The Fine Print

For some Florida Republicans it's time for golf, wine and mild California weather

After a protracted absence, more inside the Tallahassee bubble news.

The really important local race that could impact the whole state....The end of qualifying _ and the lurch into the official campaign season _ has been dominated with talk about the U.S. Senate race featuring incumbent Marco Rubio as well several high profile congressional and state senate races.

Yet there's one very important race that is emerging within the shadows of the Florida Capitol.

Last August State Attorney Willie Meggs announced that he was ending a career stretching back to 1985.

Three challengers have stepped forward to challenge him: Jack Campbell, an assistant state attorney and son of late Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell, Sean Desmond, a former prosecutor under Meggs who is now in private practice, and former Statewide Prosecutor Pete Williams.

Over the course of his time in office Meggs engaged in cases that had reverberations in state politics. He aggressively investigated in the '90s whether or not legislators were accepting gifts and trips from lobbyists. The Meggs investigation into House Speaker Ray Sansom wound up forcing the Destin Republican to resign from both the speakership and the Florida Legislature.

Meggs was ultimately forced to abandon the case against Sansom, which was tied to his push for an appropriation in the budget that appeared to be benefit a Republican businessman from Sansom's area.

But because of a Meggs subpoena that probe forced into daylight the use of Republican Party of Florida credit cards by top elected officials - a topic ultimately that caused questions for a long line of politicians including Rubio, then-Gov. Charlie Crist as well as RPOF Chairman Jim Greer.

Other times, however, Meggs has resisted calls to investigate powerful people, such as in 2015 amid the outcry over Gov. Rick Scott's decision to oust Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey. Meggs refused to investigate Bailey's ouster even there were allegations of Sunshine Law violations and Bailey himself alleged that the Scott administration had potentially tried to interfere with an investigation.

So how will the next state attorney handle these types of cases?

Well, it could very well depend on who wins.

In Tallahassee at least - which is where the largest concentration of votes in the race will come from - the primary focus for the candidates is Leon County's crime rate, which is currently the highest in the state.

During a recent community forum featuring the three candidates, Campbell was blunt, saying that while "you need to have the courage" to take on potential corruption cases it would not be a pressing item for him.

"We got plenty of people getting shot in the street, I’ve got plenty of people getting raped at FSU campus,'' Campbell said.

Desmond echoed that sentiment: "I think it's absolutely a duty to shine a light on everything, but if it's going to impact and take away resources from other things we need to prioritize that."

Williams, who noted he pursued corruption cases when he was statewide prosecutor, maintains that "I will be very aggressive there." But in a followup statement Williams faulted the way that Meggs' office has handled certain cases, including the unsuccessful prosecution of Liberty County Sheriff Nick Finch. (The case was handled by Campbell and Williams contended that it should have been handled by an outside prosecutor instead of someone working for Meggs. Williams also contended Finch was prosecuted because he backed Williams in the 2012 election, an allegation that Campbell said was a "lie.")

Desmond and Campbell are squaring off in the Democratic primary and the winner of that race will run against Williams, the Republican nominee, in the November general election.

"Going to California"....

Gov. RIck Scott has pilloried California over the last couple of years and has visited the state in an effort to woo businesses in that state to move to the Sunshine State.

But apparently it's a good place for some Republicans to go and escape the heat, humidity, algal blooms, mosquitoes and raise money.

The main fundraising committee led by Sen. Joe Negron that is helping Republican state Senate candidates held a two-day fundraiser this week at the famed Pebble Beach golf course (where the daily high was in the mid-60s) located near Carmel and Monterey.

This is a recurring site for fundraisers and it's been held in this site before. But which elected officials decided to attend it? Shh. That's a secret.

A spokeswoman for Negron said he would not discuss fundraising events. But the little birds who flock to Peter Schorsch told him that joining Negron at the California event were Sens. Anitere Flores, Lizbeth Benacquisto, and Rob Bradley.

Also there was Sen. Bill Galvano, who is staying out west this week to hold a separate Napa Valley fundraiser for his own political committee Innovate Florida. The invitation promises a group dinner and private vineyard lunch tasting at the Far Niente Winery about 171 miles north of Pebble Beach.

Galvano, who was re-elected to a new term in office without opposition, said earlier this month that he decided to hold the fundraiser at the winery since he was going out west for the Pebble Beach fundraiser.

