During the Florida legislative session, we typically post about
bills directly impacting the environment. But there are a number of anti-voter bills advancing in the
legislature, and they are of concern as they have the potential to impact
future voting for environmental issues.
Right now, leaders in the
Florida House and Senate are fast tracking anti-voter bills through
the legislature that would make it even harder
for voters to have a say when it comes to amending
the Constitution on Election Day.
House
Bill 7111 / Senate
Bill 7096 seek to make it unnecessarily difficult for citizen-led
groups to get the signatures required for a proposed amendment to get on the
ballot and adds unnecessary and confusing language to Floridians' ballots which
is designed to defeat citizen proposed amendments. Additionally, special
interest aligned legislators want to raise the already high bar for passage
from 60% to 66% via House Joint Resolution 57 / Senate Joint Resolution 32.
Certain legislators also are seeking to restrict Voting Restoration Amendment 4 via House Bill 7089 / Senate Bill 7086. Approved by 65% of Florida voters, Amendment 4 allows most people who have completed their
sentences to register to vote, though those convicted of felony sexual offenses
or murder are still barred. Powerful Florida legislators,
however, are now trying to have a say in how the amendment is implemented —
introducing bills that would likely make it harder for thousands to be re-enfranchised.
These bills
place restrictions on the eligibility to vote for individuals who should have
their voting rights back. Among other deficiencies, the bills would effectively
disenfranchise two categories of returning citizens for life: those with very
small financial obligations that they will never be able to pay due to poverty
and those with financial obligations for non-violent property crimes. To finance its criminal justice system, Florida imposes both
fines and “user fees” on defendants upon conviction. Individuals may be fined
up to $500,000 for their crime, and then are saddled with an array of
administrative fees. Defendants must pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to
fund court costs, “crime prevention” programs, and local jails. They must pay a
fee to apply for a public defender, to receive medical treatment in prison, to
reinstate a suspended driver’s license, and to participate in drug abuse
treatment. Those who receive probation must pay “surcharges” to fund their
supervision or room-and-board at a halfway house, as well as electronic
monitoring and urinalysis. This is clearly an attempt to thwart the intent of
Amendment 4 and to continue Florida's history of voter disenfranchisement.
So how do these bills impact our protection of the
environment? We need only look back
to 2014 when 75% of voters approved the Water and Land Conservation
constitutional amendment. After years of being ignored by legislators, citizens
made their priority clear regarding land protection. Amendment 1 sets aside
one-third of documentary stamp tax revenue to buy, manage and improve
conservation lands and water resources for 20 years. Now legislators are trying
to make it harder to not only get an amendment on the ballot, but they are
raising the threshold that must be met for passage!
Restoring
voting rights also is important to our work. In 2014, the Sierra
Club adopted the Jemez Principles for Democratic
Organizing to facilitate it
becoming a more equitable, just, and inclusionary organization. A component of the Principles is that “we
hope to achieve just societies that include all people in decision-making….” Amendment 4 is in alignment with these
Principles and attempts by lawmakers to thwart voter intent is unacceptable.
Please
call your Florida Senator and Representative
and demand that they oppose all anti-voter legislation!
