Recent editorials from Florida newspapers:
___
Oct. 30
Tampa Bay Times of St. Petersburg on Florida Constitution amendments up for vote:
Of the 12 amendments to the Florida Constitution on Tuesday’s ballot, only Amendment 4 deserves your vote. It would automatically restore voting rights for most felons who have completed all of the requirements of their sentences, including serving prison time and paying restitution. Passing this constitutional amendment, which does not apply to anyone convicted of murder or felony sex crimes, would be the fourth-largest expansion of voting rights in American history and would mean that Florida is no longer an embarrassing national outlier of disenfranchisement.
The other 11 constitutional amendments do not deserve to pass. Generally, the amendments placed on the ballot by the Florida Legislature were politically motivated, and too many amendments placed on the ballot by the Constitution Revision Commission combined multiple, complicated subjects. That may have been legal, but it certainly wasn’t in the public interest. There has been so much misleading politicking over some of these amendments that it’s worth reviewing the drawbacks of a few of them in more detail.
Taxes
The Legislature placed three tax-related amendments on the ballot - 1, 2 and 5 - and in each case abrogated its responsibilities on tax policy. Amendment 1 would give some homeowners another $25,000 homestead exemption and unfairly shift more of the tax burden on to businesses and renters. Hillsborough projects that its tax revenues would fall by $32 million; Pinellas estimates a $21.7 million reduction. Amendment 2 would make permanent a 10 percent cap on the annual increase in taxable value of non-homestead properties, further hamstringing local government. Amendment 5 reaches into the future to make it nearly impossible for future legislatures to raise or impose taxes even in times of crisis by requiring a two-thirds vote rather than a simple majority. The Republicans now in charge should not permanently handcuff their successors.
On amendments 1, 2 and 5, the Tampa Bay Times recommends voting No.
Gambling
Amendment 3. The Times editorial board has opposed the spread of gambling in Florida for decades, but this amendment is unfair. It would allow voters - and only voters - to place a constitutional amendment on casino gambling on the ballot. That cuts out both the Legislature and the Constitution Revision Commission. Those who favor Amendment 3 are an odd coalition that includes the Florida League of Women Voters, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Disney (which opposes gambling) and the Seminole Tribe of Florida (which prefers no competition for its casinos). Those campaigning against the amendment claim that Amendment 3 is “anti-schools” and would cut education funding. It would not. The opponents rely on tortured reasoning and sketchy math to come up with their frightening numbers. The amendment should stand or fall on its fairness and merits, not wild assertions. On Amendment 3, the Tampa Bay Times recommends voting No.
Victims’ rights
Amendment 6. This measure would extend judges’ retirement ages, curb state agencies’ ability to interpret law, and add rights for crime victims - big issues that should not be jumbled into one proposal. This amendment would apply another state’s so-called Marsy’s Law to Florida. Kelsey Grammer’s heart-tugging ad in favor of Amendment 6 doesn’t address the reality in Florida and talks broadly about what happened in other states, which isn’t relevant. There is no need to amend the state Constitution to copy a California law, and victims already have rights in Florida. By allowing not just the accused to demand a speedy trial but also prosecutors and victims, the amendment would clog the courts with constitutional challenges, and it also could endanger fair trials and worthy appeals. For example, it would set limits of five years to complete state appeals in most capital cases. Keep in mind that 27 people have been freed from Florida’s death row after they were exonerated. The limits imposed by Marsy’s Law could have curbed those appeals and kept innocent people on death row. On Amendment 6, the Tampa Bay Times recommends voting No.
Online: http://www.tampabay.com/
___
Oct. 31
Miami Herald on business leaders’ roles in addressing sea level rise:
At last year’s annual Southeast Florida Regional Climate Leadership Summit, we were encouraged when business leaders not only acknowledged the threat sea level rise poses to the region but the role they needed to play in addressing it.
It was a major step forward in attracting the financial and political muscle needed to prepare the region for rising waters.
A year later, the three major chambers of commerce from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties are looking to make good on that promise. Earlier this year, the business groups signed an agreement to “act and collaborate as a region” on the issue of sea-level rise, Dennis Grady, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches, recently told the Post Editorial Board.
“As business organizations, we realized that we could no longer afford to get bogged down by parochialism, not on this issue,” Grady said. “Sea-level rise is a regional problem . and we are all in agreement that we need to attack it that way; with a laser point, not a shotgun blast.”
Adding that the message of the collaborative series - The Invading Sea - by the Miami Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Palm Beach Post and WLRN Public Radio “was not lost on us,” Grady said, “From a regional standpoint, we now know that sea level rise has to be at the top of our thought process in terms of future business growth and development.”
