From Attorney General Bill McCollum’s letter this morning to the Northwest Florida State College board of trustees:

..it appears upon review, based on reported information, that the manner in which the college noticed and held a meeting of trustees in Tallahassee is very questionable and could easily be interpreted to contravene Chapter 286 of the Florida Statutes.

McCollum’s office is looking at a meeting, first reported by the St. Petersburg Times, that college President Bob Richburg and House Speaker Ray Sansom set up to potentially skirt state open meeting laws.
A grand jury, meanwhile, decided yesterday to investigate Sansom’s relationship with the college.

… and after six weeks of brutal budget cuts, the Florida House was in disarray.

Democrats effectively slammed the brakes on the process by requiring that each word of every bill be read out loud. Republicans retaliated by refusing to put Democratic bills up for a vote.

Throughout the 15-hour ordeal, at least one lawmaker kept his emotions in check and focused on finding a solution.

“The guy that kept trying to resolve things in an adult manner – not trying to cut a deal and willing to apologize for the conduct of some members of his party – was Ray Sansom,” said former Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors, who coordinated the Democratic filibuster. “He’s a quality guy.”

Today House Speaker Sansom, R-Destin, is in damage control mode once again. This time it’s the biggest political challenge of his 20-year career: restoring his image as an honorable public servant.

“This guy stinks of hypocrisy,” said Ray Bellamy, a Republican voter in Tallahassee.
Read the rest here.

Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Ray Sansom today granted Gov. Charlie Crist’s request to postpone submitting his budget to them until Feb. 20.
State law requires that the governor give lawmakers his budget recommendations at least 30 days before the beginning of the legislative session, or Feb. 1 this year, unless they grant an extension.
“This delay is justified due to the recently concluded special session and uncertainties regarding the receipt of any federal stimulus funds,” Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and Sansom, R-Destin, wrote to Crist in a joint letter.

House Speaker Ray Sansom, R-Destin, met with reporters and editors in Tallahassee this morning and faced questions about the job about the two ethics complaints and inquiries from the grand jury investigation and Attorney General’s office.
Here are the related questions during his press conference:

Here’s the gaggle that followed:

Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom said he will address the annual pre-session legislative seminar hosted [in Tallahassee] by the Associated Press and attended by reporters and editors from across the state.
“Thursday? Yep. I’ll be there,” Sansom said in an interview this afternoon with The Palm Beach Post.
Sansom, R-Destin, has been making the rounds this week with the state capital press corps after declining most interview requests for the past two months. (Sansom had this letter to the editor published Friday.)
In our interview, Sansom said he never considered giving up his elected office instead of stepping down from a controversial $110,000-per-year job with Northwest Florida State College.

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Speaker Ray Sansom of Destin has not held a press conference during the 10-day special sesison on budget cuts or at any other time since he ushered in the 13th consecutive year of Republican rule in the Florida House on Nov. 11.
Apparently, the 10 Connects Tampa television crew had enough and tried to get Sansom coming into the Capitol this week. Reporter Mike Deeson says Sansom is “taking secret elevators and avoiding his parking space.”
Deeson says that Sansom avoided his truck when he found a TV crew was waiting for him in the parking garage and instead sent security.

For more front pages today, continue reading.

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Opening the 12-day special session, the second time in 15 months that budget cuts have forced lawmakers back to Tallahassee, House Speaker Ray Sansom this morning sought to assure his chamber that Florida isn’t much worse off than the rest of the country.

“We are not alone in this effort,” said Sansom, R-Destin. “We see states all across the county that are having very difficult choices to make, much like Florida. In several cases across the county, many states have much deeper reductions that are set before them.”

In fact, only three states – Arizona, California and Rhode Island – are facing larger budget shortfalls than Florida, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

A report from the budget center shows Florida’s $5.7 billion shortfall this year (including the mid-year, $2.3 billion shortfall) equals 22.2 percent of the state’s general fund. California’s shortfall is 35.6 percent of its general fund; Arizona, 30.8 percent; Rhode Island, 24.5 percent.

House Speaker Ray Sansom opened the special session this morning by announcing he would resign from a six-figure job he received from Northwest Florida State College.
“Unfortunately, some have disagreed with my decision to work at the college,” said Sansom, R-Destin. “While I do not question their motives, I strongly object to their conclusions. In all my years in public service, I have sought to act in a manner worthy of the trust that the people have placed in me.”
Sansom has come under fire since accepting a job from the college on Nov. 18, the same day he was sworn in as speaker last month. The job raised questions about Sansom’s relationship with the college, which he helped secure millions for in the state budget despite a historic round of budget cuts.
Questions were also raised about whether some of the school’s budget money was used to build an airport hangar for one of Sansom’s political backers and whether the speaker used his public office to secure the job.
After Sansom’s statement, the 120-member House chamber gave him a short standing ovation.
Listen to Sansom’s remarks here:

Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom, R-Destin, this afternoon released his tentative schedule for his chamber for the 12-day special session that is scheduled to start on Monday.
Sansom, in a note to lawmakers, says he has asked for the House appropriations staff for recommendations to close the $2.3 billion budget gap, but doesn’t say when those documents will be available for the public to review.
The schedule from Sansom comes a day after House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands issued this statement calling for a “frank conversation involving all budget options.”
See Sansom’s statement here and continue reading for the full schedule.

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Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman appealed to acting U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirwan to investigate Republican state House Speaker Ray Sansom for public corruption.
Citing the work of the St. Pete Times and the Palm Beach Post, Thurman said there were too many questions around Sansom and a job he received with Northwest Florida State College last month.
From Thurman’s letter:

I called on Governor Charlie Crist to “immediately order the appropriate law enforcement agencies to investigate this matter to clear the ethics cloud around Sansom caused by the appearance of quid-pro-quo corruption.” Rather than ordering an investigation, Crist simply said, “Next question,” while continuing to defend Ray Sansom. Therefore, I take the extraordinary step today of requesting an investigation of this matter by federal law enforcement authorities.

This morning from the Sun-Sentinel:

At a time when a crippling economy demands better stewardship of dwindling tax revenue from their elected officials, Floridians are stuck with a speaker who has shown where his interests lie — with himself.

There’s no way Floridians can trust a speaker who’s shown such poor judgment. His immediate resignation as speaker is necessary to restore trust and confidence in the office.

BOTTOM LINE: Sansom should step down from the speakership.

Also today, Joe Scarborough writes in the Pensacola News Journal that his “old friend lacks the judgment and character to lead Florida Republicans into the future.”

Republicans deserve better.

So does our state.

Lawmakers will meet in a special session Jan. 5 through Jan. 16 to plug a $2.1 billion hole in this year’s budget.
Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Ray Sansom announced the special session late this afternoon.
Sansom, R-Destin, had held out for months despite pressure from Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and the Senate, including Atwater, to address the budget deficit sooner rather than later because to hold the session earlier rather because state agencies will have already spent half of their annual budget for the fiscal year that ends July 1 by January.
“Members, based on a careful review of the status of the 2008-09 state budget, and after consultation with Governor Crist’s office, we have concluded that it is in the best financial interests of the state that we convene in a special session from January 5 through January 16. The purpose of the special session will be to address the estimated $2 billion-plus shortfall in the current fiscal year’s budget through a combination of spending reductions and trust fund transfers. Our joint proclamation officially convening and specifying the agenda for the special session will be released prior to January 5,” Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and Sansom said in a joint press release.
“The House and Senate budget committee meetings this week will provide you an opportunity to begin to prepare for the special session. The budget challenges before us are serious; we are prepared to meet those challenges. We intend to provide essential services to the citizens in a fiscally prudent way,” the release concludes.

From House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands:

We do not aim to embarrass a colleague. … With much respect for his service and his office, we encourage Speaker Sansom to respond to media inquiries about state spending. We urge him to be forthright about his involvement with Northwest Florida State College, and to answer reporters’ questions about how he has handled the appropriations process.

Read the entire statement here.

DIRT: Utah blogger Brenda Ridley, a self-described “dirt digger, land lover, sand saver,” needed a dirt sample from Florida to add to her collection and apparently figured Gov. Charlie Crist would be the best person to ask for help. According to her blog, the hunch paid off and Crist sent a sample of Mayakka sand, the official state soil, and some dirt from outside the state Capitol.
VIDEO: The NBC affiliate for Destin, House Speaker Ray Sansom’s hometown, reports on Progress Florida’s effort to “Sack Sansom.”

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The Palm Beach Post editorial board weighs-in for a third time today on the flap surrounding House Speaker Ray Sansom’s new job with Northwest Florida State College.

Legislative leaders like Rep. Sansom are telling everybody that they will have to cut their budgets. Given what Rep. Sansom did, that position is untenable. So is Mr. Sansom’s position as speaker.

