6.7 million. Nearly $2.7 million of that came since 2015.
DeSantis’ committee received $100,000 from RAI Services and $50,000 from Dosal. Oliva’s committee received $160,000 from the three companies since the 2016 election. Galvano raked in $275,000 for his committee since 2013 and brought in $705,000 for the Senate Republicans’ committee.
The state Democratic Party pulled in $793,000 since 2008 while the Republican Party of Florida reaped $4.5 million since 2000.
This year the companies will fight to block a bill that would raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21. Similar bills the past two years weren’t heard in committee either.
In 2017 the companies fought off attempts to increase the amount of the bonds they would be required to pay while appealing the thousands of individual lawsuits that remain in the court system. Facing a $4.7 billion judgment, lawmakers capped the amount of the bond at $200 million.
The companies have also thwarted efforts by Democrats to raise taxes on tobacco sales. The bills have never received a hearing.
No end in sight
The money-chasing tradition in the lead-up to the session — and throughout the rest of the year, too — is unlikely to stop any time soon.
Even Jenne recognizes it’s part of the reality of the Legislature. He is sponsoring a bill to apply the Legislature’s ban on session fundraising to the governor and Cabinet but isn’t sure how far it will go this year.
Jenne is running to be House Democratic Leader in 2020, a position that would require him to help raise money for fellow Democratic House members, so he said he might have to drop his pledge not to ask for campaign money during the weeks before the session when lawmakers hold committee meetings.
“That’s always going to be a problem, and it’s always going to be up to the individual whether or not they jump through hoops for that money,” Jenne said.
“It’s people trying to get influence. Going into session, it’s a lot easier – just the way the human brain works – it’s a lot easier to remember who gave you that last set of checks.” Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach