Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday signed a bill that, among other things, strips public access from state decisions about who controls Florida’s precious water resources.

The new law takes effect Wednesday.

“It is surprising,” said Charles Lee of the group Audubon of Florida, who had denounced the bill as this year’s worst piece of legislation. “My hope is the governor will put his political efforts toward undoing this.”

Environmentalists also decried another portion of the wide-ranging bill that gives the state’s largest landholders the ability to secure water permits for as long as 50 years. Before Crist signed the bill, the longest a water permit could be secured was 20 years.

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State Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, became the eighth Republican Senator to endorse Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto’s bid for the District 27 seat, Benacquisto announced.

Haridopolos is in line to become Senate president in November 2010. Current Senate Prez Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, has endorsed Benacquisto, as has previous Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, and Majority Leader Alex Diaz de la Portilla.

Republican Sharon Merchant, expected to launch her own Senate campaign Wednesday, has endorsements from three Republican Senators.

District 27 is now represented by Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who is running for attorney general.

State Sen. and potential GOP governor candidate Paula Dockery of Lakeland will be in West Palm Beach Wednesday morning when former Republican state Rep. Sharon Merchant makes “a major political announcement.” West Palm Beach City Commissioner Kimberly Mitchell will also be on hand.

Merchant has said she’s running for the state Senate District 27 seat of Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who’s running for attorney general. In addition to Dockery, Republican Sens. Nancy Detert of Venice and Alex Villalobos of Miami have said they’ll back Merchant.

Another Republican, Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto, has already launched a campaign for the seat. She’s backed by seven GOP Senators: President Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach, Majority Leader Alex Diaz de al Portilla and Sens. Michael Bennett, Garrett Richter, Ken Pruitt, Don Gaetz and Andy Gardiner.

A proposed “breakwater” aimed at preventing beach erosion on Singer Island, already controversial locally because of disputes about who should pay for the work, faces a new wrinkle: According to the St. Petersburg Times, local political powerhouses Jeff Atwater and Ron Klein are pushing state and federal agencies to approve the project — despite the potential harm to nesting sea turtles.

The Times reports:

… Two prominent Florida politicians — state Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton — have been prodding state and federal officials to approve a $30-million taxpayer-funded project to build 11 rock walls about 200 feet off Singer Island’s beach.

The walls, known as a breakwater, will not stop the erosion, only slow it down, according to Palm Beach County officials sponsoring the project. But biologists fear the breakwater would stop something else: nesting by endangered sea turtles.

… However, political considerations may outweigh the environmental impact, according to internal e-mails from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission obtained by the St. Petersburg Times.

In one March e-mail, a state biologist warned a colleague that “there is extreme pressure being put on to get this permit approved ASAP despite considerable concern” over turtle nesting.

… Atwater, now running for state chief financial officer, and Klein did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

A criminal investigation of former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom, recently indicted on charges of falsifying the state budget, has turned up e-mails related to the scandal that supposedly did not exist when The Palm Beach Post requested the documents from the legislature.¹

The Post asked Sansom’s office Dec. 10 to turn over the previous 20 days of e-mails that the Destin Republican had either sent and received. The request was made to gauge public reaction to news that Sansom may have received a six-figure job from Northwest Florida State College in exchange for funneling millions of state dollars to the school.

The Post also sought messages between Sansom and then-college President James “Bob” Richburg about the scandal.

The House responded with documents that showed Sansom neither sent nor received a single e-mail for 11 days.

But that is not true, prosecutors’ files show. Documents found by Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs reveal several e-mails from that time, including a conversation among Sansom, Sansom’s communication director and Richburg, who was fired for his involvement in the controversy.²

“We need to be concerned about this,” said Barbara Petersen, president of the Florida First Amendment Foundation, when told about the discovered e-mails. “I’m almost speechless when I see what the legislature is doing and how they’re doing it.”³

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1. The Palm Beach Post, 04/18/09: Ex-House speaker’s indictment blasts secret budget deals
2. Click here for the e-mails included in Meggs’ case file, but not in a public records request made to the House.
3. Petersen was chairwoman of Gov. Charlie Crist’s Commission on Open Records Reform. The panel issued a report in January that determined the legislature has rules for itself that may be inconsistent with state public records laws.

Mason/Dixon: Attorney General Bill McCollum 41%, state CFO Alex Sink 35%, undecided 24 %

The poll also shows McCollum with a large lead over potential GOP primary challenger Sen. Paula Dockery, 53% to 4%.

In the Democratic Primary for Attorney General, Florida state senators Dan Gelber and Dave Aronberg remain essentially tied, with 11% and 10% respectively.

In the GOP CFO race, Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach leads Florida Rep. Pat Patterson of DeLand, 17% to 10%.

That’s part of the curious headline on a Wall Street Journal editorial this morning that (again) rips Gov. Charlie Crist’s property insurance policies. Crist vetoed a bill last week that would have let State Farm and the state’s largest insurers offer their customers unregulated rates.

What does that have to do with U.S. Rep. Frank? Here’s the one mention of the Massachusetts Democrat:

The Republican legislature tried to reduce those future losses, but Mr. Crist sounded like Barney Frank rolling the dice on Fannie Mae in declaring there’s nothing to worry about.

They feel your pain.

That’s the message Republican Joe Negron and Democrat Bill Ramos are pitching to recession-battered voters as an Aug. 4 special election approaches for a Treasure Coast-Palm Beach County state Senate seat.

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Jose Lorenzo, a Department of Education lawyer who filed an ethics complaint today against Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink for her use of the state plane, is an appointee of Republicans Gov. Charlie Crist and his predecessor Jeb Bush.

Bush appointed Lorenzo to the 2nd judicial circuit nomination commission in 2004. Crist reappointed him for another four-year term in September. Lorenzo is the chairman of the commission, which make recommendations for judicial appointments.

Lorenzo also contributed $550 in total to Bush and Crist since 2001, according to state elections records. His most recent contribution was a $50 check to Crist’s gubernatorial campaign in 2006.

Sink, a Democrat, is running for governor in 2010. Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican, is also in the race for the post.

Neither Crist nor Bush have officially endorsed McCollum – yet. But Bush is highlighting a fundraiser for McCollum at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami tomorrow night.

A new Mason DIxon poll shows that nearly all Floridians recognize Gov. Charlie Crist’s name – but less than half of them viewhim favorably.

The poll, released today, shows Crist leading former House Speaker Marco Rubio by 51 to 23 percent in the GOP race to fill retiring U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez’ seat, with 26 percent undecided.

Crist has nearly total name recognition among Florida Republicans while Rubio is recognized by just more than half, the poll found.

But among GOP voters who recognize both Rubio and Crist, the poll shows them in a virtual dead heat – Crist with 33 percent and Rubio with 31.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek has a 27 to 12 percent lead over U.S. Rep. Corinne Brown but nearly two-thirds of voters – 61 percent – remain undecided in that race. 0
In a General Election, Crist leads 48 percent to 26 percent over Meek, with 26 percent undecided. Crist also leads Brown by 55 percent to 24 percent, with 21 percent undecided.

In the general election, the poll showed Crist with a slightly smaller lead over Meek – 48 to 26 percent, with 26 percent undecided.

The poll was released by Ron Sachs Communications.

Gov. Charlie Crist, who is facing an aggressive early challenge from Marco Rubio for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination, sent out a fundraising letter today that starts to layout his own campaign.

It’s noteworthy in that Crist so far has largely refused to answer questions about national issues. He doesn’t include any of his positions in the note, but says his leadership in the past 30 months has brought “real results” in the state.

“My common sense conservative approach to government has provided real results for the people of Florida, and I believe can help right the ship in Washington. You have trusted me to fight for the people of Florida for nearly two decades. As a State Senator, as Education Commissioner, Attorney General and most recently as your Governor, I have worked to protect the quality of life for families and businesses here in the Sunshine State.”

Crist also highlights his campaign web site, which has been recently redesigned to include endorsements and a narrative bio that starts with his immigrant grandfather. The site does not include positions on any particular federal issues.

Attorney General candidate Dan Gelber announced support today from five of his former House colleagues in the politically crucial Tampa area.

The five House Democrats — Daryl Rouson, Janet Long, Michael Scionti, Bill Heller and Betty Reed — all served under Gelber when he was House Democratic Leader in 2007-08.

Gelber, of Miami Beach, is competing against Dave Aronberg of Greenacres for the Democratic nomination for attorney general.

A state employee filed an ethics complaint against Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink today alleging that the Democratic gubernatorial candidate misused the state plane.

