Bill Young's Earmarks Raise Nepotism Red Flags

For Immediate Release: April 9, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Credit Republicans for always taking care of their own, even if it costs the taxpayers' millions of dollars.

Just this week, we learned that Republican State House Speaker Marco Rubio landed a state gig for his brother-in-law and secretly inserted language into the state budget for a contributor's financial gain. At the University of Florida's medical school, an admissions committee's recommendation was overturned to allow in the son of a bigwig Republican donor.

Now the St. Petersburg Times is reporting that U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-10th) directed at least $73 million in federal taxpayer money to companies that employ two of his sons. The sons, ages 20 and 23, enjoy high-level positions with companies that earn a large portion of their income directly from the federal government.

Florida's Republican elder statesman feigns innocence, but the numbers don't lie. "Both employers are big beneficiaries of Rep. Young... He has used his clout to steer millions of dollars to his sons' employers, both before and after they got their jobs." [St. Petersburg Times, 4/08/08]

"Bill Young has carefully crafted a 'nice guy' public image over the years in an effort to convince the people of Florida that he's not like other Republican politicians who abuse the public trust for personal gain," Florida Democratic Party spokesman Mark Bubriski said. "Unfortunately, it's clear now that Bill Young has spent too much time in Washington because any regular Floridian can recognize that there's something fishy going on here."

House rules prohibit lawmakers from directing earmarked money to project in which they or their spouses have "any financial interest." The children of lawmakers are not explicitly prohibited, though the ethical line appears blurry in this case. According to Secretary of State's voter database, both sons live in the same Indian Shores apartment as Rep. Young.

Patrick Young, 20, is a security administrator for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). Billy Young, 23, is an outreach specialist for National Forensic Science Technology Center. Their father admitted to directing $44.6 million in federal money to Patrick's employer and $28.6 million to Billy's.

Especially disturbing is the percentage of overall business each company receives from the federal government. SAIC "gets about 93 percent of its business from government contracts" while the forensic center accounts congressional earmarks for "about one-fourth of the money [it] receives in a typical year." [St. Petersburg Times, 4/08/08]

A 2006 Times report also revealed how Young's daughter-in-law, Cindy, was once an attorney for a lobbying firm who arranged meetings between defense contractors and the Representative. Two of Cindy Young's clients received money thanks to her father-in-law's appropriations. In that case, Young also claimed that he had done nothing wrong.