In the chamber’s first action on the opening day of the 2012 legislative session, the Florida Senate overwhelmingly approved two claims bills, priorities of President Mike Haridopolos that failed to pass last session.

One measure (SR 2) would pay $1.35 million to William Dillon, locked up for 27 years before DNA evidence cleared him of a Brevard County murder. Haridopolos, who sponsored the claims bill, said that the compensation would help correct the injustice done to Dillon.

“At least show when you make a mistake, you own up to it and you try to make it right. That’s what being a compassionate person is all about,” Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said before the 39-1 vote.

The Senate also signed off on a controversial claims bill that would pay the family of Eric Brody $10.75 million. Brody was catastrophically injured in 1998 when a Broward Sheriff’s deputy crashed into his car. Brody, then a high school senior, was left brain damaged and confined to a wheel chair.

A last-minute deal between Brody’s lawyers and insurers was finalized just before the Senate passed the bill (SR 4) with a 37-2 vote.

Lawmakers have tried for four years to get the “Brody bill” passed. Last year, the House’s failed to take it up on the final day of session, causing the session to end in chaos and Haridopolos to keep senators on hold until the wee hours of the morning before finally abandoning hope that the House would pass the measure.

The bill’s sponsor Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Ft. Myers, said carrying the bill for two years was a lesson in determination: the determination of Brody’s parents and advocates and of her Senate colleagues in their support.

“But most importantly, it is the determination of one individual who stood so strongly to make sure we would not leave the building until Eric was taken care of,” Benacquisto said, referring to Haridopolos.

Senate District 27′s Lizbeth Benacquisto became the first in her chamber to qualify by petition for reelection, according to a press release issued by her campaign today.

But right now it appears the Wellington Republican won’t be representing Palm Beach County by the time the November election rolls around. Under the proposed Senate maps, Benacquisto’s district would be confined on the other coast to Lee and Charlotte counties. Her district currently stretches from West Palm Beach across the state through Hendry and Glade and winds up in Lee and Charlotte.

Benacquisto is already facing a GOP primary opponent – state Rep. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers – in her reelection bid.

Benacquisto, elected to the Senate last year, gathered more than the requisite 1,580 signatures to qualify by petition, according to the release, a “clear indication that Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto has broad grassroots support.”

In the final moments of the legislative session in May, House lawmakers failed to sign off on a $12 million payment to Eric Brody, a Broward man catastrophically injured after a Broward Sheriff’s Office cruiser crashed into him 13 years ago.

Again this year, Senate President Mike Haridopolos has made the payment to Brody and his family a priority. The Brody’s joined Haridopolos and bill sponsor Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Wellington, at a press conference this morning urging their colleagues to agree to the payment.

Haridopolos said the bill (SB 4) would be among the first items his chamber passes when the session begins in January.

“You can never put a price tag on human tragedy,” Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said.

Benacquisto’s proposal would allow Brody to get collect $15 million from the BSO and its insurance company. A House proposal, sponsored by Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa, would allow Brody to get a payment of $30 million. The state would pay no money for the settlement but state law requires legislative approval before local governments can pay claims to individuals in excess of $200,000. The BSO had agreed to allow the Brody’s to pursue the claim with the insurance company earlier this year.

Grant said he hoped this year the two chambers “will put politics aside” and pass the bill.

The 1998 accident left Eric Brody, then 18 years old, with severe brain damage and requiring 24-hour care. His parents said they want the money to ensure he is taken care of after they die. Chuck Brody said he estimates the cost of care for his son to be in the middle of the two bills.

Despite – or perhaps because of – Haridopolos’ support earlier this year, the Florida House refused to agree to the payment. On the last two days of the session, Brody and his family remained in the Capitol, expecting the measure to be passed. But the prolonged session ended in the early morning hours before the measure was even taken up on the House floor.

With their wheelchair-bound son Eric, the Brody’s waited from noon until 2 a.m. the day before the session ended, Chuck Brody told reporters.

“It wasn’t heard at all. It was like he didn’t exist. It was like the bill didn’t even exist,” Brody said.

It’s tough to raise campaign cash in the summer, especially in an anemic economy.

Even so, Palm Beach County State Attorney Michael McAuliffe‘s latest campaign finance report stands out. After raking in $89,333 in contributions between April 1 and June 30, the Democratic incumbent collected a mere $6,400 from outsiders between July 1 and Sept. 30, according to a report filed Tuesday.

McAuliffe added a $100,000 loan from personal funds on the last day of the quarter.

Among those posting strong quarters was state Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers. The former Wellington councilwoman raised $106,074 during the quarter and has collected $345,399 overall for her reelection bid.

State senator Lizebeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, was deputized Wednesday by Senate President Mike Haridopolos, with the first-year lawmaker promoted to a high-ranking spot in the 28-member GOP caucus.

Benacquisto, a former Wellington city council member whose district includes northern Palm Beach County, was elevated to the newly created leadership role, under Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando.

Benacquisto already has two Republicans filed to run against her next year, in what is expected to be a dramatically redrawn Senate District 27. Haridopolos’ move appears to be a profile-raiser.

 ”Sen. Benacquisto embraces her role as state senator wholeheartedly, and I know her colleagues in the Senate majority will benefit from her characteristic focus and drive,” Haridopolos said in announcing her appointment.

 

State Rep. Pat Rooney, R-Palm Beach Gardens, has proposed a bill that would create a 500-foot buffer around military funerals.

Florida already has a law on the books making it a misdemeanor to disturb military funerals, but the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that such laws are an unconstitutional infringement of free speech.

The court in March ruled that the Westboro Baptist Church of Topkea, Kan., was exercising its right to free speech when its members held anti-gay protests at military funerals.

Rooney sponsored a new measure (HB 31) that would make it a misdemeanor to protest, picket or hold other similar demonstrations within 500 feet of a cemetery, funeral home or residence from one hour before to an hour after a funeral for a veteran, emergency response worker, elected official or minor.

The majority decision in the Westboro case made clear that states may regulate funeral protests in certain situations. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that demonstrations may be regulated if the laws are not aimed at any particular views and narrowly crafted. Dozens of other states and federal lawmakers are now considering proposals similar to Rooney’s. The key difference with the new proposals, including Rooney’s, is the creation of buffer zones around military funerals. In his opinion, Roberts wrote that the Westboro protestors were not in violation of Maryland’s 100-foot military funeral buffer zone.

“A funeral is a time meant for family and friends to grieve and remember, it is not a time for a spectacle to be made,” Rooney said in a press release. “For those suffering the terrible loss of a loved one, unwarranted harassment some may attempt compounds the grief and already strained emotions. This just is not acceptable.”

Rooney’s staff said Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Wellington, would file a companion bill.

Rooney’s aide Andrew Watt said the representative decided to run the bill after learning that the Westboro group planned to protest the funeral of a nine-year-old girl murdered during the attack on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson. In addition, the Kansas-based Westboro group has protested at least one military funeral in Port St. Lucie within the past two years.

A committee that boosted former Democratic state Rep. Kevin Rader‘s unsuccessful 2010 bid for state Senate is facing a $15,250 fine for failing to file a campaign finance report just before last year’s Aug. 24 primary.

The Florida Elections Commission approved the fine Tuesday against the Committee to Improve Florida’s Economy. The committee plans to appeal the fine, attorney Mark Herron said this morning.

The committee is chaired by veteran Democratic operative Eric Johnson. Johnson was also Rader’s consultant last year.

While the committee was two months late filing a report that was due Aug. 20, Herron argued that a “significant portion” of the information required on the report had been mistakenly included in a previous report that was available for public inspection on the Division of Elections website.

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Dozens of immigrants from Palm Beach County, accompanied by their children and grandchildren, got on a bus in Lake Worth at 11 p.m. to travel to the Capitol as part of a week-long effort by hundreds of immigrants now swarming the Capitol.

The immigrants, their children and advocates are pleading with lawmakers to abandon an Arizona-like immigration reform now under consideration in both the House and Senate.

More than a dozen women and children met with Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Wellington, for nearly 30 minutes. Both the women and the senator emerged in tears.

Leonila, an undocumented restaurant worker from Mexico who lives in West Palm Beach, shared her story with Benacquisto. The mother of five, who would not give her last name, told the senator that she was a domestic violence victim who fears that women like her will be even more afraid to get help after they are sexually or physically abused.

“One doesn’t have to think too hard about how that would affect me,” said Benacquisto, who during her campaign last year disclosed that she was raped at the age of 19.

Benacquisto pledged to work with the sponsors of the bill (SB 2040) to include provisions for women who are domestic violence or sexual abuse victims.

“Any victim who needs to ask for assistance at that time needs to have the confidence they can go to someplace safe,” Benacquisto said.