Since the end of the 2016 session Galvano has piled up a significant amount of money in his political committee.

State filed fundraising reports for March, April and May - along with paperwork on the Innovate Florida website for June - show that Galvano has collected more than $357,000. Some of the big donors include Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Medical Association.

So far in the last few months Galvano has steered money from his Innovate Florida account to other political committees - such as the one helping Senate candidates - the campaign accounts of GOP senators as well as payments to his staff, a fundraising consultant and reimbursements that Galvano has claimed. State records show that money from the account has been used to pay for hotels, meals and travel including a nearly $500 tab at The Edison in early April.

Richard Corcoran, the money and Ma Barker

In the wake of the Great Recession legislative leaders pulled the plug on the process that helped the public know a little bit about where items stashed in the budget came from.

For various reasons, and despite some Democrats decrying the amount of pork contained in the state budget, legislators have not reinstated the process known as "community budget issue requests" even as the economy has steadily recovered.

Well this year is turning out to be a bit different.

Rep. Richard Corcoran, the Pasco County Republican now in charge of the House budget, is helping the House push ahead with changes in the budget process.

Corcoran on Jan. 30 emailed House members and told them that if they wanted something in the 2015-16 budget they needed to answer a series of questions about the project.

"It is important that we have complete information about any issue that receives an appropriation," Corcoran wrote. His email then laid out a lengthy list of questions that needed to be answered including whether the project had gotten state money before and whether the money was needed for construction or other capital outlay costs.

Corcoran made it clear that he expected the summary because "it my expectation that budget issues are thoroughly vetted."

When asked about it Corcoran explained that both he and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli wanted to bring back "transparency" into the budget process.

Corcoran's email apparently caused quite a bit of discussion among legislators.

On Feb. 10, he emailed members again, explaining that he had heard from members who wondered what kind of budget issue actually required information that needed to be turned over.

"Because any description I may offer could lead to misunderstanding, my suggestion to you is - when in doubt, complete the summary,'' Corcoran wrote.

Then Corcoran went further: He also included a "House Internal Member Project Policy" that explained what types of projects would be included in the House's budget.

And included in this list of eight criteria is a potential big shift for Capitol insiders.

In order for any item to be in the budget it must "be clearly displayed in the appropriations bill either by proviso of by unique appropriation category which identifies the project."

In other words, any attempt to roll an item into the base, or have it tucked in a larger appropriation will not be allowed.

The criteria also stated that priority consideration would be given to projects seeking one-time funding, have matching dollars and do not contain any construction money unless it for the "construction, improvement, maintenance or repair of state-owned infrastructure or other facilities as authorized by general law." This is similar to a budget policy that former Gov. Jeb Bush had where he was skeptical about handing out state money for something that would not be owned by the state.

It is worth noting _ as Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater has _ that just having a process like this would not prevent questionable behavior.

When he was Senate President Atwater noted that legislators had a process at the time that Ray Sansom was the House budget chief. Questions were raised about money that the Destin Republican steered into the budget for a project that was seen as beneficial to a Republican donor. Sansom wound up resigning from his speaker's post _ and the Legislature. He was charged by authorities, but they were dropped when a judge refused to allow a key witness testify.

But it's clear this new House process will require that legislators have their names attached to a earmark request in the state budget.

This process is not in place over in the Florida Senate.

But that doesn't mean that some senators aren't taking their own steps to bring more exposure to budget items.

Sen. Jack Latvala, the Clearwater Republican in charge of the transportation and economic development portions of the budget, held a public hearing this past week where roughly 50 individuals around the state were required to testify about local projects they wanted state money for.

Latvala said he made the decision to require public testimony in order to counter any suggestions that budget items were slipped in - and therefore were "budget turkeys" - which is Tallahassee-speak for pork.

"This gives everything a public airing and I think it's important for the members to hear what I hear,'' Latvala said.

The hearing attracted a lengthy list of local officials, including county commissioners such as Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa coming in to ask for state help.

Marion County Commissioner Kathy Bryant may have had the most interesting request during the nearly three-hour meeting.

Bryant said that Marion County wanted nearly $2 million to buy land located in Ocklawaha that was the site of a famed shootout with the FBI that left famed criminal Ma Barker dead. The 2-story house that that was the site of the 1935 shootout still has bullets imbedded in the walls and includes furniture from the time. Bryant said that Marion wanted to make it part of a law-enforcement museum and wanted to acquire it to prevent "further degradation."