The complaint, filed by Jose Lorenzo, charges that Sink used the plane illegally to shuttle her husband and son between Tallahassee and their home near Tampa and also for the first leg of a personal jaunt to the Bahamas.

Lorenzo is a lawyer who works for the Department of Education, he said.

“I’m just a citizen a taxpayer and I’m just concerned of the misuse and considering the travels of none other than the chief financial officer,” Lorenzo said. “I believe that with all the budget cuts that agencies are facing this is quite ironic and unfortunate and it really concerns me.”

A review of Sink’s and Attorney General Bill McCollum’s use of the state plane by The Miami Herald and The St. Petersburg Times found that the Cabinet members frequently used the state plane to ferry them between the Capitol and their Central Florida homes. McCollum, a Republican, is also running for governor.

Sink has used the plane to pick up or drop off family members but has reimbursed the state for those charges.

Last week, Sink ordered her office to investigate her use of the state plane in response to questions about whether she was using it strictly for state business.

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, the Cape Coral Republican who got his political start representing Broward and a portion of Palm Beach County in the state House, joined most congressional Republicans in voting against the sweeping climate legislation that squeaked through the House on a 219-212 vote Friday.

Only eight House Republicans voted for the bill. One of them was Mack’s wife, U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif.

Read their dueling statements after the jump…..

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On July 1, a yearly ritual takes place in Florida: a crop of new laws passed by legislators and signed by the governor takes effect.

This year is no different. Gov. Charlie Crist and state lawmakers spent much of their time grappling with a $6 billion budget shortfall, but they still managed to pass legislation that will affect nearly every Floridian, whether it’s new taxes and fees, a tougher seat-belt law or changes to college tuition.

Click here to see a rundown from the Sun-Sentinel of new laws that take effect Wednesday.

Jeb Bush Jr. sent a fundraising note out this morning asking for people to support Republican Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate and included this dig at Rubio’s primary oppoonent, Gov. Charlie Crist:

Governor Crist has been crisscrossing his way across Florida one $2,000-a-plate dinner at a time, taking money from people who don’t care if this election is won by Republicans or Democrats as long their interests are protected.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Friday, managers of black-owned newspapers and radio outlets told Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer there’s a simple way to get more attention for conservative issues and candidates: money.

“At the end of the day, it’s about money. If you buy advertising, you’re more likely to get coverage,” said Johnny Hunter, president of the Florida Association of Black Owned Media and publisher of Sarasota’s Tempo News.

…

“When I hear that when we advertise, the paper will be more likely to disseminate Republican issues, am I hearing right?” Greer asked. “I don’t understand the legitimacy of disseminating information and having a tie-in to revenue — but I get it.”

On his way to winning the state House District 78 seat last year, state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, often reminded voters that he actually lived in the district while Democratic primary rival Steve Nichol did not and candidate Steven Perman had merely rented an apartment there while owning a house in Broward County.

Now Rader is entertaining thoughts of running next year in a state Senate district where he doesn’t live.

He has plenty of company.

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Palm Beach County commissioners haven’t approved an increase in the general county property tax rate since 1997.

That’s hardly a badge of fiscal discipline. Thanks to a booming real estate market, commissioners over the last 12 years have routinely held the rate steady or lowered it — and still collected massive revenue increases that exceeded inflation or population growth.

Now that property values have cratered, maintaining the current countywide tax rate of $3.78 per $1,000 of appraised value would force commissioners to find about $70 million in cuts for the budget year that begins Oct. 1.

They’ll grapple with the 2009-10 budget again Monday.

Read more about it here.

Former Republican state Rep. Joe Negron raised another $134,475 over the last two weeks — that’s better than a $9,600-a-day clip — to bring his contribution total to $373,644 for the special Aug. 4 election for the District 28 state Senate seat.

Negron has spent $118,267 so far, according to reports filed Friday night.

Democrat Bill Ramos has raised a total of $25,828, which includes $5,500 from the Florida Democratic Party and $1,000 from Martin County’s Democratic Executive Committee. He has spent $11,896.

Negron and Ramos are on the ballot to replace retiring state Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, in a Treasure Coast-Palm Beach County district.

Write-in candidate Josue Larose, who according to voter records is a 28-year-old Deerfield Beach resident, reported that he put $50,000 of his own money into his campaign this week as an in-kind contribution for “paying the advertising.”

Larose apparently enjoys being a longshot. In addition to his write-in bid for the Senate seat, he has opened a 2010 campaign for governor.