Florida Legislature Home To More Than 50 Millionaires

July 13, 2011

The Florida Legislature is home to more than 50 millionaires — including Northwest Florida’s Don Gaetz — according to an analysis of financial disclosure forms. Lawmakers are required to report their income and net worth once a year.

The Legislature tends to attract wealthy individuals due, in part, to its heavy time commitment and low salary. Legislators receive $29,697 a year, with presiding officers making $41,181 a year. The Legislature meets once a year for two months for its regular session, but lawmakers are often called in for committee weeks or special sessions – and they also have to spend a lot of time campaigning and fundraising.

“It’s a difficult position if you are working a nine-to-five job to say ‘Hey, I’m going to give up my clients for four months,’ and then come back to that world for six months,” said Rep. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, one of the wealthiest legislators. “Most people can’t do that.”

Millionaires make up almost half of the 40-member Florida Senate and nearly one-third of the 120-member Florida House. Fifty-one of the lawmakers that filed financial disclosure forms by the July 1 deadline were millionaires. Not all lawmakers filed a financial disclosure form by the deadline – more than 30 lawmakers failed to turn one in. They get a grace period before they’re penalized for being late.

The wealthiest legislator in the House is Brandes, with a net worth of $11.8 million at the end of 2010. His family sold its ownership of Cox Lumber Co. to Home Depot in 2006 for an undisclosed sum.

Brandes said he manages his family’s real estate investments in Florida and the Cayman Islands. The former military officer is also involved with his family’s new timber company venture called Tibbetts Lumber Co. Brandes had an income of $181,540 in 2010, money that mainly came from his investments.

“When you think about who could give up four or five months out of the year, (for) an employee it would be very difficult,” Brandes said. Many lawmakers have owned their own businesses or are retired.

“One of the blessings of my position is that I have opportunities to pursue my passions and things I am really interested in,” Brandes said. “I am fortunate to be able to do this more or less full time.”

In the Senate, Don Gaetz holds the distinction of being the richest senator. Gaetz, a Republican from Niceville, was the founder of VITAS, a hospice care company, and has a net worth of nearly $25.5 million.

His assets included nearly $11.9 million in securities, nearly $10 million in real estate and about $3.2 million in cash. The real estate includes three homes in the upscale community of Seaside.

Margate Democrat Jeremy Ring, the Senate’s second-wealthiest member, helped build his $17.9 million net worth as an executive with the Internet company Yahoo. Among his assets are a $1.6 million home in Parkland.

Not everyone in the Legislature is wealthy. There are six lawmakers in the House with a negative net worth.

Rep. Matt Caldwell, R-Lehigh Acres has the distinction of having the lowest net worth in the Legislature. Caldwell is a real estate appraiser who purchased his home at the height of the housing boom.

He watched as the value of his $144,000 investment shrank to about $25,000 as hard-hit Lehigh Acres became the epicenter of the national housing bust.

“I tell people I’m nothing special, I’ve experienced the same types of challenges that many other people have gone through,” said Caldwell, whose net worth as of Dec. 31 was negative $125,000.

But Caldwell says he’s keeping it all in perspective. He turns 30 in August and he only loses money on his property if he sells, which he has no plans of doing anytime soon. “I consider myself fortunate,” Caldwell said. “I’ll have my house paid for by the time I’m 40 years old. That’s pretty good.”

Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, reported a net income of negative $69,177. Pafford is in a similar situation to Caldwell and many other Floridians. He purchased his West Palm Beach home in 2003 for $124,900. It is now worth $92,100, but Pafford still owes $216,000 on the mortgage and home equity loans.

“The Legislature is a citizen’s legislature and should be made up that way,” Pafford said. “As much as I’m struggling, that is OK because there are a lot of other people doing the same thing, just working and trying to pay down bills. That is reality.” Pafford acknowledged, however, that the legislative system is not built to elect “average Floridians.”

Damien Filer, a spokesman for the progressive advocacy group Progress Florida, said the confluence of wealth and legislation is troubling. Likewise, lawmakers of overly modest means can also find themselves in compromising circumstances.

“There is an inherent danger anytime money and policymaking mix,” Filer said. “We have a system that is far too much a pay-to-play situation.”

By Lilly Rockwell and Michael Peltier
The News Service of Florida

Comments

9 Responses to “Florida Legislature Home To More Than 50 Millionaires”

  1. JIM W on July 16th, 2011 3:17 pm

    Some of you are killing me here. When did it become a bad thing to have made money for yourself as long as you did it by working and honestly?? Someone please explain to me please.. Like some else said I would rather have someone working on my behalf that knows how to make money and creat jobs than one who does not. These people obviously learned someting along the way to be where they are. Don’t beat them up just because they did well. You should be complimenting them that is what freedom and capitalism is all about. Maybe your having a hard time but is it really their fault because they have some money?? Think about what your saying here what your really saying is your envy!

  2. David Huie Green on July 16th, 2011 11:07 am

    REGARDING:
    ” home to more than 50 millionaires ”

    I don’t understand why people complain about the people they elect.

    If you don’t like them, don’t vote for them. If you DO vote for them, give them the benefit of the doubt.

    David thinking millionaires needs homes too

  3. Bob on July 13th, 2011 7:51 pm

    I would much rather a person that has made well for himself and his family make decisions than a person who lives from pay check to paycheck. Welcme to the land of opportunity for those willing to grasp it. This is what America is all about.

  4. sad on July 13th, 2011 9:37 am

    These are the same people who kept voting AGAINST extending unemployment benefits to Americans who’ve worked all of their lives and suddenly lost employment due to the economic downturn.

    People relied on the little 200 dollars or so per week that they would get to pay mortgages, insurance, feed their families etc. When they finally landed a nother job, their credit was messed up because of these people. Ive heard of many cases like this. Many went without for weeks because these people kept voting against extending benefits and for Florida, RIck Scott has recently decreased the weeks of unemployment available.

    this is what the people of this state wanted and voted for it, just have to live with it

  5. Dan on July 13th, 2011 7:50 am

    Is there something wrong with accumulating personal wealth?
    The USA is the “land of opportunity”.

    Congratulations to them.

    DON’T PUNISH THE JOB CREATORS AND ACHIEVERS !!!!

  6. bleeding blue and orange on July 13th, 2011 7:40 am

    This story turns my stomach sour. So many of us try to survive on our pay week to week on our ramen noodle incomes and the people representing us dine in style on steak and shrimp lol. They decide to cut our pay 3% (state workers) because, hey when you are a millionair, why do you need an extra 3%. They will continue to do what they want because it seems like who ever is in office continues to run this state into the ground. Well guess I better go heat up my noodles.

  7. Kathy on July 13th, 2011 7:19 am

    It is why republicans protect the wealthy and not the middle class. Look at the federal system the republicans want to protect tax loop holes for the corporate jets and the big oil subsidies and cut Social Security and medicare for the elderly, their way or no way.

  8. dnutjob1 on July 13th, 2011 5:52 am

    This is whats wrong with our country, our law makers live in a different world they do not know what it is to go without. This is not what our founding fathers intended.

  9. Jane on July 13th, 2011 5:36 am

    And we wonder why they pass laws that hurt all the seniors and low income folks who can’t find decent jobs here…they don’t care because they can afford it! They have lost touch with their constituients in many cases. I’d love to see them live on what we live on for one month…their ideas might change!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News