THE NEWS: A political committee linked to Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner and other GOP leaders has collected $65,000 since Oct. 12, with much of the money coming from The Geo Group, a prison contractor, and Automated HealthCare Solutions, a company at the center of a debate about doctors dispensing drugs to workers-compensation insurance patients. The committee, known as Protect Our Liberty, posted the campaign-finance information on its website.
The Geo Group and Automated HealthCare Solutions each contributed $25,000 recently, while an ophthalmologists’ committee gave $10,000.
Protect Our Liberty, meanwhile, reported funneling $100,000 this week to Senate Majority, a party effort to elect Republican Senate candidates.
Oct 12 was the end of the state’s most-recent reporting period, but committees linked to legislators are required to update campaign-finance information on their websites more often.
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT: Automated Healthcare’s and The Geo Group’s continued, um, investment in the Senate’s incoming leadership is yet another indication that their issues will be in play during the 2013-14 legislative sessions.
Material from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.
