Fasano Just Says Yes to Slush Fund

Last Sunday, the St. Petersburg Times reported that state Senator Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey) declined the 3% pay raise that state lawmakers received starting July 1st. Fasano said:

I'm just a believer that we didn't run for this job for the salary

Sounds like he is really thrifty with the taxpayers money, huh?

There may be another reason Fasano doesn't need the measly $2,400 raise. Since July 2005, Fasano's Committee for Floridians for Principled Government has paid the Senator $19,000 in "reimbursements."

In just the second quarter of this year, the Committee for Floridians for Principled Government received $39,000 in contributions. Senator Fasano, the Chair of the Senate Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee is the registered agent for the Committee for Floridians for Principled Government. So who is providing this largess for Senator Fasano?

In the latest reporting period, $5,000 came from lawyer / lobbyist Ron Book. Among Book's clients is URS Corp., the company that oversaw construction of the elevated lanes of Tampa's Crosstown Expressway. You know, those elevated lanes where the piers collapsed. Another $2,500 came from the Florida Transportation Builders Association. Yep, these are the guys who the state pays to build the roads.

In just the last three months road building interests have paid $7,500 into Senator Fasano's slush fund. That's three times the raise the Senator has foregone. Which raises the question. How much has the Senator's frugality really cost us?