Naples Daily News

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A significant number of the nearly 1,000 political committees active in Florida provide information to the public that is often vague and doesn't fully explain what they do.

An analysis by The Florida Times-Union revealed Sunday that 1 out of 7 political committees are operating in what the newspaper describes as "the shadows."

The newspaper says it is difficult to figure why these committees were created and whom they are intended to benefit, even after combing through public records and state databases.

While the income and expenses may be reported in public records, the details of the expenditures are not, and it is also unclear in many cases who is making decisions for the committees.

In many cases, even the names of the committees obscure what their true purpose is. They have names like "Citizens Alliance for Florida's Economy," ''Citizens First," and "Citizens for Florida Prosperity."

"They all put these nice-sounding names on it, but what these political committees are is nothing more than private committees that legislators and others use to raise unlimited amounts of money and skirt campaign finance limits," said Bob White, a Melbourne, Florida resident who is spokesman for a coalition of right-leaning groups pushing for campaign finance reforms.

In documents that the committees file with the state, officials with committees who want to obscure their true purpose fill in "To be determined" where it asks for disclosure of the candidates or issues the committee supports.

Adding further to the lack of transparency, the "dark money" committees are frequently interrelated and pass money on to each other.

Of the 10 "dark money" committees that raised the most money from 2014 to November 2016, eight had financial connections to each other and the state Republican Party. At least $2.2 million flowed among them, the newspaper said.

Newly elected state Sen. Greg Steube said he experienced firsthand how these committees work.

"They would raise money for PC No. 1 and move it to PC No. 2, and PC No. 2 would do attack pieces in my race," Steube said.

There have been calls for years to make the political committees more transparent.

House Speaker Richard Corcoran is vowing to make transparency a hallmark of his two-year term. He has in the past said he would support rules that prohibit state representatives from forming or raising money for political committees.