On eve of the legislative session, a flurry of fundraisers

TALLAHASSEE — Ron Book, and legions of fellow lobbyists, spent Monday darting from one fundraiser to the next, passing out $500 checks like last-minute holiday presents.

Lobbyist David Ramba said he was hitting 12 or 14 events, and dispensing $8,000 to $10,000 in checks.

"It's been an expensive day," Book said as he hustled to his next event.

With the two-month legislative session opening today, time was running short: Monday was the final day legislators could collect campaign checks and lobbyists could vie for the access and votes donations can bring.

In a gesture of reform in the mid 1990s, lawmakers banned soliciting or accepting campaign money during the 60-day session to discourage a perception of vote-buying. But one result is that legislators now cram as much fundraising as possible into special sessions or on the day before the session starts, and it seems to get more intense every year.

Lobbyists for a variety of interests, from cities to dentists to trial lawyers, clutched fistfuls of envelopes containing $500 checks, the maximum campaign donation allowed. They scurried from one event to the next — 46 in all — to help legislators beat the deadline.

Most of Monday's fundraising was done by House members, who were elected or re-elected in November, but must run again in 2010. They want to accumulate war chests quickly to scare away potential opponents.

"Just because they donate doesn't mean that I'm necessarily going to support them," said Rep. Bill Heller, D-St. Petersburg. "They don't buy my vote."

Common Cause Florida's Ben Wilcox scoffed at the idea that donations don't influence legislators. He called the parade of fundraisers in a single day "mind-boggling."

"If I was the average citizen looking in from the outside, it would be very discouraging to me, because it's a pretty gross example of how money is used to impact public policy in Tallahassee," Wilcox said. "It's an example of the best government money can buy. I think it fuels the cynicism of the public."

Asked what donors get for their money, Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, was succinct: "Access — an opportunity to come and explain your issue to me," Gibbons said. "You'd have it anyway, but they just think it gives better access and more access."

The fundraising circuit tends to be dominated by the party in power. But Eric Jotkoff, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party, said he was encouraged by the fact that there were 17 Democratic fundraisers Monday night, up from only six one year ago.

"If Democrats are out there preparing for 2010, that's a good sign," he said.

At Clyde's & Costello's, a dimly lit bar a few blocks from the Capitol, there were fundraisers within fundraisers as about a dozen House Democrats stood inside in small groups, collecting checks Monday morning, hours before any bar patrons were around.

"We're not in the back room in the dark exchanging checks," said Rep. Darryl Rouson, a St. Petersburg Democrat. "We're doing it in a public place. When donors give to me, it doesn't bound my voice or my vote. But what it does is empower me to speak with more depth and more breadth."

Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, approached the money scramble with a measure of trepidation. He said he wished House members could serve four-year terms like senators, but two-year terms "forces you to constantly have to do this."

The day ended with a flurry of nighttime fundraising events at venues such as Associated Industries of Florida, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Home Builders Association. It had begun with a scheduled 8 a.m. golf tournament to help Senate Democrats, but subfreezing temperatures in the capital city forced the golf to be canceled.

"They called it off," Book said. "But they're still collecting money."

Times/Herald staff writers Marc Caputo, David DeCamp, Alex Leary, Mary Ellen Klas, Amy Hollyfield and Beth Reinhard contributed to this report. Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.