THE JEB BUSH FRIENDS and FAMILY PLAN Campaign Donors Cash in on Jeb Connection

The list of Gov. Jeb Bush's campaign friends and contributors who receive millions of taxpayer dollars under Gov. Jeb Bush continues to grow.

STIMULUS: Anderson Group Donated $100,000 to the Republican Party of Florida. With a $100,000 check to Florida's Republican Party late last year, the Anderson Group of Companies became one of the most generous givers to Gov. Jeb Bush's war chest. [Miami Herald, 6/4/02]

RESPONSE: Anderson Group Profited from $365 Million State Contract. The men who run Anderson, an investment firm, are the same ones who profited when the state awarded a massive contract to modernize Florida's law enforcement communications system. The contract is worth $365 million over 20 years. In 2001 alone, state records show the company was paid more than $47 million. [Miami Herald, 6/4/02]

STIMULUS: Two executives at Federated Donated $280,000 to the Republican Party of Florida. Federated Investment's executive vice president, Richard Fisher, sent $200,000 to the Republican Party of Florida - at that time, the largest single contribution the party had from an individual this election season. That same day, Federated Chairman John F. Donahue sent the party $80,000. [Palm Beach Post, 4/20/02]

RESPONSE: Gov. Bush and the State Board of Administration Awarded a State Contract to Federated Investments. Gov. Bush and two Cabinet members, sitting as the State Board of Administration, voted unanimously Sept. 11 to award Federated one of two money market accounts being offered this summer to state employees through the Florida Retirement System. [Palm Beach Post, 4/20/02]

STIMULUS: Executives at Accenture donated almost $45,000 to Republicans in Florida. Accenture, and its predecessor, Andersen Consulting, donated a total of $45,000 to the state Republican Party before and after winning state contracts valued over $70 million. [Miami Herald, 10/27/02]

RESPONSE: Accenture has a $69 Million Contract with DBPR, with profit incentives tied to eliminating department employees. Accenture has a nine-year, $69 million contract with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to revamp state licensing systems. An audit by Comptroller Milligan questions the contract. Accenture's contract with DBPR also includes profit incentives tied to elimination of department employees. Accenture also has a $2 million contract with the Florida Division of Elections to update its statewide voting list. [Tallahassee Democrat, 5/28/02]; [Miami Herald, 10/27/02]

STIMULUS: PHP Holdings has donated $285,000 to Florida GOP Since Last Year. PHP Holdings Inc., of Coral Gables, has given $285,000 to the state GOP since last year. Its HMO, Physicians Healthcare Plans, signed a $275 million, two-year state contract in 2000 with the state Agency for Health Care Administration. [Miami Herald, 10/27/02]

STIMULUS: Cooper & Hayes's President Has Given More Than $300,000 To Republicans. Ric Cooper, president of Cooper & Hayes, an advertising agency, has given more than $336,000 to the state and national Republican Party in the past four years. This year, he gave $25,000 to the Florida GOP eight days after winning a $30 million advertising contract for Florida Lottery, and $25,000 to the Republican National State Elections Committee six days after winning the contract. [St. Petersburg Times, 10/26/02]

RESPONSE: Cooper & Hayes Extends $30 Million Advertising Contract. In March, Florida Lottery officials decided that for the next six years the marketing contract will stay with Cooper & Hayes, whose president had given more than $300,000 to the state and national Republican Party. Five Florida advertising executives noted Cooper's political ties to the Bush administration when asked why they didn't compete for the new contract. [St. Petersburg Times, 10/26/02]

STIMULUS: On Mar. 28, Karl Eller Donated $25,000 To Florida GOP. On Mar. 28, Karl Eller of Phoenix gave $20,000 to the state GOP and $5,000 to the party's federal account. Eller was the founder of one of Florida's biggest billboard companies, Eller Media. Eller sold the company and its vast billboard inventory to Clear Channel Communications for $1.2-billion in 1997, and served as chairman and CEO of the company's outdoor advertising unit until 2001. [St. Petersburg Times, 10/17/02]

