Florida editorial roundup

Recent editorials from Florida newspapers:

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Jan. 4

The Palm Beach Post on legislation that would allow legislators to override court rulings:

For years, the Republican-led Florida Legislature has taken shots at the state’s judiciary in retaliation for rulings it hasn’t liked.

The hostilities opened in 2006, when the state Supreme Court, on a 5-2 vote, declared then-Gov. Jeb Bush’s highly touted school voucher plan unconstitutional. The next year, a state senator countered with a proposed constitutional amendment to add eight members to the seven-member court - but withdrew his bill when it became public.

After that, legislators twice went to the voters with constitutional amendments that would have weakened the judiciary. Twice, voters said no. Then in 2012, the Republican Party and the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity of Florida organized a campaign to oppose three liberal-leaning justices up for merit retention votes. That, too, failed.

Now, a Venice Republican has filed legislation that would allow legislators to override court rulings they don’t like. State Rep. Julio Gonzalez’s bill would propose an amendment to the state constitution that would allow the Legislature, within a period of five years, to override a ruling of the Florida Supreme Court.

And some legislative leaders are eyeing an even bigger opportunity to overturn the rulings by the court that they’ve hated the most: on education funding, school vouchers and political redistricting.

The occasion is unique to Florida. Once every 20 years, the state is required to convene a citizen panel to review and update the state constitution. And the next Constitutional Revision Commission is scheduled for next year. Its ideas will go directly onto the 2018 ballot for the voters to decide.

With 33 of the 37 members to be appointed by Gov. Rick Scott, Senate President Joe Negron and House Speaker Richard Corcoran - Republicans all - this version of the CRC is sure to have a distinctly conservative bent.

As Mary Ellen Klas, Tallahassee reporter for two of Florida’s largest newspapers, has reported, Corcoran is already hoping that the CRC will roll back the Fair Districts amendments. Those are the measures that voters approved in 2010 to take politics out of redistricting for seats in the state Legislature and U.S. Congress. Despite the amendment’s passing, state courts found that Republican-drawn maps of new districts repeatedly violated the new law to add to their political advantage.

Corcoran and Negron also hope to repeal the 131-year-old Blaine Amendment, which says state funds can’t be used to support religious institutions. School-voucher opponents have used it to block private schools’ unfettered access to taxpayer funds.

Corcoran also wants to see the state high court’s 10-year-old decision on school vouchers overturned.

All of these court rulings “violated the separation of powers, and the will of the people was thwarted,” Corcoran told Klas.

Which people is he talking about? Not the 63 percent of voters who approved the Fair District amendments in 2010. Not the 57 percent of people who told the Education Next Poll that they oppose school voucher programs that emphasize using government funds.

And not the majorities of Florida voters who have repeatedly repelled legislators’ efforts to trim the powers of the state courts. Time and again, Floridians have shown they value an independent judiciary that can rein in legislators’ actions that run afoul of the constitution.

In the year or more that the Constitutional Review Commission does its work, Floridians need to pay close attention - and make sure that politically and ideologically motivated clauses don’t make their way into the state’s fundamental governing document.

Online:

https://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/

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Jan. 1

The Ocala Star-Banner on a law banning texting while driving:

It’s been 3 1/2 years since Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation making it illegal to text while driving. Problem is, accidents and deaths, not to mention cell phone ownership, have continued to rise in spite of the anti-texting law - because it is shamefully weak.

Two South Florida lawmakers have filed bills to stop this public safety outrage. State Reps. Richard Stark (D-Weston) and Emily Slosberg (D-Boca Raton) have filed legislation that would give the existing some teeth. Currently, while it is illegal to text and drive, police cannot stop you and ticket you for that and that alone. They can only ticket you - the fine is only $30, by the way - if you are stopped for another violation. As a result, Floridians who like to text while driving don’t pay much attention to the texting ban.

Stark’s bill would make it primary offense to text and drive, meaning if a police officer saw you texting and driving, he could stop you and write a citation for it. Slosberg’s bill would make it a primary offense for juveniles as well.

Unfortunately, the lawmakers are not confident their bills will pass. Stark told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “the chance that this bill is going to pass is probably slim and none.” An identical bill did not even make it out of committee last year.

That is irresponsible on the Legislature’s part. Florida has seen traffic fatalities rise 46 percent since 2014. And the state Department of Motor Vehicles told the Tampa Bay Times earlier this year that accidents involving distracted driving rose 36 percent between 2012 and 2015. Last year alone, according to the Florida High way Patrol, there were more than 39,000 accidents and 200 fatalities caused by distracted driving in Florida.

