Staff Reports
Republican Sen. Wilton Simpson, who is expected to take over as Senate President next year, has set up a pair of new political committees.
Florida Green PAC and Future Florida were registered with the Florida Division of Elections on July 25. Simpson is the chair of both committees while Noreen Fenner is listed as the treasurer and registered agent.
In addition to filing monthly finance reports, Florida political committees are required to list their contributions online within five days of their receipt. The same rule applies to expenditures.
According to the Florida Green PAC website, Simpson seeded the fund with $25,000 from his other affiliated political committee, Jobs for Florida. He did the same for Future Florida.
Neither committee has reported disbursements.
Simpson is a prolific fundraiser — he has raised $12.13 million through Jobs for Florida since setting it up in July 2013.
As the next-in-line leader in the Senate, the Trilby lawmaker is responsible for raising money to defend the Republican majority in the 40-member chamber.
Past Republican Senate Presidents have mainly raised cash via the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. Party affiliated committees such as FRSCC report their receipts and disbursements quarterly.
FRSCC, chaired by current Senate President Bill Galvano, raised $710,000 and spent $1.67 million between April 1 and June 30 this year. It has $478,000 at the ready.
Simpson has pumped loads of cash into FRSCC — about $3.75 million since 2015. Of that sum, more than $3 million was sent over during the 2018 election cycle.
Jobs for Florida’s most recent finance report, covering June, showed $375,000 in contributions and about $70,000 in spending. The committee has $1.04 banked.
