BlogWood: MT Archives

Jeb!Co marches on (NOT another post on Terri Schiavo!)

In Tallahassee, legislative life goes on, with Republicans working to put the rights of the people into a permanent vegetative state.

A package of proposals that would make it harder for voters to change the Florida Constitution easily cleared its first Senate panel Tuesday - but without a key measure that is advancing in the House.

For the second year in a row, state lawmakers have made it a top priority to tighten the requirements for citizen initiatives. Many of the key proposals would need voter approval in November 2006 to take effect.

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee unanimously approved raising the amount of votes needed to amend the constitution and limiting the subjects that petition drives can address.

Most of the legislation is identical to the House plan, but the House also has a measure that would require approval in 60 percent of the state's congressional districts. The Senate does not have that proposal.

"That's an ongoing discussion," said Sen. Jim King, one of primary advocates for the changes.

Both chambers want to raise the vote threshold needed to change the state constitution to 60 percent, up from 50 percent plus one. That change would apply to all proposed constitutional amendments whether they reached the ballot by petition drive or by legislative action.

The two chambers also want a 66 percent threshold for citizen initiatives that would cost money to implement - and the trigger would be measures that cost one-tenth of 1 percent of the state budget.
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Both chambers also want to limit the subjects that could be addressed through petition drives to issues that affect fundamental rights, the basic structure of government and existing provisions.
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Supporters of the status quo, like the League of Women Voters and Common Cause Florida, say it's essential for voters to have some way to make their voices heard when their elected representatives refuse to act.

So, virtually any proposal that cost something, which can be construed to mean any proposal whatsoever, would require a two thirds majority to pass. Jeb! has always hated citizen initiatives - he killed the bullet train, he’s working on killing the class size caps, he’s under funding Pre-K, and doing his best to weaken the minimum wage law. If Jeb! and his cronies get their way, there may well never be another meaningful proposal brought forth and voted into law by the people of Florida.

Meanwhile, the prognosis for Florida’s once strong open records laws is bleak. This year,GOP thugs are citing identity theft as the reason to contribute to the Sunshine Law’s death of a thousand cuts.

Posey's bill (SB 2178) would keep confidential much of the information that can be found on someone's application for an absentee ballot, including their social security number.

But advocates for open government are worried about the bill, because it doesn't just keep that information out of the public eye.

The measure also would keep secret information such as the date the absentee ballot was requested, when it was mailed, when it was received by the supervisor and, most concerning to open records advocates, "any other information the supervisor deems necessary regarding the request."

The bill does specify some who could still have access: other election officials, political parties, candidates, and political fund-raising committees. But the general public wouldn't have access and that could prevent, among other things, research about voters.

"A lot of that information (could be) really important in tracking down problems in the election," said Barbara Petersen, the president of the First Amendment Foundation, an open government watchdog group in Tallahassee. "It's a little unconstitutional, and I don't think it's in the public's best interest given the problems we've had with absentee ballots."

Rep. Fred Brummer, one of the Legislature's most vocal advocates of open government, said lawmakers too often use issues like identity theft to try to close records.

"There's no question that identity theft has changed the way records should be kept, but government records are not the source of information that permit identity theft. That's the last place that people will look for that information," said Brummer, R-Apopka.

If a colleague mentions identity theft when proposing a public records exemption, Brummer said he looks at it "with the most jaundiced eye."

Attacks on open government are nothing new, and another trend that continues this year is Jeb!’s fondness for pandering to his base. No, I’m not segueing back to Terri Schiavo. Jeb!’s base is the “have mores,” and they are getting theirs while the poor are, uh, encouraged to crawl away and die quietly so as not to upset the important folks.

Two of the most popular tax breaks in the Legislature moved through their first committee Friday - a repeal of the intangibles tax on stocks and bonds and a sales tax "holiday" on clothes, school supplies and books.

The rollback of the intangibles tax would cost $236 million this year and $301 million next year.

The sales tax holiday is a much smaller tax break and would cost state and local governments about $52 million.

The House Finance and Tax Committee voted 7-2 repeal the intangibles tax in one year. The tax is imposed on stocks and bonds at a rate of $1 per $1,000 of taxable assets. The first $250,000 of investments is exempt.
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The House panel defeated an amendment by state Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Dania, to keep the intangibles tax but raise the amount that would be exempt from $250,000 to $1 million. The amendment would have also closed a loophole that lets investors transfer their holdings in and out of Florida to avoid the tax.

Democrats argue that that repealing the intangibles tax does nothing for the middle class or poor but benefits only the wealthy. Florida already has one of the most regressive tax systems in the nation - but it will be even worse if the intangibles tax is eliminated, warned Rep. Ken Gottlieb, D-Hollywood.
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The committee voted 8-1 for sales tax holiday (CS-HB 101) legislation.

That bill would give shoppers a break for nine days this summer from the state's 6-cent sales tax on clothes, books and bags priced at $100 or less and on school supplies costing $10 or less.

Now, the intangibles tax is paid by the wealthiest 1.3 percent of Floridians. The average person who pays this tax has stocks and bonds worth over $1 million. We’re giving these people $536 million back, money that we could spend on healthcare or education.

Oh, but there’s a sales tax holiday thrown in: big fucking deal. These holidays do nothing to change the most regressive tax system in the South for the rest of the year, and retailers tend to be smart enough to raise their prices just a wee bit during these tax holidays, so they benefit more than the consumers who are looking for a break.