TALLAHASSEE – In an annual Tallahassee tradition, a spree of fundraising events will take place Monday on Adams Street, next door to the Capitol, as special interests race to pad lawmakers’ political committees with cash before the start of the legislative session the next day.

Legislators are prohibited from receiving donations during the 60-day session, but on Tuesday those interests will begin to ask those same lawmakers to pass or kill bills, put money in the budget for a special project, steer a state contract their way or find a way to ease important regulations.

Those millions of dollars in donations help drive a largely hidden agenda that goes beyond the big issues lawmakers must decide each year.

Despite a set of campaign finance reforms passed in 2013, donors can still give large sums and then see their interests advanced by lawmakers. And the money often flows through many committees before being transformed into an ad or a mailer, making it harder to track.

“It’s people trying to get influence,” said Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach. “Going into session, it’s a lot easier – just the way the human brain works – it’s a lot easier to remember who gave you that last set of checks.’’

Mac Stipanovich, a veteran GOP consultant and Tallahassee lobbyist, said extensive fundraising by major players is part of the legislative process and doesn’t mean donors hold sway over lawmakers.

“I think what you get with being a major donor to either or both parties is you get access, you get the meeting. You get to make your pitch,” Stipanovich said. “But I can tell you from long experience that that doesn’t mean you get your way.”

Here are some industries’ campaign donations to campaigns controlled by or benefitting Gov. Ron DeSantis, as well as top legislative leaders of both major parties, and a glimpse at what they are pushing for this year in Tallahassee. The numbers came from campaign finance reports filed with the state.

Sentinel file Disney World entrance in Orlando Disney World entrance in Orlando (Sentinel file)

Disney-Universal

Since 2015, Florida’s top two theme park giants, Disney and Universal, have given more than $4.5 million to campaign committees controlled by legislative leaders and the major political parties.

Senate President Bill Galvano received $325,000 for his Innovate Florida committee from Disney from 2015 through 2018, and $20,000 from NBCUniversal and its parent company, Comcast. Disney gave a total of $2.7 million to the Florida Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Florida in that time span; Universal gave the parties $512,500.

Comparatively little — $5,000 from Comcast and NBCUniversal — was given to the committee controlled by House Speaker Jose Oliva, reflecting the House’s hard push the past two years against tourism advertising subsidies.

In 2017 the tourism industry and Gov. Rick Scott teamed up to thwart an attempt by House Speaker Richard Corcoran to neuter Visit Florida, the state’s tourism advertising group. Corcoran argued the $76 million a year it gets in taxpayer money was a form of “corporate welfare.”

This year, Visit Florida’s existence is scheduled to expire Oct. 1 if lawmakers don’t pass a law extending it. Oliva isn’t keen on passing such a law, but Sen. Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican and the chairman of the state GOP, is sponsoring a measure to make Visit Florida a permanent fixture.

Helping them in the fight will be trade groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.

Political committees associated with the chamber gave $678,500 to committees run by Oliva, Galvano and DeSantis since 2015. FRLA gave $10,000 to Galvano and $37,500 to the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, run by state Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Lighthouse Point, to aid Democratic Senate campaigns.

The chamber also has been pushing a variety of business tax cuts in recent years, including an eventual phase-out of the business rent tax. Lawmakers have reduced the 5 percent tax by 0.3 percent in the past two years.

In addition to cash, both amusement park giants offer in-kind donations to candidates in both parties, giving free passes, food, drinks and other expenses for fundraisers and get-togethers. Disney has made more than $900,000 in such donations to the GOP since 2011 and $1.9 million to Democrats since 2005; Universal has given $1.7 million to both parties in the past 10 years.

Top GOP legislative leaders hold an annual fundraiser at Universal Studios before the legislative session each year. This year’s event took place Feb. 9, with a VIP tour of the parks and dinner at City Walk, according to Florida Politics. Democrats are scheduled to hold a similar event in the summer.

Four days after the Republican event, a bill backed by Universal to allow beer companies to advertise within theme parks came up in a House committee. Though beer distributors are against the bill and are also big donors to the main committees, it passed by a 8-7 vote.

Stipanovich, a lobbyist for Universal, suggested the timing was a coincidence and didn’t play a role in the bill’s progress since similar bills have been discussed the past three years. A representative for Disney did not respond to a request for comment.

Richard Graulich / AP Water full of algae laps along the Sewell's Point shore on the St. Lucie River under an Ocean Boulevard bridge. Water full of algae laps along the Sewell's Point shore on the St. Lucie River under an Ocean Boulevard bridge. (Richard Graulich / AP)

Big Sugar

Florida’s two major sugar conglomerates, U.S. Sugar and Florida Crystals, have given more than $3.3 million to the Republican and Democratic parties and to political committees led by legislative leaders over the past four years. But they have one big problem: DeSantis.

Big Sugar backed DeSantis’ GOP primary opponent, Adam Putnam, giving him $650,000. DeSantis, who earned the ire of sugar companies by voting against federal subsidies for the industry when he was in Congress, received nothing, even after the primary.

As governor, DeSantis called for the resignation of the South Florida Water Management District board and put a handful of environmentalists in their place, after the old board approved a land lease that benefited the industry. The governor also has called for a $650 million package to clean up state waterways.

It remains to be seen whether the industry’s influence will thwart DeSantis’ agenda.