She added there is a strong interest in "crime memorabilia" and that when it was opened up to the public on the 50th anniversary that 5,000 people visited.

When she was done, Latvala quipped: "You did all that with a straight face." He then joked a little later about Marion County seeking money so it could honor "a criminal."

Latvala warned afterwards that he wasn't sure how many, if any, of the projects seeking money this year would be included in the budget. That was a nod to the ongoing tug-of-war over health care funding that has created budget problems this year.

But at least there now exists some records on the origins of what projects may wind up in the final budget.

Pam Bondi, the reporter and the money

Some more inside the Tallahassee bubble news...

Remember the lawsuit that disgraced former House Speaker Ray Sansom filed against the state to recover more than $800,000 in legal fees?

Sansom, if you recall, was charged with manipulating the state budget process in order to obtain $6 million in state money to pay for a hangar at the Destin airport that was really intended to be used by a businessman and major Republican donor.

His trial in 2011 ended when State Attorney Willie Meggs dropped the charges after a judge refused to let a key witness testify.

Sansom filed a civil lawsuit asking for payment of his legal fees. He asserts that his legal fees should be paid by taxpayers because it was connected to his legal duties.

The state, however, has fought this request, saying that despite the charges being dropped that Sansom's action were still "tainted" because he was seeking to do something on behalf of private interests not the public.

Well the trial is coming up soon and the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi has subpoenaed Tampa Tribune reporter James Rosica to testify in the case.

Rosica covered the trial for The Associated Press at the time.

Why is Bondi's office seeking to compel a reporter to appear at the trial? That's not really clear.

A spokesman for the attorney general refused to comment citing the pending litigation.

The subpoena given to Rosica last Friday does instruct him to bring a copy of the March 25, 2011 article he did on the criminal case. That story does note that both Sansom and businessman Jay Odom had agreed to pay restitution to Northwest Florida State College for costs related to the hangar.

During a court hearing in 2013 it was pointed out that Odom wound up paying Sansom's share of the restitution. Sansom's lawyer argued that Sansom never really consented to the payment and that it should not have been viewed as an admission of guilt.

Speaking of the Sansom civil trial....

One interesting tidbit from the legal battle. According to one court filing, Sansom in a deposition has defended his actions as House budget chairman by comparing himself to....John Thrasher.

Sansom noted that while he was speaker Thrasher helped obtain funding for a Florida State University medical school.

For their part attorneys for Bondi's office don't agree with the comparison.

"The difference in the two situations is stark,'' states the filing from last fall. "Mr. Thrasher put an appropriation in for a medical school building, and a medical school building was built. Mr. Sansom placed into the appropriations bill an appropriation for the 'Okaloose Jt Use Emergency Response Workforce Center" for building a hanger at the Destin airport for his campaign contributor, Jay Odom. A finding that this act was within the public interest essentially condones political corruption."

Odom by the way also appears to be a key person for the upcoming trial.

He has been fighting attempts to get him to answer questions related to the entire Sansom incident and the payment he made to the college. The state has also wanted to delve into his friendship with Sansom as well as ask him questions about his businesses.

Filings show that Odom, who was sentenced in 2013 to six months in jail and ordered to pay fines in connection with money he donated to the presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee, has been citing his Fifth Amendment privilege in order to rebuff these questions from the state. His attorneys say the threat of continued prosecution _ including potential racketeering charges_remain real.

From one of the court filings:

"The scope of the federal investigation is broad.

The federal authorities have gone to extreme efforts to seize virtually all of Mr. Odom's business and personal records and interview, or compel testimony, from a vast number of his friends, family members, employees and associates. Search warrants have been served on him, his businesses and his properties. With those search warrants, the federal authorities seized over 18 boxes (and other containers) of documents, copied the hard drives of eleven computers, and seized financial records relating to virtually every receipt and expenditure by Mr. Odom, or his companies."

The court filing adds that federal investigators have not only focused on the appropriation but the relationship between Odom and Sansom as well as "campaign contributions made by Mr. Odom's businesses to political candidates and causes."

In November, Judge Angela Dempsey ruled that Odom does have a right to assert his Fifth Amendment privilege, but she did say he needed to order two questions related to his decision to pay the restitution on behalf of Sansom.