Freshman state Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, was one of Florida’s top money-raisers during the first quarter of 2011, raking in $177,200 for her 2012 reelection bid, according to the newest batch of campaign reports.

The only state Senate candidates to raise more in the quarter were Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, who collected $307,810, and state Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, who topped $400,000 as she seeks the seat of term-limited Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales.

Benacquisto’s District 27 now stretches from West Palm Beach to Fort Myers. Many expect it to be significantly altered in the 2012 redistricting. Benacquisto, a member of the Senate Reapportionment Committee, appears to be focusing on the district’s more Republican-leaning western half. A former Wellington councilwoman, she has switched her residence to Fort Myers.

Palm Beach County Republican Chairman Sid Dinerstein has filed a lawsuit seeking to get Democratic state Rep. Kevin Rader removed from the ballot over alleged financial disclosure failures in the highly competitive state Senate District 27 race against Republican Lizbeth Benacquisto.

It’s part of a new trend inspired by a judge’s decision last week to toss Tampa-area Republican state Senate candidate Jim Norman off the ballot because of disclosure deficiencies. Backers of Democratic congressional candidate Joe Garcia are trying the same legal strategy against Republican David Rivera in Miami.

Dinerstein’s suit follows the lead of a tea party activist’s ethics complaint that accuses Rader of trying to hide his ownership interest in an insurance underwriters group when he filled out financial disclosure forms.

Rader consultant Eric Johnson told The Post‘s Jason Schultz that a Rader supporter has filed an ethics complaint against Benacquisto and the Rader campaign might file a lawsuit over her use of campaign funds to pay rent on an apartment in Lee County.

Republicans running for the Florida Senate District 25 and 27 seats are scheduled to appear at a “Town Hall Debate” Thursday sponsored by the Republican Club of the Palm Beaches and South Florida 912. The event is at 6:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church at 1101 South Flagler Drive.

In District 25, state Reps. Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale and Carl Domino of Jupiter are running for the GOP nomination to succeed Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, who is running for chief financial officer. The Republican winner will face Democratic state Rep. Kelly Skidmore and no-party candidate Miranda Rosenberg in November.

The District 27 GOP race features former Wellington councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto, retired pilot Michael Lameyer and former state Rep. Sharon Merchant. The seat is now held by state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who is running for attorney general. Democrats Pete Burkert and Kevin Rader are also running.

In this week’s Politics column, find out where GOP state Senate primary rivals Lizbeth Benacquisto and Sharon Merchant stand on the abortion ultrasound bill. Find out what motivated disgraced former Palm Beach County commissioner Warren Newell to break out the typewriter. Also, Mary Brandenburg on the West Palm Beach mayor’s poll and Michelle Damone on why she hasn’t filed against Commissioner Jess Santamaria.

Former House Rep. Sharon Merchant, locked in a Republican state Senate primary with Lizbeth Benacquisto, is shopping an op-ed piece in which she urges Gov. Charlie Crist to veto the controversial plan that would eliminate teacher tenure and use student performance to determine pay raises.

Merchant’s position is noteworthy in that it sets her apart from the Republican majority in Tallahassee, including Senate President Jeff Atwater, who is driving the bill and who has supported Benacquito’s campaign.

Merchant writes (full piece after the jump):

As a conservative, I find it troubling that our party would lock out of the debate those most affected by this legislation. As a conservative, I am troubled by the fiscal irresponsibility of this legislation. As a conservative, I am troubled by the fundamental unfairness of this legislation.

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Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, a registered Democrat whose office is nonpartisan, is endorsing Republican Sharon Merchant’s bid for a state Senate seat that’s expected to be a partisan battleground in November.

Bradshaw said his endorsement of Merchant is for both the GOP primary and for the general election if Merchant advances.

Former state Rep. Merchant faces a tough GOP primary against former Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto for the seat of state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. Aronberg is leaving the seat to run (also with Bradshaw’s endorsement) for attorney general.

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Former Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, who resigned in a 2006 Internet sex scandal that helped bring down the GOP majority in Congress, is on the host committee for a Palm Beach fund-raiser next week for Republican state Senate hopeful Sharon Merchant.

Foley has been raising his public profile — a weekly local radio show, a recent Forum Club lunch appearance, last week’s Radio and TV Correspondents dinner in Washington — but this is the first time a political candidate has publicized Foley’s support to try to raise campaign cash. Merchant is running in a GOP primary against former Wellington councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

State Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, finally cranked up his fund-raising operation for his GOP Senate primary against state Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, during the final quarter of 2009. But Bogdanoff still outraised Domino 2-to-1 during the quarter and has a $336,626-to-$48,965 lead in overall contributions.

