Our Crazy Legislature, Week 8

Progressive Pensacola is proud (or ashamed?) to present the latest installment of our weekly feature, Our Crazy Legislature. Each week, we try to round up some of the many, many bad decisions made by the Florida Legislature, and some of the many, many bad ideas proposed by the legislators therein. There are so many that it’s literally hard to keep track.

St. Petersburg Times:
“House leader says controversial elections bill is dead for this session”

As we near the end of the legislative session (unless the budget doesn’t get done), we can celebrate one small victory this week as one piece of really bad legislation won’t make it to the governor’s desk.

That legislation is the Republican-sponsored elections reform bill, which we like to call the “Voter Disenfranchisement Bill.” According to House Majority Leader Adam Hasner (R-Delray Beach), the bill is dead, but look to see it again next year.

The bill, HB 7149/S 956, would have made it harder for the poor and elderly to vote by limiting two forms of ID used predominately by those groups. It would have made it harder to conduct third-party voter registration and petition drives. It would have made it easier to abuse fundraising laws through “leadership funds.” These are all things the Republicans in the Legislature call “necessary reforms.”

In fact, when telling the St. Petersburg Times that the bill was dead, Majority Leader Hasner said, “I think there were some much needed election reforms in the original bill … Cracking down on groups like ACORN is something that I think is critical in terms of cleaning up our elections system.”

Wow.

I’m glad to see this bill dead (for now), but as Kenneth Quinnell of the Florida Progressive Coalition has put so well:

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a legislative session where we measure success not by stopping crazy bills, but by passing bills that actually help people?

Tallahassee Democrat:
“‘Timing is everything’ in bid to greenlight offshore drilling”

As always seems to be the case with the Florida Legislature, there’s more bad news than good. Republican legislators continue to try to push through scummy last minute bills, like HB 1219, which would lift a 20-year ban on offshore oil drilling in Florida waters:

Rep. Dean Cannon, a Republican from Winter Park and the speaker designate, stunned environmentalists last week by ramming a bill through the House Policy Council that would give the governor and Cabinet the power to approve drilling as close as three miles from shore.

The 20-page amendment came out of nowhere in the final days of a chaotic session when all eyes were riveted on a standoff over fixing a $6 billion budget shortfall.

Oil companies and their lobbyists are wetting themselves with glee:

“The stars and the moon have lined up for us,” said Keyna Cory, a lobbyist for Associated Industries of Florida. “Timing is everything.”

Offshore drilling isn’t going to work some kind of magic with gas prices or our dependence on foreign oil. And do we really want to see oil platforms offshore when we go to our beaches? Do our tourists?

See also:

• Miami Herald: “Oil companies push Florida legislature for offshore drilling”
• Palm Beach Post: “Drilling bill is rigged”