Which begs the question: Why are our lawmakers averse to making texting while driving a primary offense? Surely they have been reminded of the impact seat belts have had on saving lives. When Florida first made it illegal to drive without a seat belt in 1986, it too was a secondary offense. It took until 2009, 23 years, before it became a primary offense - and seat belt use immediately increased significantly once tickets were being written.

Florida has one of the weakest texting while driving laws in the nation. It is just common sense that if we can reduce texting while driving, which more than one study has shown is akin to driving while drunk, we will also reduce the number of accidents associated with distracted driving and save lives.

Opponents of a stricter texting ban use the false argument that it infringes on personal rights. No more than seat belts. And what about the personal rights of victims of this reckless behavior who suffer property damage or injury or worse because someone was texting while driving instead of, well, driving.

Gov. Rick Scott should get behind this issue. Florida is just one of 11 states where texting while driving is not a primary offense - and even then, we have the weakest law of the 11.

This is a no-brainer. It is obvious texting while driving is dangerous and costing lives and putting too many drivers at risk on our highways. The Legislature should make this obviously needed legislation one of its first orders of business. It’s an easy call. There really is no argument.

Online:

https://www.ocala.com/

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Dec. 31

The Naples Daily News on Florida’s natural resources:

While there were some signs of growth slowing a bit as the books closed on 2016, construction remains vibrant and long-term planning for future development remains a work in progress in Southwest Florida as the new year arrives.

So 2017 will be a critical year for safeguarding our natural resources. That’s why the Naples Daily News editorial board has identified protection of natural resources as one issue community leaders should consider a high priority in the year ahead.

Into that general concern, we include preserving our future water supply; harnessing tainted stormwater that threatens preserved land and waterways; reversing trends that are seeing record deaths in some iconic Florida species; acquiring more conservation lands, and identifying resources to better protect our beaches.

Easing up?

Although the December numbers aren’t yet added to complete year-end totals, several building-related statistics in Collier and Lee counties for the first 11 months of 2016 lead us to suggest a slight easing on growth.

For example, Collier building statistics show new construction permits issued in November at the lowest number since December 2014. In October and November, the dollar value of new home construction permits in Collier was at its lowest level since summer 2015. In November in Lee, the number of new home permits hit its lowest monthly total in 2016, significantly so.

Before anyone puts away the hammer and nails, however, “easing” of growth isn’t the same as “ending” it. Construction added 2,800 jobs to the labor force in Collier and Lee counties in November compared with the same month of 2015, so there’s still plenty going on.

Time will tell which data is an anomaly or a trend. Regardless, the sustained level of growth over the past two years will take a toll on natural resources.

Protection needed

What needs attention in 2017?

- Water. As noted in a guest commentary Saturday, a November report “Water 2070” by 1000 Friends of Florida, the University of Florida and the state Department of Agriculture raised concerns about unsustainable trends in water consumption. “Now is the time to move forward on serious water conservation efforts before it is too costly, or too late,” the report concludes.

- Stormwater. While high water levels have dropped and the alarm over Lake Okeechobee releases has quieted, the Legislature will make a key decision in 2017 about acquiring more water storage south of the lake. The sides are getting entrenched for and against the proposal by Senate President Joe Negon, R-Stuart, to acquire 60,000 acres while bonding some $2.4 billion to reduce discharges into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers.

- The focus has been on preserved land and waterways, but there were records set in 2016 for Florida panther and manatee deaths. A state website as of Thursday listed 42 panther deaths in 2016, including a dozen that were about a year old or younger. A record number of panthers died in collisions with vehicles in 2016. Substitute “manatees” and “boats” into that sentence and the same holds true; about 100 manatees died in collisions with watercraft in 2016, surpassing the 2009 record of 97, according to the Save the Manatee Club.

- Lee commissioners received 83 percent voter support in 2016 to continue pursuing the acquisition and maintenance of lands through the Conservation 20/20 tax. Commissioners and state Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, want to put together a financial package to acquire and protect Edison Farms, a wetland-rich, 4,000-acre tract east of Interstate 75 between Corkscrew and Bonita Beach roads. Collier commissioners are considering renewing the tax-supported Conservation Collier program.

- The recent “Shrinking Shores” series by the Naples Daily News documented that half of Florida’s 825 miles of coast is critically eroded, with too little state money budgeted to solve the problem. Collier commissioners are considering whether to renew efforts to do longer-term dredging projects rather than hauling sand by truck. We’d also advocate discussion in 2017 of a coordinated regional Collier-Lee approach to beach renourishment projects to save money.

Online:

https://www.naplesnews.com/