BlogWood: MT Archives

Taking people out of democracy

Led by Jeb!, there’s no question that the GOP hates democracy. Jeb! spurned the high speed rail amendment and fought to have it overturned. He is actively working to undo the class size amendment, and stands by as his legislature waters down the hugely popular minimum wage amendment, and now, as threatened, the GOP is trying to make it next to impossible for citizens to get an initiative passed into law.

Florida voters would face new hurdles in amending the Constitution under a series of changes a House committee approved Thursday.

Voting generally along party lines, the House Judiciary Committee's Republican majority said it wants to stop special interests from hijacking the Constitution.

Democrats protested that the changes would make it all but impossible for citizens to have a direct voice in government. They tried to create a new route for citizen involvement in enacting new laws, but the GOP majority defeated the proposal.

One change approved Thursday would require that ballot initiatives pass by a 60 percent margin statewide, whether proposed by citizens or the Legislature.

Three other changes would affect only citizen initiatives:

Sixty percent approval would be required in at least 60 percent of the state's 25 congressional districts - a move designed to prevent voters in urban areas such as South Florida from imposing programs not widely supported elsewhere.

Any initiative with significant impact on the state budget - more than one-tenth of 1 percent - would require a two-thirds majority.

Subjects would be limited to fundamental rights and areas already in the Constitution.

The changes approved Thursday still have to pass the full House and Senate by three-fifths majorities and be approved by voters in November 2006.

"We are giving the people the opportunity to decide how their Constitution should be amended. That's how the process should work," said Rep. Joe Pickens, R-Palatka.

"We're doing everything we can to try to take people out of democracy," countered Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach. "I think it's a sad day when we have just decided that we know better than anybody."

Democrats proposed an alternative known as a statutory initiative, which allows citizens to pass laws that could be repealed by the Legislature by a two-thirds vote. Republicans say that would take away their responsibility as elected representatives.

"When we don't represent the people, they throw us out of government," said Rep. Fred Brummer, R-Apopka. "Fairly simple concept. It's worked for over 200 years."

This is the second year in a row lawmakers have pushed to limit how the Constitution can be amended. From pregnant pig protection to prekindergarten education, a growing number of citizen petitions have been proposed in recent years.

But figures compiled by the University of Florida show that since 1978, many more amendments have been proposed by the Legislature or by Constitution revision commissions than by citizens.
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Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said amending the Constitution is too easy now.

"It's a scary situation to have a Constitution so subject to amendment with a simple majority," Lee said. "The evidence is clear. A higher threshold for approval is appropriate."