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2012 campaign dollars poured into unlimited accounts
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Article
Courtesy of The Miami Herald
By
Mary Ellen Klas
Published
January 13, 2013
Three out of four dollars spent in the 2012 election cycle skirted the state’s campaign caps, streaming into political committees where there is less disclosure and public transparency.
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida’s sputtering economy did not stop interest groups and donors from spending $306 million this election cycle on state political campaigns, according to final election year tallies released Friday.
The number is lower than the $550 million reported in the 2010 election cycle and does not include the massive amount of federal cash spent in the presidential race. But it points to a new trend: more dollars are going to campaign committee rather than individual candidates.
Three out of every four dollars were unlimited checks to political committees, while the rest went into the campaign accounts of individuals, which are capped at $500 a check.
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The shift is a sign that Florida’s $500 limit is outdated and dysfunctional — and ripe for reform, said Dan Krassner, executive director of Integrity Florida, which did the analysis of the campaign finance data released by the Florida Division of Elections.
“Candidate accounts have become nearly irrelevant,’’ said Krassner, executive director of Integrity Florida. The current system allows corporations to write unlimited checks to political committees with loose affiliations to candidates but require them to give no more than $1000 to individual candidates for both the primary and general election. The result is, he said, “the public cannot easy follow the money.’’
House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, who has called for an overhaul of the state’s campaign finance reforms said Friday the numbers prove his point that the political committees – known as Committees of Continuous Existence, or CCEs – have gotten out of hand.
“I’m not trying to cap the amount of money that’s spent and raised, but we should do everything we can to move spending to the candidates and the parties, not committees,’’ he said.
The Integrity Florida analysis found an explosion in the last three election cycles of CCEs — the loosely-regulated entities, which can collect unlimited checks and can pay for consultants, travel, meals and other expenses for a candidate but can’t pay for advertising or mailers. Dozens of legislators use the committees to augment their election bids and steer money to other campaigns.
Weatherford, and Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, raised the most cash of any legislators who controlled a CCE. Also raising large sums were the two candidates vying to become the next Senate president, Sens. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, and Joe Negron, R-Palm City.
The cash haul was not limited to the current candidates. Gov. Rick Scott’s political |
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Most expensive state House races:
Chris Dorworth, R-Orlando, defeated:$604,587
Michael Bileca, R-Miami, won:$600,934
Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, defeated: $511,321
Halsey Beshears, R-Monticellos, won: $489,025
Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, won:$464,837
Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, unoppos.:$436,423
Bob Brooks, R-Orlando, defeated: $429,763
David Richardson, D-Miami Beach, won:$385,411
Marco Pena, R-Orlando, defeated:$381,414
Jeanette Nunez, R-Miami, won:$370,475 |
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Most expensive state Senate races:
Ellyn
Bogdanoff, R-Ft. Lauderdale, def:$1,185,030
Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, won:$921,818
Aaron Bean, R-Jacksonville, won:$770,742
Dorothy L. Hukill, R-Daytona Beach, won:$757,379
Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, won:$729,845
Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, won:$727,935
Joe Negron, R-Palm City, won:$692,731
Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, won:$628,984
Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, won:$607,796
Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, won:$582,025 |
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Top political committees in the
2012 Election Cycle:
Political Action Together — painters and builders union: $6.1M
Let’s Get to Work — Gov. Rick Scott: $5.2 million
Taxpayers First — proponents of Amendment 4 property tax breaks: $4.7M
Vote No on 6 — opponents of abortion amendment: $4M
Realtors PAC — proponents Amendment 4: $3.9M
American Resort Development Association — timeshare industry, supporting Amendment 4: $3.8M
Liberty Foundation of Florida — undisclosed, supporting GOP candidates: $3.4M
Defend Justice from Politics — supporting Supreme Court merit retention: $3.3M
Enterprise Holdings — political committee for rental car company: $3.3M
Honeywell International — political committee for technology company: $3M |
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committee benefited from the ability to collect unlimited checks in Florida. He raised $360,000 in November and December, including a $100,000 check from AT&T.
In 2010, when the governor and three Cabinet races were on the ballot along with state legislators, contributions to individual candidates comprised 44 percent of the total. In 2012, contributions to individual candidates dropped to 25 percent of the total, just below where it was in 2008 when 26 percent of the $265 million spent went to individual campaigns.
Meanwhile, 1,119 political committees, including the political parties, raised $230 million or 75 percent of the total in 2012, compared to 56 percent in 2010.
Because some of the money is transferred from a CCE to an ECO or political action committee -- often in a veiled attempt to shield the donor and recipient from the disclosure -- some of the totals reported is double counted, Krassner said.
Unlike individual campaigns, it’s not always possible to know which candidates political committees support. State law requires committees to name a treasurer, chairman and registered agent but some groups fill those positions with obscure individuals so the committee can’t be tracked to the public officials they were formed to help.
One of the largest political committees this election cycle, the Liberty Foundation of Florida, is an Electioneering and Communications Organization that is run by Gainesville political consultant Pat Bainter. It received much of its money from the Republican Party of Florida and the political committee controlled by Gaetz. The committee spent money on ads attacking Senate candidates, but Gaetz was not linked directly to any of the spending.
Because political committees can transfer money from one political committee to another, “we don’t see who’s getting and giving,’’ Krassner said.
Latvala, chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, said he wants to change that. He said it is time to strengthen disclosure requirements for political committees as part of the Senate’s elections reform proposals.
“What I want to do is bring transparency to who gives and to do that you need uniform requirements for reporting on the web,’’ said Latvala. He said he wants to consider strict limits on the amount of cash parties and committees are allowed to transfer to other committees and require that all contributions be reported in a timely manner online.
Latvala, who is facing a contest against Sen. Joe Negron for Senate president in 2016, does not support Weatherford’s plan to eliminate the ability of legislators to collect unlimited campaign checks through CCEs while allowing the party to collect unlimited checks. Such system gives those who are anointed by existing party leadership an unfair advantage, he said.
“All that does is keep people like me – who might not be part of the establishment of future designees – the ability to raise significant amount of money.” he said.
Instead, Latvala said he wants to consider restricting how committees spend the vast amounts they raise.
“If you collect it, you keep it or spend it on things you’re allowed to spend it on,’’ he said.
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