Budget sleuthing, smoke and mirrors (Part 1)

In what may seem like a completely different era the Florida Legislature was required to put some things in the public domain about how things wound up in the budget.

For many years legislators were required to at least document some evidence of a request for an earmark, or what was known as the "Community Budget Issue Request System." Legislators were required to fill out forms explaining a request a funding. One example: In 2008 Rep. Will Weatherford requested $3 million for a domestic violence center along with requests for nine other projects.

When the Great Recession caused a massive downturn in the economy there was a decision made by legislative leaders to shut down this effort.

"With the further decline in state revenues, it is my desire to avoid creating unrealistic funding expecations,'' wrote Senate President Jeff Atwater in a 2009 memo.

But even though the Florida Legislature has a budget surplus to work with this year there has been no move to return to this type of tracking system. Back in 2010 Democratic candidate for Chief Financial Officer Loranne Ausley suggested requiring the reinstatement of the system so that "politicians must own their pork spending."

As this story notes - there's no shortage of hometown projects in the roughly $75 billion budget that legislators are working on right now.

The question is how the project got there and whether members of the public and press can deduce the origins of something.

Let's take just one project: $10 million for the "FSU College of Engineering" that has been in the Senate budget a couple of weeks now.

This project - along with $3 million in operational money pushed by Sen. John Thrasher - caused a firestorm on the Senate floor on Thursday. Thrasher acknowledged that the $10 million was for a separate building on the Florida State University campus to help transition to a new engineering school apart from the current joint school operated with Florida A&M University.

FAMU officials strongly oppose any move to separate the two schools and several legislators said it hearkened back to a time when FAMU's law school was shuttered in the '60s and the funding was shifted to a new law school at FSU. Thrasher defended the move by noting the declining enrollment in the FAMU part of the program.

Traditionally it is up to the Senate and House appropriations chairman to be responsible for placing construction items that are part of what is known as the Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) list in the budget.

When asked Sen. Joe Negron, the Senate budget chief, initially said that the money for the school was on the PECO list given to the Florida Legislature by the Board of Governors, the appointed panel that oversees the state university system.

"I believe the Board of Governors had okayed consideration of that request,'' Negron said.

Then when asked if the board had put in for a stand-alone FSU facility Negron said: "It came from us having a certain amount of fixed capital to spend and looking at all the potential places" and deciding to put it toward the stand-alone facility.

"I think it's good policy," Negron continued. "I think we are going to take a good engineering school and turn it into two great schools."

So the question remains: Did the Board of Governors suggest funding for this project?

No.

The Board of Governors submitted a PECO list that calls for spending $30 million over the next two years for the construction of a new building to sit next to the two existing buildings that now make up the college. The House budget includes $15 million for the joint facility.

Furthermore a committee of the board last October was given a presentation on why a new $36 million building at the joint campus is needed.

The presentation prepared by FAMU & FSU officials contended that if funding were delayed there would be a "loss of propsective talented engineering students due to inadequate and outdated educational facilities including the current use of several temporary and dilapidated trailers/portables."

That's right - they are using portables at the current joint school.

Additionally the presentation states this: "The College has far outgrown its existing facilities. The College relies on outdated modular units to temporarily meet its space needs. Since the College is isolated from both main campuses it is difficult to share the resources of the libraries, auditorium, information and other student centered facilities."

State legislators changing the PECO list for universities is nothing new. It's how FSU got money to help build the University Center that now surrounds its football stadium. Legislative leaders have often used their clout to help universities in their own backyard.

But it also has led to some problems.

Atwater himself at the time defended the shutting down of the community budget system because he said it did not prevent the situation that happened when then-House budget chief Ray Sansom placed $6 million funding in the budget for his own hometown college for a project that turned out to be a hangar. 

Sansom wound up being investigated over the deal although charges were eventually dropped after the judge in the case ruled that testimony from a key witness could not be used.

In the immediate aftermath, however, Atwater helped institute a policy that required college and university officials to publicly testify before the Legislature about what projects they actually needed and wanted on the PECO list.

Budget staff called it the "PECO Parade."

And guess what? The Legislature didn't do it last year. It would be a fair guess to suggest they won't do it this year either.

Whose budget pork is it anyway?

This got some quick attention earlier this week but it merits a bit of discussion.

Florida legislative leaders announced that for the third year in a row that they won't allow fellow legislators to put in community budget requests -- or the Tallahassee version of earmarks.

