One of Florida's most respected newspapers, the Tampa Bay Times, is recommending a "no" vote for a constitutional amendment before voters in November. The proposal, put forward by conservationists, would allocate 1/3 of the documentary stamp tax required of real estate transactions to be applied to acquisition of conservation lands. In 2016, the newspaper notes, more than $600 million could be allocated to this important purpose.
Florida used to have a model land acquisition program, Forever Florida, but it was first gutted then politicized out of existence by Gov. Rick Scott and the GOP legislature.
The Times makes two principal arguments; first, that referendum-by-ballot should not be used for legislating the budget and second, along the lines that what politics giveth (the documentary stamp tax), politics can taketh away.
I agree with the Times that the legislature is responsible for the budget. Did Gov. Rick Scott and the majority of the Florida legislature reflect the will of the people when they radically cut Forever Florida -- the state's land acquisition program and model for the nation? No.
What they did was to solidify the lock hold of big campaign contributors, like Big Sugar, to thwart and delay and increase the price to the public of the only reasonable chance for restoring fading natural treasures like the Everglades: land acquisition.
Example 1: in 2008, then Governor Charlie Crist announced a bold plan to acquire the sugar lands owned by US Sugar Corporation. His opponents killed the plan for two main reasons; some said it was too expensive and others said it was not expensive enough! Gov. Rick Scott, who knew zilch about land conservation or the history of bipartisan struggle to secure land protection through Forever Florida, proved a willing accomplice after buying his way to the Governor's Mansion in 2010.
Instead of buying the US Sugar land, now Floridians are being forced to watch the same US Sugar roll out its demand for state approval for new development rights involving 18,000 acres it owns in Hendry County, lubricated no doubt by entertainments the corporation provided to top GOP legislators including Gov. Scott at the King Ranch in Texas. There, if gullible Florida voters are to believe it, they only discussed hunting not bid'ness.
Floridians penchant for gullibility is continuously reinforced by a legislature that bows to big money interests like Big Sugar. The ballot box should be a place of affirmation and not an arena for retribution, but in Florida there is no other way for people to express themselves.
Floridians are swarming around state ballot referendums because the power of special interest money deformed our democracy. The Tampa Bay Times does not like using the ballot box to legislate. And, yes, what politics giveth, politics may taketh away: this is truly what happened when Gov. Scott and the GOP legislature decapitated growth management and the Florida Department of Community Affairs, after frustrated environmentalists and civic activists attempted to use a state-wide ballot referendum, Florida Hometown Democracy, to put the power of community growth in the hands of voters and not land speculators and developers. It is also what happened with Fair Districts, a state-wide ballot referendum that passed with more than 60 percent of Floridian voters' approval, and then devolved into years of intransigence by the Florida GOP and Gov. Rick Scott.
Remember: it takes a village to raise a child. It takes an army of voters to protect the village. The majority of Floridians have no other way to demonstration their displeasure with an extremist legislature than at the ballot box. Vote "for" Amendment One. Let Floridians act to save what the extreme right, won't.
Florida used to have a model land acquisition program, Forever Florida, but it was first gutted then politicized out of existence by Gov. Rick Scott and the GOP legislature.
The Times makes two principal arguments; first, that referendum-by-ballot should not be used for legislating the budget and second, along the lines that what politics giveth (the documentary stamp tax), politics can taketh away.
I agree with the Times that the legislature is responsible for the budget. Did Gov. Rick Scott and the majority of the Florida legislature reflect the will of the people when they radically cut Forever Florida -- the state's land acquisition program and model for the nation? No.
What they did was to solidify the lock hold of big campaign contributors, like Big Sugar, to thwart and delay and increase the price to the public of the only reasonable chance for restoring fading natural treasures like the Everglades: land acquisition.
Example 1: in 2008, then Governor Charlie Crist announced a bold plan to acquire the sugar lands owned by US Sugar Corporation. His opponents killed the plan for two main reasons; some said it was too expensive and others said it was not expensive enough! Gov. Rick Scott, who knew zilch about land conservation or the history of bipartisan struggle to secure land protection through Forever Florida, proved a willing accomplice after buying his way to the Governor's Mansion in 2010.
Instead of buying the US Sugar land, now Floridians are being forced to watch the same US Sugar roll out its demand for state approval for new development rights involving 18,000 acres it owns in Hendry County, lubricated no doubt by entertainments the corporation provided to top GOP legislators including Gov. Scott at the King Ranch in Texas. There, if gullible Florida voters are to believe it, they only discussed hunting not bid'ness.
Floridians penchant for gullibility is continuously reinforced by a legislature that bows to big money interests like Big Sugar. The ballot box should be a place of affirmation and not an arena for retribution, but in Florida there is no other way for people to express themselves.
Floridians are swarming around state ballot referendums because the power of special interest money deformed our democracy. The Tampa Bay Times does not like using the ballot box to legislate. And, yes, what politics giveth, politics may taketh away: this is truly what happened when Gov. Scott and the GOP legislature decapitated growth management and the Florida Department of Community Affairs, after frustrated environmentalists and civic activists attempted to use a state-wide ballot referendum, Florida Hometown Democracy, to put the power of community growth in the hands of voters and not land speculators and developers. It is also what happened with Fair Districts, a state-wide ballot referendum that passed with more than 60 percent of Floridian voters' approval, and then devolved into years of intransigence by the Florida GOP and Gov. Rick Scott.
Remember: it takes a village to raise a child. It takes an army of voters to protect the village. The majority of Floridians have no other way to demonstration their displeasure with an extremist legislature than at the ballot box. Vote "for" Amendment One. Let Floridians act to save what the extreme right, won't.
3 comments:
You are right our backs are up against the walls, and this is the only way to protect what is left. People need to come out and vote and not skip that bubble.
"One of Florida's most respected newspapers, the Tampa Bay Times, is recommending a "no" vote for a constitutional amendment before voters in November."
"The majority of Floridians have no other way to demonstration their displeasure with an extremist legislature than at the ballot box. Vote "for" Amendment One.
What is it? Yes or No?
It appears we should vote YES?
Post a Comment