RESPONSE: In Early April, Bush Signed A Controversial Bill Making It Harder For Local Communities To Remove Billboards. In early April, Bush signed a controversial bill that made it harder for local communities to remove billboards. The Legislature passed the bill a week before Eller donated to the GOP. [St. Petersburg Times, 10/17/02]

STIMULUS: Andersen-Columbia Executives Donated $200,000 to State and National Republican Party Shortly After State Issued Permit. On June 29, 2000, days after the state officials issued a permit for Andersen-Columbia to build a plant on the Ichetucknee River, the state GOP received checks for $15,000 each from Doug Anderson, Tim and Cindy Childers and Ted McRae, and one for $18,500 from Joe Anderson - all Andersen-Columbia executives or members of the family. On the same day, Joe and Doug Anderson contributed $6,500 to the state party's federal campaign account, and McRae and the Childers contributed $5,000 each. The next day, Cindy Childers contributed $20,000 to the Republican National Committee. Two weeks later, on July 14, the Childerses gave another $20,000 to the RNC. Two months after that, the Junction City Mining Co., another Anderson-Columbia offshoot, gave $40,000 to an RNC account that benefits state elections. In August and October, the Anderson-Columbia Co. gave $23,000 to the state party. All told, Andersen-Columbia and its executives donated almost $200,000 to the Florida GOP and the National GOP. Campaign finance records reveal that in 2000, after the sale, the level of contributions from some executives and family members sharply increased. [Tampa Tribune, 10/26/02]

RESPONSE: Gov. Bush Goes Back On His Word And Casts The Deciding Vote In Giving Andersen-Columbia A Permit To Build A Cement Plant On The Ichetucknee River. A year after Gov. Jeb Bush canoed down Florida's beloved Ichetucknee River and vowed to protect it, he shocked environmentalists by allowing construction of a cement plant nearby that they claim could pollute surrounding air. Gov. Bush broke a 3-3 tie with a deciding vote that endorsed the agreement. In addition, the state paid Andersen-Columbia $23 million for a lime rock mine, while a company consultant valued it at only $14 to $17 million. [Tampa Tribune, 10/26/02]; [Miami Herald, 10/26/02]

RESPONSE: During The Same Period, Bush Responded To Bacardi Emails Asking For Help In Winning Favorable Treatment From Federal Agencies In Trademark Dispute. During the same period, Gov. Bush and his staff worked behind the scenes to lobby President Bush appointees at the departments of the Treasury, Commerce, and State on behalf of Bacardi in a dispute with a Cuban-French joint venture over rights to the Havana Club rum label. Dozens of e-mails from the governor's office "mark a trail of Bacardi's efforts to obtain Bush's help in its longstanding trademark battle," the Daily Business Review reported. [Daily Business Review, 10/17/02]

STIMULUS: In June 2000, Cruise Industry Gave State GOP $500,000. In June 2002, the Cruise Industry Community Fund, a Virginia-based industry group, gave the Florida GOP $500,000. The campaign donations came in two checks and established the cruise industry trade group as the state party's largest single donor for this year's campaign. [St. Petersburg Times, 7/23/02]

RESPONSES: In 2001, Bush Pledged To Veto Tax On Miami Cruises. In 2001, Florida's cruise ship industry faced a plan to tax Miami cruises to pay for a new Florida Marlins stadium. The St. Petersburg Times reported: "Gov. Jeb Bush singlehandedly squashed [the tax] with the promise of a veto." [St. Petersburg Times, 7/23/02]

Bush, Legislature Gave $20 Million To Cruises, Tourism Industry In Wake Of 9/11. When Sept. 11 threatened to cripple Florida's tourism industry-cruises included-Bush and the Republican-controlled Legislature found $20-million for Florida's marketing. Bush extolled Florida tourism on a Carnival cruise ship in Boston in the fall of 2001. [St. Petersburg Times, 7/23/02]

STIMULUS: St. Joe, Related Companies, And Executives Gave $21,850 To Bush And Florida GOP For 2002 Cycle. For the 2002 cycle, St. Joe Company, its subsidiaries, and executives gave $21,850 to Bush and the Florida GOP. [Florida Department of State, Division of Elections]

