Governor wants to spend without anyone watching

Gov. Bush is interested in accountability only when it does not to apply to him or to private companies being paid by state taxpayers.

Despite bipartisan, nearly unanimous support from legislators, Gov. Bush last week vetoed Senate Bill 1494, which would have made it harder to waste $2 billion a year on technology contracts with no proven savings but numerous proven failures to deliver "on time, on task or on budget."

Despite bipartisan, nearly unanimous support from legislators, Gov. Bush last week vetoed Senate Bill 1146, which would have required fairness and competition to replace the improprieties and cronyism found in many of the 138 "outsourced projects" the state financed between January 1999 -- when the governor took office -- and June 2004.

Despite bipartisan, nearly unanimous support from legislators, Gov. Bush last week vetoed Senate Bill 2146, which would have required the Legislature to create a three-year budget plan, rather than perpetuate the shortsighted year-to-year budget process that often is driven mostly by politics.

Last summer, the Florida Department of Children and Families secretary quit after an inspector general found that he and some of his executives had accepted favors and steered contracts to lobbyists and friends. In October, the State Technology Office canceled a $173 million contract with Bearing Point Inc. and Accenture, large donors to the Republican Party of Florida, amid a criminal investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and a critical review by the Legislature's auditor general.

Another private company, Convergys Corp., is being paid $350 million in a nine-year contract (that mysteriously grew from $262 million over seven years) to handle the state's personnel services. But the company has missed or delayed paychecks to workers, caused employees to be dropped from health insurance plans because Convergys did not pay increased premiums, erroneously deducted too much from paychecks for benefits and otherwise provided unacceptable service.

Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Crystal River, who chairs the Senate Government Oversight and Productivity Committee, wants the Legislature to override the veto. Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, vowed to "be back at the drawing board next year." If there's a special session on slot machines, the Legislature won't have to wait.