Domino has also put $110,000 of his own money into the primary to succeed Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach. Atwater is running for chief financial officer.

In another closely watched GOP Senate primary, Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto raised $33,810 during the fourth quarter while Republican rival Sharon Merchant raised $14,449. Benacquisto has an overall money edge of $150,040 to $72,099.

Benacquisto and Merchant are running for the seat of attorney general candidate Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. Democratic Senate hopefuls Peter Burkert and Kevin Rader hadn’t turned in their fourth-quarter reports late this afternoon.

Palm Beach County voters can expect two blockbuster state Senate races if trends from recent campaign finance reports hold up.

In two primary battles among candidates hoping to replace Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, the candidates combined to collect more than $305,000 during the third quarter. The four have a total of $826,000 on hand, more than 10 months away from the August primary.

In the race to replace Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, collected $132,921 from July through September. About 20 percent came from insurers and attorneys.

Read the rest here. The story was printed in the Oct. 15 edition of The Palm Beach Post.

To see how all the bankrolls are shaping up for candidates in contested races on the Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast, click here.

With Democratic Palm Beach County Commissioner Jess Santamaria remaining enigmatic on his 2010 reelection plans, Republican and longtime Wellington Councilman Carmine Priore says he’d consider running for Santamaria’s western District 6 seat if it’s open next year.

That’s potentially good news for a local GOP that hasn’t been able to recruit a District 6 candidate. The bad news: Priore says he’ll cross party lines and support Santamaria if the incumbent runs again.

Santamaria says he’ll announce in January or February whether he’s running. Meanwhile, attorney Elissa Pearl has opened a Democratic campaign in District 6.

Pearl and Santamaria recently met for the first time.

“Our philosophies are similar and it appears that we care about the same things,” said Pearl after the hourlong sit-down in the commissioner’s office.

Santamaria, 72, called the 37-year-old Pearl “a good person” with “a young person’s idealism. We need people like that.” But Santamaria said a commissioner’s job is tough and complicated.

“My question is, (for) Elissa Pearl or anybody else, do they really have the background, the experience, the education, the training, the psychological framework to handle all of these variables on a day-to-day basis?” Santamaria said. “My first impression is, she’ll have a lot to learn.”

Pearl lives just outside District 6, which irks potential GOP candidate Priore. If Santamaria doesn’t run, Priore said, he’d consider the race because “I wouldn’t want to leave the door open to someone that doesn’t live in our area.”

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Pleased with the grass-roots volunteer organization for her 2010 Democratic campaign for county commission, school board member Paulette Burdick has put paid consultants Eric Johnson and Neil Schiller on hold — at least temporarily. Burdick is running against state Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, in a Dem primary to succeed term-limited Commish Jeff Koons.

Burdick paid $1,000 in June for the consulting expertise of Johnson, who’s also chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, and who works with Schiller on several local races.

“My idea was she didn’t need them,” said Palm Beach Democratic Club President Elna Laun, an unpaid Burdick backer and adviser. “I think I was one of many” offering that advice, Laun said.

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Both GOP District 27 state Senate candidates — Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto and former state Rep. Sharon Merchant — are from Palm Beach County, but about 60 percent of the GOP primary voters are in Lee County.

In the scramble for Lee County support, Benacquisto will be in Fort Myers Friday for a fund-raiser whose hosts include state Rep. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers, Lee County Commissioner Frank Mann, school board member Elinor Scricca and longtime Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson.

If you’re a Republican member of the Florida Senate and you haven’t taken sides in the Sharon Merchant-Lizbeth Benacquisto District 27 GOP primary, you’re in the minority.

Former state Rep. Merchant today launched her campaign for the West Palm Beach-to-Fort Myers seat and announced that she’s been endorsed by nine members of the Senate. Two of her backers — Sens. Paula Dockery of Lakeland and Alex Villalobos of Miami — stood with Merchant as she made her announcement at her family’s equipment rental business in West Palm Beach.

Benacquisto, who entered the race last month, has endorsements from eight Senators.

So 17 of the 26 Republicans in the Florida Senate have already taken sides for a primary that’s nearly 14 months off. Merchant and Benacquisto are vying for the seat of Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who’s running for attorney general.

Read the endorsement lineups after the jump…..

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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.