GOP chairman defends pushing bill
Sen. Joe Gruters is sponsoring SB 798, which is backed by the utility that gave to the party
TALLAHASSEE — Lawmakers are barred from receiving political donations during the 60-day legislative session, so special interests pushing bills and budget items typically rush to stuff campaign coffers and political committees controlled by legislative leaders in the run-up to the session, and this year was no different.
Last-minute donors this year included a hospital chain seeking to gut a tax break for its competitor, Realtor groups pushing a tax cut, trial lawyers hoping to quash legal reforms, telecoms in pursuit of less regulation and utilities yearning to get customers to pay for burying power lines.
But committees controlled by the Republican Party of Florida and the Florida Democratic Party are exempt and aren’t usually controlled by a sitting lawmaker. That’s changed with state Republicans in recent years, and state Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota is party chairman, in charge of fundraising for the party.
Gruters is sponsoring SB 798, which would allow utilities to charge customers and build in a profit when they put lines underground. RPOF received a $25,000 donation from Florida Power and Light, the state’s largest utility, on March 14, nine days after the start of the legislative session. FPL, a consistent major donor to both parties, gave $5,000 to the Florida Democratic Party on March 5, the day the session began.
But Gruters says there’s no conflict because he delegated fundraising to a quartet of advisers and GOP officials – Sarasota County commissioner and state GOP committeeman Christian Ziegler, Leon GOP chair Evan Power, who is also a Tallahassee lobbyist, GOP national committeeman Peter Feaman and Republican national committeewoman Kathleen King.
“If they gave zero, I think this bill would be passing because of the storms we’ve had over the last three years,” Gruters said.
Gruters’ predecessor as RPOF chair, state Rep. Blaise Ingoglia of
Spring Hill also delegated fundraising duties during the session when he took over in 2015, leaving it to Gruters, who was vice chair at the time and not yet elected to the Legislature.
But one ethics watchdog says it still has the appearance of impropriety.
“It seems to violate the spirit at least of the ban on contributions [during session],” said Ben Wilcox, research director of Integrity Florida. “It probably is a loophole that should be looked at.”
Under the bill, monthly payments would increase for consumers but the exact amount isn't known because the costs of underground projects haven't been determined. But there's been little pushback in the Legislature – it hasn't received a negative vote — as supporters say it's needed to improve reliability and reconnect power after storms in light of a spate of hurricanes that have hit the state the past three years.
Currently, FPL and other utilities must request approval from state regulators to recoup money spent to restore power after a storm, so Gruters argues that while customers would pay more upfront, the long-term economic benefits would be worth it.
“This a very important bill because we're going to continue to see storms,” Gruters said. “Long term this bill what it's going to do for this state is let us have one of the most reliable electric grids in the country.”
Other special interests that rushed to give to political committees controlled by lawmakers on March 4 to beat the deadline included:
— Realtors groups gave $10,000 to the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which supports Democratic state senate campaigns and is chaired by Sen. Gary Farmer, DLighthouse Point, and
$50,000 to a committee supporting GOP senate campaigns. Realtors are backing a cut in the commercial lease tax.
— A committee run by the Florida Justice Association, the major trial lawyer lobby, gave $22,000 to a committee controlled by Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and $5,000 to the FDP. Trial lawyers are trying to stop tort reforms and a cap on attorneys' fees in some types of insurance claim disputes – measures favored by business lobbies like the Florida Chamber, another major donor.
— Telecommunications providers like Comcast, which gave $5,000 to Gruter's RPOF on March 20; and Charter Communications, which gave $50,000 to RPOF; $7,500 to FDP; and $15,000 to the Republican Senate campaign committee on March 5, the day session began, are pushing a bill to prevent cities from regulating how they can install new 5G internet technology.
— HCA, the for-profit hospital chain, gave $15,000 to RPOF and $7,500 to Farmer's committee. The company is supporting a provision in the House's tax cut package that would require non-profit hospitals to specify the amount of charity care they provide each year, and then base the tax break they receive on those amounts. Forprofit hospitals have long considered the tax break an unfair advantage for non-profits.
Despite the temporary nature of the ban on fundraising during the session, Wilcox says it's still good to have in place, even if money given before and after can affect legislative action.
“It's an important signal for the Legislature to send to the public to have some kind of a shield that prevents special interests from buying outcomes of bills during session,” Wilcox said.