The rationale from House Speaker Dean Cannon and Senate President Mike Haridopolos was that the state's ongoing fiscal crisis means that allowing members to file in such requests would "create unrealistic funding expectations for the coming year."

There's no doubt that the coming year will be tough again. Lawmakers will head into the spring session with a projected budget shortfall that could range anywhere from $2.5 billion to as small as $828 million depending on what legislators decide to fund.A key factor is that chunks of the federal stimulus will drop out of the budget.

State law allows for community budget issue requests. This is a process where cities, counties as well as private and non-profit organizations can request funding for items like, oh, astroturf for a South Florida flag football league.

But local projects can still get funded without these community budget requests, even in tough budget years. There were several local projects that were placed in the state budget by powerful legislators during the 2010 session.

The only difference is that without the community budget requests it's much harder to figure out where they came from and who wanted them.

CBIR's as they are also known usually require a lawmaker to list the background of a project and even the names and phone numbers of those who are asking for the money. The item is also supposed to include whether it was requested by a state agency or has local matching money.

The one caveat, however, is that top leaders, including House speakers and Senate presidents rarely attach their name to CBIR's even though they wind up being instrumental in getting millions set aside to their own pet projects.

During the 2010 campaign season Democrat Loranne Ausley, a candidate for Chief Financial Officer, said that the Legislature should reinstate the system of requiring the community budget requests so that "politicians must own their pork spending." She ripped then Senate President Jeff Atwater for jettisoning community budget issue requests.

When asked about it this fall, Atwater was fairly dismissive of Ausley's ideas.

He noted that back in 2007 - the year that former Rep. Ray Sansom put in money for a $6 million hangar and the year that lawmakers put together a controversial bond deal for the First DCA Courthouse - that the Legislature did use the community budget requests but that things got in the budget anyway.

The hangar, of course, led eventually to Sansom's indictment while the courthouse continues to generate headlines.

Atwater contends the changes that lawmakers used during the last two sessions are superior. This included unveiling budget conforming bills in public meetings and forcing university officials to appear at a public hearing to make requests for construction dollars.

The question is whether or not Cannon or Haridopolos will retain these practices. The new Senate and House rules passed last week were silent on how lawmakers will handle the budget conferences during the 2011 session.

House and Senate staff have suggested that they will likely handle it as they did this past spring, but there's been no official word yet.

 

 

Rubio: I am not under investigation nor will I ever be

The furor over the still unreleased Republican Party of Florida audit this past weekend prompted the campaign of U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist to take several shots at rival Marco Rubio. After a closed door session on Saturday, the party said it may sue to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars that Crist and former chairman Jim Greer spent on non-party related travel expenses.

Danny Kanner, a spokesman for Crist, said the party should worry about whether or not Rubio is under investigation for the way he used his Republican Party of Florida issued credit card instead of inferring that Crist may need to pay back thousands of money to the party. The Crist campaign says the move by the party is a political payback aimed at Crist, who bolted the party to run as an independent.

Rubio, however, flatly insisted on Friday that he is not under investigation by either the FBI and IRS - and he boldly predicted that he never will be.

"It's just not true,'' said Rubio following his well-received speech at the 2010 Victory Dinner at Walt Disney World. "I have never been contacted by anyone. I'm not going to because it's not true."

Rubio continued to insist that he used his RPOF credit card for “political purposes” and that the “few instances” that it wasn’t that it was “paid back at the time.”

It's clear, however, that there is some type of investigation into party finances that has been underway for some time now. And Al Hoffman, a former U.S. ambassador and top fundraiser for the party, said at the Saturday RPOF meeting that he has been questioned by both the FBI and IRS about party spending matters.

It's just another reminder that despite RPOF chairman John Thrasher's bold statement before donors and party faithful on Friday night that the "dark period" of the party is over there is still plenty of fallout that could come from Jim Greer-credit cards-Ray Sansom series of scandals.

Now it's unclear how much of this will unfold before Election Day. The trial of Sansom - the former House speaker charged with using his power as budget chairman to steer money to a political donor and developer - has now been scheduled for early next year.

Greer's trial on charges that he steered party money to a shell company that he set up with former executive director Delmar Johnson was initially scheduled for October. But Damon Chase, an attorney for Greer, said the case will not move forward until the defense team has had a chance to put under oath Thrasher, incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, and incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon. They all signed a proposed severance package back in January that says that what Greer did as chairman was "proper, lawful and appropriate."