That should please the scores of climate science and government leaders attending the leadership summit held last week at the Miami Beach Convention Center. It was hosted by the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact.
You’d hardly be blamed for thinking that the bulk of the business community had been napping on the biggest existential threat facing our region. Real estate is a multibillion-dollar industry in South Florida.
…
When it comes to sea-level rise, however, our region is the tip of the spear. As we’ve said previously, predictions show South Florida is due for 1 to 2 feet of sea level rise by 2060, endangering more than $14 billion of real estate, according to the nonprofit research group Climate Central. Of the 25 U.S. cities most vulnerable to sea level rise, 22 are in Florida.
The threat from rising seas is not only real and visible but tangible when it comes to our tax dollars. Enter the Climate Change Compact, now beginning its 10th year, a collaborative effort between Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties created in response to this environmental and economic threat. The idea was to get the four Florida counties - and their municipalities - with arguably the most to lose to work together on resilience, mitigation and adaptation strategies.
And there has been success - mostly on the government side. Through its still relatively new Office of Resilience, Palm Beach County has been a guiding force for its municipalities; encouraging them to use the the Compact’s research and strategies to help counter the effects of sea level rise and storm surge. But to adequately address sea-level rise issues the right way, local governments must work hand-in-glove with local businesses. To that end, Grady - who addressed last week’s summit - says we should see more action and input from the Greater Fort Lauderdale and Greater Miami chambers, as well as his own.
“We’re beyond issue proclamation time,” he said. “We’re committed to going to Washington, Tallahassee, wherever we need to get this issue in front of the right people: that our region is at great risk from sea level rise.”
That’s a welcome start.
Online: https://www.miamiherald.com/
___
Oct. 31
The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville on gun violence:
Life itself is the greatest human right.
Therefore, it’s interesting to see gun violence addressed as a public health issue.
Amnesty International did just that in a new report, “In the Line of Fire: Human Rights and the U.S. Gun Violence Crisis.”
The United States has the highest gun ownership in the world, yet this country does a poor job of keeping guns away from dangerous people.
For instance, researchers from Johns Hopkins University calculate the annual cost of gun assaults at $3 billion. Also, 8,300 children are treated each year for gunshot injuries.
“The right to live free from violence, discrimination and fear has been superseded by a sense of entitlement to own a practically unlimited array of deadly weapons without sufficient regulations on their acquisition, possession and use,” the report stated.
Let’s make it clear. The United States is rare in giving gun ownership constitutional protection. But the Supreme Court also has specified that many restrictions are consistent with the First Amendment. The American people get that.
…
Other proposals run into major differences between gun owners and non-gun owners. For instance, banning assault weapons is supported by 77 percent of non-gun owners and 48 percent of gun owners. One difficulty here is in terminology.
Another proposal is to require an extra level of time and background checks for military-style weapons as is already done with machine guns.
One factor that often is overlooked is the role of guns in suicides. In 2016, 38,658 Americans died by gun violence but 22,938 were suicides.
Support is growing for court orders to temporarily remove guns from seriously depressed people. Another solution is to publicize the importance of safely storing guns.
Universal background checks are not only popular, but states that require them have significantly less firearms trafficking, substantially fewer firearm-related suicides, 47 percent fewer women killed in domestic violence disputes and 53 percent fewer police officers killed on duty, reports Amnesty International.
Children are tragically affected by gun violence. In 2016, 1,637 children died from guns: 862 suicides and 633 homicides. Another 104 children died in firearm-related accidents. Here again, the United States has the highest rate of firearm-related deaths of children. Yet 23 states do not have laws requiring that guns be safely stored away from children.
Only six states require a license or permit to purchase all firearms and only six states require some form of training before purchasing a firearm.
In 39 states there are no laws requiring gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement.
…
“More than half of all women murdered in the United States are killed by current or former intimate partners, and most intimate-partner homicides are committed with guns,” reports Amnesty International.
Laws that ban men with a history of domestic violence from owning guns often contain loopholes for dating partners, those convicted of misdemeanor stalking.
As a public health crisis, more research could help find those solutions that are both effective and fall within the Second Amendment. However, research has been stifled by federal regulations that saw research into gun violence as an indirect attempt to ban guns.
Following the shooting in Parkland, a number of states passed improved background check laws that keep guns away from dangerous people and domestic abusers.
It seems that fatal tragedies are needed to persuade legislators to do the right thing.
Sadly, the tragedies won’t stop without good people taking action.
Online: https://www.jacksonville.com/
Please read our comment policy before commenting.