RESPONSE: Bush Allowed Funding For 'Extremely Questionable' $8 Million Project To Relocate Airport For Benefit Of St. Joe Company. Bush allowed funding for the $8 million project to relocate the Panama City airport. Saying the project was "for the primary benefit of the St. Joe Company," the St. Petersburg Times called the project "extremely questionable." According to the St. Petersburg Times, "Critics say the new airport is a boondoggle whose real purpose is to boost St. Joe's development plans." [St. Petersburg Times, 6/8/02]

* April 2002: St. Joe Chairman Said He Regularly Chatted With Gov. Bush About St. Joe Projects, Including Airport. St. Joe Chairman Peter Rummell, a major Republican donor, said he regularly chatted with the governor about projects St. Joe was interested in, including a new airport for Panama City. Said Rummell: "I've talked with him in general about it, how important it is strategically for Northwest Florida." [St. Petersburg Times, 4/21/02]

STIMULUS: Collier Companies Contributed $57,000 To Bush And Florida GOP In 2002. As of early June 2002, Naples, FL-based Collier Resources Co. subsidiaries Collier Enterprises and Barron Collier Partnership had contributed $54,000 to the Republican Party of Florida in 2002. Collier companies had contributed $3,000 to Jeb Bush's re-election campaign. [Orlando Sentinel, 6/2/02]

RESPONSE: President Bush's Administration's Agreed to Pay the Collier Family $120 million for Drilling Rights Valued at $5-20 Million. In May, President Bush and Gov. Bush announced a deal that the federal government agreed to pay the Collier family $120 million for oil and gas drilling rights on land in the Big Cypress National Preserve in South Florida. However, an internal National Park Service study concluded that the "likely market value" of the mineral rights is $5 million to $20 million. Oil and gas on the land, the August 2000 study found, have not yet been "determined to be economically recoverable." In addition to the $120 million, to be paid in cash or with credits to purchase other leases, the deal with the Colliers could also bring huge tax breaks for the family. [New York Times, 10/18/02], [St. Petersburg Times, 5/30/02]

STIMULUS: Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah, a Prominent GOP Fundraiser, Donated $25,000 to the Republican Party of Florida. Since 1996, Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah has personally contributed more than $100,000 to candidates, most of them Republicans, including $25,000 at an Orlando fundraiser earlier this month. As Florida campaign finance chairman for the first President Bush in 1992, Zachariah enjoyed rides on Air Force One, invitations to White House dinners and Barbara Bush as a house guest. [St. Petersburg Times, 6/29/02]

RESPONSE: Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah Was the Only Cardiologist Exempted from Paying a Tax Used to Fund Indigent Care. For three years, from 1999-2002, Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah was the only cardiologist in Florida exempted from a special state tax on health care providers that is used to fund indigent care. It's estimated that the exemption saved Dr. Zachariah thousands of dollars a year. [St. Petersburg Times, 6/29/02]

Neil Bush, Gov. Bush's Brother, Is Promoting A New Business Venture In Florida With The Potential To Benefirt From His Brother's Policies. Neil Bush is the founder and CEO of a Texas-based company called Ignite. Ignite tailors software to help middle-school students prepare for the FCAT, the backbone of Gov. Bush's "A+" Plan. Neil Bush has been promoting Ignite throughout Florida, even signing up an Orlando-area middle school for a pilot program. Even advocates of the software say Ignite is well positioned to benefit from the education policies of Gov. Bush and the President Bush and their emphasis on standardized tests. [Miami Herald, 10/27/02]

Gov. Bush Has Financial Stake In Companies With Interests In Florida Policy. Gov. Bush's portfolio is handled by two close political confidants, financier Phil Handy of Winter Park and Roberto Martinez, a Miami lawyer. They have chosen to invest some of Gov. Bush's money in a mutual fund whose stock holdings include a company that wants to drill for oil off Florida's coast, as well Walt Disney Co. and Waste Management Inc. Last year, they invested thousands of dollars of Bush's portfolio in Longleaf Partners Fund. Longleaf is a mutual fund that is the largest investor in Pioneer Natural Resources, an oil company that drills in the Gulf of Mexico. [St. Petersburg Times, 10/26/02]