Posted on Sat, Dec. 20, 2008

By taking a six-figure job at a state college, House Speaker Ray Sansom has focused attention on a pattern of behavior that has gone on largely unchecked for decades in Florida's higher education system.

Even in a time of bleak finances, with curbs on enrollment and spikes in tuition, nearly two dozen current and former legislators are employed throughout the system -- six at the University of South Florida alone, including the wife of a state senator.

All schools rely heavily on legislative clout for their yearly appropriations, as Sansom proved by securing $35 million for Northwest Florida State College in the past two years alone. Yet lawmakers and colleges stoutly deny there's any inherent conflict of interest in having college employees sitting on committees that oversee higher education funding and policy.

The Herald/Times Bureau identified 18 current and recently retired lawmakers who work for or draw income from contracts with state universities and community colleges. A few were educators before joining the Legislature, but others scored sweet promotions after being elected.

The practice is by no means a new one and it transcends political parties. Current lawmakers facing criticism point to former Democratic House Speakers Jon Mills, who ran the University of Florida's law school after leaving office, and T.K. Wetherell, who became president of Florida State University after his legislative career ended.

For lawmakers, the jobs provide steady income that can last beyond term limits. Some even ''double dip,'' accepting both government salaries simultaneously, even in session, when it would be difficult to do both jobs.

For the universities and colleges, a lawmaker-employee means instant access to a world where many budgetary decisions are made behind closed doors.

''I'm an elected unpaid lobbyist,'' said Rep. Ed Homan, R-Tampa, a surgeon who makes $200,000 teaching at the USF medical school. ``I help all education and I help USF.''

Homan negotiated the contract job, which wasn't advertised, in late 2003 after a string of special legislative sessions during the year prevented him from seeing patients and put his private practice in the red. Homan had taught at the school years earlier.

UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

Most educational institutions defend the practice of hiring lawmakers by pointing out the unique depth and breadth of experience a lawmaker adds to their staff, like an understanding of statewide education pressures.

''I don't see them as a valve for money tanks to the Legislature,'' said St. Petersburg College President Carl Kuttler who recruited Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Treasure Island, as an economic development vice president to replace an outgoing lawmaker from St. Petersburg. ``I chose them because they're great advocates for public education.''

Rep. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, worked at FIU as its lobbyist before she was elected. Now she directs the school's community and civic partnership program. She doesn't take her salary when she's in Tallahassee, ''to remove any semblance of impropriety,'' she said. ``It's easier that way.''

She has run the House Education Pre-K Committee for the past two years and sponsored such bills as the proposal to ban the use of state dollars on embryonic stem-cell research. She says she doesn't go out of her way to help the university any more than she would help any other constituent.

''FIU is a constituent so I will be responsible to their needs -- but no different than any Dade school,'' she said.

It's inevitable that Florida's part-time lawmakers have outside jobs. A typical lawmaker is paid $30,336, though leaders make somewhat more.

Rep. Nick Thompson, R-Fort Myers, is an attorney who was hired by Edison State College as a ''special assistant and legal counsel'' in February for $88,000. The newly created job was never advertised publicly, but a spokeswoman said Thompson had good local ties and a solid resume.

'No matter what business I work for, there's always going to be the question of: `Well, did it help that they're a legislator that they got that job?' '' Thompson said. ``I don't know that I could ever disprove the concept that I wouldn't have gotten the job otherwise.''

After a few months on the job, Thompson helped put Edison on the list of nine community colleges that could offer four-year degree programs for the first time.

Raymond D. Cotton, a Washington attorney who specializes in higher education compensation matters, said lawmakers who work for higher education institutions should recuse themselves from votes that could pose a conflict.

'The legislator may say, `Well look, I'm bringing home the bacon to my home district,' but that doesn't justify an abuse of the process,'' said Cotton, who has worked for Florida universities.

The Herald/Times Bureau found that two-thirds of lawmakers identified as college employees either sponsored higher education legislation or served on committees that control college budgets.

Former Rep. Joe Pickens, R-Palatka, was the House's key budget negotiator on school issues for the past two years and was also the lawyer for St. John's River Community College. Last year, as community college budgets were being slashed, Pickens steered $7.4 million in school construction money to his college -- above what the state had requested.

Now out of office because of term limits, Pickens on was sworn in Thursday as the school's president, making $219,000 a year. Do colleges like his benefit from having lawmakers on the payroll?

''Not necessarily,'' Pickens said. ``It's much more important for the college and university and any public entity to have relationships with legislators.''

More than half of the lawmakers working in higher education had been in the education field before they got to office.

A few lawmakers don't take their college pay in the months when they are in session with the Legislature. Among them is Sen. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg, a student advisor at USF, who took a huge pay cut in 2007 because the Legislature kept meeting. His USF salary dwindled to $25,500.

ON STAFF AT FIU

House Speaker Marco Rubio, an attorney, got a $69,000 part-time job at Florida International University in July as his House term was coming to an end. He works with the school's Metropolitan Center, a sort of public policy think tank, and teaches one political science course a semester.

Rubio's contract states that ''at least half'' of his salary will be raised through ''extramural funding,'' like donations and contracts that Rubio helps bring in.

''I didn't get the job because I was speaker and did something to help them hire me,'' Rubio said. But he did say his public service makes him qualified. ``Obviously, people hire you for the experience you have.''

Rubio, stressing that he was not talking about a particular case, said perception is an issue politicians should worry about. ``In politics, the standard has to be higher than something being legal. That's what keeps you out of jail not out of trouble.''

Other lawmakers who have long worked in higher education climbed the ladder while working for the Legislature.

Former Sen. Bob Graham recruited state Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic, away from Brevard Community College to teach at the University of Florida's Bob Graham Center for Public Service.

Haridopolos' arrival triggered faculty protests because of budget constraints.

'I think that a perception occurs whenever someone who is in public office is also employed by a public agency, and people wonder, `Are their credentials appropriate to the academic responsibility they have assumed?' '' Graham said.

Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna, spent 20 years teaching English prep classes as an adjunct instructor at Chipola College, when she was elected to replace her husband, who died in 2005.

After her election, Coley stopped teaching and became ''special assistant to the president for business and community affairs.'' The non-advertised job now pays her $60,000 and is part-time, to complement her part-time legislative job. Her district office and her college office are the same.

''I'm saving the taxpayers money,'' Coley said. ``I'm working part time with both and it allows me to spend more time in each one.''