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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFlorida Republicans Squelch the Voice of the People
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD NY Times.Lawmakers insist they are merely refining details for measures approved by voters on the environment, medical marijuana, solar power, education and anti-gerrymandering rules affecting their own districts. But its increasingly clear that legislators are trying to foil and blunt the ballot-approved initiatives.
In the case of the amendment to expand access to medical marijuana, approved last November by 71 percent of the voters, Republican lawmakers are proposing tighter rules on doctors prescriptions, as well as other obstacles for patients who want to use medical marijuana.
Similarly, a constitutional amendment to expand the use of solar power, which drew 73 percent approval last year, has been met by a raft of obstructionist proposals that would bog down rooftop solar installation. They include rules language drafted by the states major utility, Florida Power & Light. This isnt healthy legislative give-and-take, as supporters claim. It is a transparent homage to the powerful utility and its generous political contributions.
The anti-gerrymandering amendment, which calls for strictly nonpartisan drawing of legislative district lines, struck fear into politicians after 63 percent of voters approved it in 2010. Its been marked by years of expensive, bare-knuckle resistance by a Legislature determined to draw the voting map in ways that favor incumbents.Republican lawmakers now propose to dig in further by restricting the time period for legal challenges to new district maps. They would also subject judges who reject party machine maps to cross-examination during appeals a move as vindictive as it is unconstitutional, and an insult to voters who approved a mandate for cleaner politics.
Other threatened initiatives include a land and water conservation amendment approved in 2014, designed to preserve open space and improve water quality. House Republicans propose to raid it for $22 million in subsidies to farmers, who are already well taken care of. A long fight to restrict class size in schools, which voters thought they had settled by amendment, also is being undermined.
In the case of the amendment to expand access to medical marijuana, approved last November by 71 percent of the voters, Republican lawmakers are proposing tighter rules on doctors prescriptions, as well as other obstacles for patients who want to use medical marijuana.
Similarly, a constitutional amendment to expand the use of solar power, which drew 73 percent approval last year, has been met by a raft of obstructionist proposals that would bog down rooftop solar installation. They include rules language drafted by the states major utility, Florida Power & Light. This isnt healthy legislative give-and-take, as supporters claim. It is a transparent homage to the powerful utility and its generous political contributions.
The anti-gerrymandering amendment, which calls for strictly nonpartisan drawing of legislative district lines, struck fear into politicians after 63 percent of voters approved it in 2010. Its been marked by years of expensive, bare-knuckle resistance by a Legislature determined to draw the voting map in ways that favor incumbents.Republican lawmakers now propose to dig in further by restricting the time period for legal challenges to new district maps. They would also subject judges who reject party machine maps to cross-examination during appeals a move as vindictive as it is unconstitutional, and an insult to voters who approved a mandate for cleaner politics.
Other threatened initiatives include a land and water conservation amendment approved in 2014, designed to preserve open space and improve water quality. House Republicans propose to raid it for $22 million in subsidies to farmers, who are already well taken care of. A long fight to restrict class size in schools, which voters thought they had settled by amendment, also is being undermined.
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Florida Republicans Squelch the Voice of the People (Original Post)
JHan
Apr 2017
OP
This is not the first time Florida Repub. Governors have ignored amendments.
kerry-is-my-prez
Apr 2017
#1
kerry-is-my-prez
(8,133 posts)1. This is not the first time Florida Repub. Governors have ignored amendments.
They did it with the high speed bullet train. This seems to be ignored by the media.
JHan
(10,173 posts)3. they're so blatant with it too.
HopeAgain
(4,407 posts)2. Welcome to my world
I really wish South Florida could become its own State.
JHan
(10,173 posts)4. We need laser focus on gerrymandering, it's killing us. We need to get our act together next census.