U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, and Cliff Sterns, R-Ocala, earned high As, based upon use of their office budget money.
The two came closest among Floridas House delegation to reaching the maximum allocated -- approximately $1.4 million per office holder -- for their House office budgets in 2011, according to a reported by USA Today.
Brown spent 99.4 percent of the $1.43 million allocated to her office, with the largest expense payroll, at $1.03 million.
Sterns office spending stood at 96.5 percent. Payroll comprised $880,160.
House spending data prepared for USA Today by the Sunlight Foundation shows that 45 House members spent more than 95 percent of their 2011 budgets as of Dec. 31, exceeding what they can spend this year. Of those, 38 were Democrats, USA Today reported.
For all members of Congress, staff salaries are the biggest costs, and senior members tend to have long-tenured staff who earn top salaries.
Rep. Alcee Hasting, D-Miramar, who spent 94.4 percent of his office allocation, had the highest payroll among the Florida delegation at $1.146 million.
Hastings office includes Patricia Williams, who earned $166,000 last year as deputy director and has been listed as his girlfriend by the non-profit, nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Sterns has served 12 terms. Hastings and Brown are both in their 10th terms.
The budget for each office varies by size of district and distance from Washington, D.C.
At the more frugal end, freshman Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, spent $932,113 of the $1.42 million allocated to his office, or 65.6 percent.
Webster also had the lowest payroll, at $656,346, among the Florida delegation.
The spending comes following 5 percent cuts in allocations last year with 6.4 percent cuts on tap for this year.
The numbers are considered incomplete due to some expenses being paid after Dec. 31, 2011. Only Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., went over budget, according to the figures recently released.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
