Florida House speaker probe now involves trustees, Miami Herald

January 28, 2009
By Alex Leary

TALLAHASSEE -- The college trustees who hired House Speaker Ray Sansom have become part of a criminal investigation into his dealings with the school over whether they violated the state's Sunshine Law, officials said Tuesday.

State Attorney Willie Meggs is investigating whether the Northwest Florida State College trustees violated state laws on public meetings for a gathering they held in Tallahassee last March.

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Grand jury to investigate Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom, Miami Herald

January 27, 2009
By Alex Leary

-- A grand jury decided Monday to launch a formal investigation into Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom and whether his six-figure job at a Panhandle college was payback for helping the school get millions of dollars in construction money over the past two years.

The 21-member panel concluded that Sansom's relationship with the school warranted a criminal probe after reviewing the facts outlined in a series of articles by the Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau.

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Ray Sansom: The full interview (with video), NWF Daily News

January 24, 2009
By Tom McLaughlin

Almost since the day he was sworn in as speaker of the Florida House, state representative and Destin resident Ray Sansom has been on the defensive.

It started, he said, the day after Thanksgiving, when a report was published stating he'd taken a $110,000 part-time job with Northwest Florida State College, a school he'd helped get $31 million in appropriations during the 2007 legislative session.

The controversy grew when it was learned that Sansom had attended a quiet little public meeting with college President Bob Richburg and seven members of its board of trustees on March 24, 2008.

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Sansom breaks his silence to talk taxes, The Buzz (St. Pete Times)

January 19, 2009

House Speaker Ray Sansom, who has refused interviews at the Capitol since coming under fire for his relationship with Northwest Florida State College and Destin developer Jay Odom, broke his silence Friday for an interview with the Times/Herald to spell out his view of taxes. The tax debate is likely to dominate much of the regular session in March, when lawmakers must decide how to balance the budget amid another $3.5-billion shortfall. The question will be how far conservative Republicans in the House are willing to go to raise new money to offset more painful budget cuts.

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House speaker ducking spotlight, The Ledger (Lakeland)

January 18, 2009
By Joe Follick

For six years, House Speaker Ray Sansom has wielded a friendly smile and a conservative style in his rise to one of the most powerful positions in Florida government.

But accused of scheming to trade state money for a job, Sansom has become the Howard Hughes of the House, cloistering himself in his office and avoiding even chance meetings with the media or the public.

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College handed Sansom $122M wish list, The Buzz (St. Pete Times blog)

December 22, 2008

The president of the college where Ray Sansom now works provided him with a "pricey" $122-million funding request over five years with the implicit expectation that Sansom would help "make it a reality."

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Lawmakers cash in with campus jobs, Miami Herald

December 20, 2008
By Jennifer Liberto


TALLAHASSEE -- By taking a six-figure job at a state college, House Speaker Ray Sansom has focused attention on a pattern of behavior that has gone on largely unchecked for decades in Florida's higher education system.

Even in a time of bleak finances, with curbs on enrollment and spikes in tuition, nearly two dozen current and former legislators are employed throughout the system -- six at the University of South Florida alone, including the wife of a state senator.

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