Rubio denies responsibility for 'Taj Mahal' courthouse funding

Marco Rubio, who was state House speaker when a controversial courthouse in Tallahassee called the 'Taj Mahal' was put in the state budget, is denying responsibility for it.

Rubio said Wednesday the
proposal for the courthouse, which has been criticized as too luxurious in a time of severe budget constraints, originated in the Senate, not the House, which he controlled; and that it wasn't the Legislature's job to scrutinize building plans.

A Republican running for the U.S. Senate, Rubio also denied responsibility for another controversial project pushed through the state House during his tenure as speaker, an airplane hangar disguised as an educational building.

That project led to indictment of former state Rep. Ray Sansom, whom Rubio had chosen as House budget chief. It allegedly was intended to benefit a private jet business owned by a political contributor allied with Sansom.

Rubio said the legislation for the airport project was so well disguised it fooled all legislators and that disguise was the basis of the indictment.

Asked about the courthouse in an interview with the Tampa Tribune editorial board, Rubio, said, "That specific spending priority emerged from the Senate."

He said funding courts is "a core governmental function," but, "How that money is spent and what it's spent on is not what the Legislature does. The Legislature doesn't approve architectural plans, it doesn't approve purchasing orders."

In other parts of the interview, Rubio emphasized his commitment to cutting government spending and eliminating earmarks.

Rubio has proposed cutting discretionary, non-defense federal spending back to 2008 levels.

"Obviously with a balanced budget amendment, which I support, and you're going to roll back spending to 2008, you're going to have to prioritize spending decisions," he said.

A Tampa to Orlando high-speed rail project might have to wait in order to help reduce the federal deficit, he said.

"Where Republicans failed historically is that they only talk about the tax part" of fiscal discipline, he said. "When it comes to the spending part of it they walk away."

The courthouse is being built on the outskirts of Tallahassee for the state 1st District Court of Appeal at a time when state courts are laying off employees and making do with inadequate or dilapidated quarters because of budget cuts.

The project went through the Legislature in 2007 when Rubio, as speaker, had control over House legislation. It was included in an amendment added on the final day of the session to a 137-page transportation appropriations bill.

State Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Ocala, then chairman of the House council on law enforcement and courts, has been quoted in news reports as saying the project was pushed through at the request of two politically influential judges with connections to two Rubio aides. Dean couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

One of those aides, Richard Corcoran, who is now running for a state House seat in Pasco County, said he wasn't involved, and had left his job as Rubio's chief of staff early in the legislative session.

For years, critics have condemned the passage of little-discussed bills late in sessions of the Florida Legislature, when lawmakers are rushing to finish on time.

Dominic Calabro of Florida TaxWatch, a non-profit watchdog group, said a requirement that the state budget be written three days before final passage has helped but not prevented the problem.

It would have applied to the Legislature's general appropriations bill, but not to the transportation bill, also part of the budget, he said.

"You really can't substitute rule-making for legislative leadership," he said. "Lawmakers can find a way around any security system you build."

Rubio acknowledged that the amount spent and the building's function are subjects legislators should look at.

But, he said, "Ultimately, as I said, it's not a priority we pushed through the House, it's something that came over from the Senate, I believe on the last day of session.

"The reality of it is that there are two chambers, as I learned in my years in Tallahassee, and in order to finish the people's work within 60 days, there's a give and take involved."