Four House Republicans ask for investigation into Sink’s use of state planes

by Michael C. Bender | July 9th, 2009

A group of four House Republicans – Chris Dorworth of Lake Mary, Steve Crisafulli of Merritt Island, Mike Horner of Kissimmee and Matt Hudson of Naples – is asking state CFO Alex Sink to call an independent investigation of her use of the state plane.

Sink has ordered her office to conduct a “thorough and immediate review” into whether she misused the state plane to pick up and drop off family members. Sink reimbursed the state for the cost of those flights before questions were raised.

Dorworth

But the lawmakers say the review might not be good enough. In this letter, they cite a story in which Sink reacts to a Miami Herald investigation of financier Allen Stanford, who struck a deal with state regulators to sell investments and move vast amounts of money offshore without government oversight.

Sink said the Office of Regulation should not investigate itself and the lawmakers are asking Sink to apply the same criteria to her office.

“If it’s good for the goose, it should be good for the gander,” Dorworth said in an interview.

Sink’s office responded that they had not yet received the letter and noted that she was “proactive” in paying for her family members to ride on the plane,

Dortworth, meanwhile, said he was not interested in seeking a similar investigation into Republican Bill McCollum’s use of the state plane. Sink and McCollum are expected to face one another in a 2010 race for governor.

McCollum has frequently dispatched an empty state plane fly into Sanford, the closest airport to McCollum’s home, and fly him to events around the state before returning empty to Tallahassee, according to a Times/Herald story.

“I’m not concerned with that,” Dorworth said. “I don’t understand the argument that you have to have a full plane every leg of the trip. But Bill McCollum never had a family member traveling with him.”

Tags: Alex Sink, Chris Dorworth, Matt Hudson, Mike Horner, state plane, Steve Crisafulli

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 9th, 2009 at 7:38 pm and is filed under 2010 campaigns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “Four House Republicans ask for investigation into Sink’s use of state planes”

Lonny Awerdick Says:
July 9th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Desperate, Republicans are becoming more sleazy and hypocritical by the hour.
Cynical Idealist Says:
July 9th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
What morons….

These people aren’t even House leadership.

But, wait! Maybe that’s exactly who directed them to do it…
Rob Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Good, then why don’t they go on ahead and call for the same action for Bill McCollum and Jeff Kottcamp? Hypocrits!
alice Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 9:00 am
At least we have honest republicans asking for some sunshine from BIG BANKER SINK. She is a BIG BANKER and very much a part of the big money bankers and we need to check her out for sure. It was bankers like Sink that caused the economic problems we now have.
Ron McAndrew Says:
September 24th, 2009 at 7:43 am
If Lonnie Awerdick’s comment “Desperate, Republicans are becoming more sleazy and hypocritical by the hour.” was accurate in anyway whatsoever, it would only mean that Republicans are copying democrat behavior. George W Bush did not hire an income tax evader to run the finances of this country or so many other questionable characters and call them Czars. The democrats are tearing the country down to 3rd world status post haste.