Florida taxpayer-funded lobbying
From Sunshine Review
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This is controversial because the agenda being lobbied for are not decided by taxpayers, whose money is used for the practice. This means the outcomes of lobbying are sometimes opposed to the constituents' benefit.
For the first six months of 2009:
- 44 Florida cities are actively lobbying. The expenditures of these cities for 2009 total $2,001,630 for the first two quarters of 2009.[1]
- 24 out of 70 Florida counties are actively lobbying. The expenditures of these counties total $1,817,500 for the first two quarters of 2009.[1]
- There are also two boards of commissioners actively lobbying. The Nassau Board of County Commissioners has spent $37,500 in the first two quarters of 2009, and the Brevard County Commissioners have spent $100,000 in the same period of time. [1]
- 27 out of 67 Florida school districts have registered lobbyists.[2] The total available information shows the districts have spent $987,963.81, but this is with incomplete information.
These figures do not include the number of entities which will ultimately lobby for 2009. These also are not exhaustive accounts of lobbying, as taxpayer-funded lobbying is particularly difficult to track.
[edit] Lobbyist Relations
Relations between lobbyists are both professional and casual. For example, the following Florida lobbyists had a dinner of Arroz con Pollo and dessert in April 2008:[3]
- Connie Milito, Secretary/ Treasurer of the Florida Education Legislative Liaisons[4] [5]
- James P. Hamilton[6]
- Edgar Fernandez[7]
- Wendy Dodge (who made the dessert), Board Member of the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists[8]
- Scott Howat[9]
- Georgia Slack, Past President of the Florida Education Legislative Liaisons and founding member
[edit] Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations
The following is a list of Florida taxpayer-funded lobbying associations by type:
[edit] City and municipal
- Florida League of Cities
- Broward League of Cities
- Gold Coast League of Cities
- Miami-Dade League of Cities
- Palm Beach County League of Cities
[edit] County
[edit] Health care
[edit] Housing
[edit] School
- Florida School Finance Officers Association, Inc.
- Florida School Boards Association
- Florida School Board Attorneys Association
- Florida Association of Community Colleges
- Florida Association of District School Superintendents
- Florida Association of School Administrators
- Florida Association of School Personnel Administrators
[edit] Other
[edit] See also
- Taxpayer-funded lobbying
- Back to School: Florida school districts lobbying report
- Florida school districts lobbying, 2009
- Sunshine Review's Florida Back-to-School project
[edit] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Open Secrets - Lobbying
- ↑ Florida Legislature
- ↑ Lobbying Email April 2008
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Hillsborough Email 10.13.07
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ [4]
- ↑ [5]
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Lists of taxpayer-funded lobbying associations |
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| By type |
National organizations |
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