"I can't wait for the depositions where you sit them down and ask them questions," Chase said this past week. "We're going to walk into court, and go, boom, boom, boom, with the testimony."

Haridopolos, Cannon and Thrasher said they aren't bothered by the prospect of giving a deposition.

"I look forward to justice being done in that case and look forward to cooperating anyway I can,'' Cannon said.

Priceless: $80,000 for Greer Force One and $35k for party purge

 

So here's the gift that keeps on giving. When Jim Greer was still chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, Greer and then executive director Delmar Johnson decided that a good way to be "eco-friendly" and save some serious cash was to send out an electronic Christmas card instead of real ones on paper.

But one of the early drafts drawn up the party decided to poke fun at the whole credit card mess and even the contributions of Ponzi fund schemer Scott Rothstein. There's funny little statements about Greer's airplane travels and security detail to "orchestrate the party purge" as well as references to former House Speaker Ray Sansom's American Express expenses as well as Greer's time at the Breakers.

Greer of course was forced to step down from the party earlier this year and is now the subject of a criminal investigation into whether he steered party money to a company he controlled. Greer has insisted he has done nothing wrong and that the party is just trying to get out of paying what the party promised to pay him if he stepped down.

"It was just purely an idea,'' explained Katie Gordon Betta, a spokeswoman for the party about the proposed Christmas card. "We kind of liked the idea of doing a spoof on the credit cards."

Here's the card that the party wound up sending out instead.

Crist, Sansom and that $6 million mystery

As the ongoing legal drama over the fate of former House Speaker Ray Sansom moves forward, there remains one key unanswered question.

Why did Gov. Charlie Crist decide against vetoing the $6 million budget item that is now at the center of the charges against Sansom?

Sansom, R-Destin, was charged this past week with grand theft and conspiracy to commit grand theft. The two new charges stem from the same allegation that Sansom tucked money into the 2007 state budget by claiming it was a building to help out Northwest Florida State College when in fact it was money for an airport hangar wanted by a Panhandle developer and contributor.

In 2007, Crist vetoed more than $450 million in items included in that year's state budget. Internal budget documents from the governor's office show that Crist used his veto pen to eliminate spending items being sought by some of the Legislature's top leaders at the time including both then-House Speaker Marco Rubio and Senate President Ken Pruitt. Read more about the veto mystery here at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Here's the internal budget documents that show that the governor's staff clearly identified the $6 million budget item for the college as questionable. The document also show that the governor's office had linked Sansom's name to $75 million worth of budget items for that year.

Download Ray Sansom Member Issues 2007

Crist wound up slashing $35.2 million worth of projects that Sansom's name was linked to, although two of the projects were for Valencia Community College and one was for Florida A&M University. Interestingly enough, all three of these projects were also being sought by then-Sen. Dan Webster, the Orlando Republican who endorsed Tom Gallagher over Crist in the 2006 Republican primary for governor.

Governor's office budget documents from 2007 also show the following:

Sen. Jeff Atwater, the North Palm Beach Republican already in line to become Senate President, was linked to $33.1 million worth of budget requests reviewed by Crist's office. Crist vetoed 17 separate items totaling $11.06 million including money for an emergency operations center that Crist's budget staff said circumvented the existing budget process. The $6 million appropriation that Sansom wanted for the Destin Airport was flagged by the governor's budget office for not being on any list and that the "college did not request the project."

Download Jeff Atwater Member Issues 2007

Then Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, was linked to $120.69 million worth of projects back in 2007 with the largest bulk of the money going to Florida Atlantic University. Crist vetoed $31.5 million worth of items linked to Pruitt including $14 million that Senate staff told the governor's office that Sen. Carey Baker also wanted for a performing arts center at Lake-Sumter Community College.

Download Ken Pruitt Member Issues 2007

As previously reported the governor's budget office also had a long list of budget items linked to Rubio.

Rubio's name was associated with $98.8 million worth of budget projects, including $80 million for a genetics research institute being established at the University of Miami. Crist wound up slashing $3.02 million sought by the Miami Republican including $2.5 million for a cancer center at UM and $300,000 that would have been used to buy television time to highlight Florida golf courses on the Golf Channel.

Download Marco Rubio Member Issues 2007.