The only three Democrats in their final term in the Florida House were considered for the committee leadership positions announced today, but the minority party declined the assignments, the Palm Beach Post has learned.
“We did what we felt was best for the members and best for the caucus,” House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands said. “If they had wanted to give us vice-chairmanships, they could have.”
Audrey Gibson, one of the Democrats in line for a vice-chairman position, said it was a missed opportunity to decline the leadership assignments and said she was “very disappointed.”
The flap exposes a small but existing intra-party struggle, often kept from the public view, among House Democrats in which Gibson, who was unsuccessful in seeking a caucus leadership position, Yolly Roberson and others have often expressed their displeasure about caucus decisions.
But like a starting gun, it also signals the start of the next two years of political gamesmanship between House Republicans and Democrats: Republicans provided this document but so far no others as part of a Post inquiry into the committee selection process.

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Here’s House Speaker Ray Sansom’s list of the Florida House Council chairmanships released this morning (all are Republicans and all but two — Denise Grimsley and Dean Cannon — are in their final terms):
Rules & Calendar Council: Bill Galvano of Bradenton; Full Appropriations Council on Education & Economic Development: David Rivera of Miami; Full Appropriations Council on General Government & Health Care: Marcelo Llorente of Miami; Policy Council: Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale; Government Accountability Act Council: Denise Grimsley of Lake Placid; Finance & Tax Council: Dean Cannon or Orlando; Education Policy Council: Faye Culp of Tampa; Health & Family Services Policy Council: Ed Homan of Tampa; General Government Policy Council: Baxter Troutman of Winter Haven; Economic Development & Community Affairs Policy Council: Dave Murzin of Pensacola; Criminal & Civil Justice Policy Council: Julio Robaina of Miami.
Locally, Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, will vice-chair Elder & Family Services Policy committee and chair Health Seniors Appropriations Committee, where he’ll be joined by Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, who’ll serve as ranking member of the healthy seniors group well as the Ag & Natural Resources Policy Council; Will Snyder, R-Stuart, will chair the Joint Committee on Everglades Oversight and vice chair Civil Justice Policy Council; Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton, will serve as ranking member of the Government & Health Care Appropriations Council; and Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, will serve as ranking member of Roads, Bridges & Ports Policy Committee
Full list of council & committee chairs, vice chairs and ranking members here.

House Speaker Ray Sansom, R-Destin, sought an $110,000 per-year job at Northwest Florida State College by faxing in his application from his state office, this public document shows.

His communications director acknowledged that it was “not appropriate” for a lawmaker to use his public office to conduct private business, but explained the move as an “innocent mistake.”

Jill Chamberlin, Sansom’s communications director, said that Sansom gave the application to one of his assistants, who is on the state payroll, to send to the school. It was faxed on Nov. 17. Sansom was sworn into as Florida House Speaker on Nov. 18, the same day the college board of trustees approved his new job.

“It was done without his knowledge,” Chamberlin said about the fax. “It was an innocent mistake. He didn’t know about it at the time.”

“It was not appropriate,” she added.

Public records also show that no other candidate was considered for the school’s vice president of planning and development position and that Sansom’s application was a late addition to the board of trustees’ consent agenda, which means it was not included on a public notice of the meeting. Both actions are acceptable under state law, but generally frowned upon by good-government advocates.

A description of Sansom’s job shows that he’ll, among other things, help the school in its transition into the state college system. Formerly known as Okaloosa-Walton Community College, it was given a state college designation under a bill that Sansom guided through the legislature this year.

The job description also includes a doctorate degree as a preferred qualification — Sansom’s highest degree is a master’s in education.

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House Speaker Ray Sansom will announce his committee appointments tomorrow, including the creation of a committee to negotiate a gambling agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Sources close to Sansom confirmed Monday that the select committee will be headed by Rep. Larry Cretul, R-Ocala. Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, will be one of the committee’s chief negotiators a compact with the tribe.
Gov. Charlie Crist had entered a pact a year ago with the tribe allowing them to operate Las Vegas-style slot machines, as permitted under federal law, and to conduct high-stakes card games like blackjack and baccarat.
But the state Supreme Court ruled in July that Crist overreached his authority by changing state law with the compact because those card games are illegal elsewhere in Florida. That meant that lawmakers must sign off on the deal or craft a new one for it to be legal.
In the meantime, the Seminole Tribe opened 104 new blackjack and baccarat tables at the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel in Tampa last month.
The tribe has already paid the state $60 million for the right to hold the games and more than $200 million more over the next two years is at stake. That could be tough for some previously gambling-shy lawmakers to walk away from with a $2.4 billion in this year’s budget and an even worse outlook for next year’s.
Gambling on tribal lands is regulated by federal law, making state officials unable to stop the games on their own.
And lawmakers are irate not only with Crist but with the tribe because they believe they are defying the court and the legislature by continuing to carry on the games in the absence of a valid compact.
They are also concerned about Miami-Dade and Broward tracks, because their owners and operators say the taxation rate imposed on them by the state puts them at a disadvantage from the tribe.