Democrat culture of corruption

Fla. lawmaker tried to get funding for ACORN while wife was lobbyist
BY ALEX LEARYSt. Petersburg Times

A Democratic legislator from Orlando tried to get $50,000 in state funding for the controversial group ACORN in the 2007 legislative session, the same time his wife was working as a lobbyist for the organization, records show.
Rep. Scott Randolph was seeking money for the Central Florida ACORN Institute Financial Justice Center, which provides tax preparation services for the poor.
His wife, Susannah Lindberg, registered as a lobbyist during the 2007 session.
Normally a failed funding request that old would disappear into the legislative ether. But the widening national controversy over ACORN has renewed criticism over the group's dealings in Florida, including bogus voter registrations forms.
Some Republican lawmakers are demanding a review of any state connection to the group.
Randolph denied a conflict of interest, saying his wife did not push for the funding.
``She wasn't lobbying on that issue at all,'' he said Friday. ``She didn't even come up to Tallahassee that much. I don't find anything wrong with that.''
OVERLAPPING INTERESTS
But overlapping interests have raised issues before. Most recently, Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach, faced questions in her passionate bid to save the state mental hospital in her district. Her husband, who operates an assisted-living facility that gets patients from Northeast Florida State Hospital, engaged in lobbying-like activity in the Capitol.
Randolph, a lawyer elected in 2006, filed the community budget issue request in January 2007. His wife registered to lobby in March.
Randolph said her role was mainly to bring ACORN members to Tallahassee. ``She didn't push it,'' he said of the funding request. ``I didn't push it. I just had other priorities.''
He scoffed at the suggestion of impropriety.
``I'm still waiting for Republicans to put the statements out about reviewing [funding obtained by former House Speakers] Ray Sansom and Marco Rubio. I would support them 100 percent in reviewing every single entity that has gotten state funding. To single out one organization just shows the lack of sincerity.''
He said his wife lobbied for ACORN, not the affiliate.
The money would have gone toward a tax preparation center, which helps people who might not know they are eligible for certain breaks, such as the earned income tax credit.
`DISGUSTED'
ACORN Florida director Stephanie Porta said that about 4,300 low-income people in Florida got free tax help over the past two years, resulting in about $5 million in money in their pockets.
She called questions about Randolph ``disgusting'' and blasted Rubio's questioning this week of Gov. Charlie Crist, who has met with ACORN members to address the foreclosure crisis. Lindberg now works for U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando. On Thursday, Grayson voted for an amendment denying federal funding to ACORN.