GOVERNOR CHARLIE CRIST
Tuesday, July 20, 2010, Press Conference Transcript Excerpt:

Good afternoon. To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. I am significantly disappointed for the people. I really am. I can’t believe that this Legislature has shirked its duty so badly. They had an opportunity to put a referendum before the people, to allow the people the right to vote on this important issue, and they wouldn’t even trust them.

In the House, they didn’t even trust their own members. They wouldn’t even let them speak. They limited their speech. Even among their colleagues. How arrogant can a Legislature be?

You know, when President Truman was president, he called the Congress the do-nothing Congress. Well, today, I call this the do-nothing Legislature. And I’m going to give them hell for it. I can’t believe that they would have that much of a lack of respect for the people of Florida that they wouldn’t even give them the chance to vote on an issue that is impacting Florida as much as this one is.

It is embarrassing to watch. I feel for the people. I’m sorry for their inability to take this issue by themselves and have a chance to make a difference for the future of our state. To have the Legislature disrespect them so much and to have them thumb their noses at the people in this way is absolutely astonishing.

It is clearly the exercise of arrogance of power. They’ve lost their way, and that’s a shame.

And they did it on Senate Bill 6 too. Remember, they wouldn’t take any amendments on Senate Bill 6. They limited debate on this issue that would have simply gone to the people, that would have given them the right to vote.

I can’t understand it. I can’t describe that kind of illogical behavior. It is not appropriate. It’s not fair. It’s not right for the people. It is astonishing to me. And both parties are guilty. Both the House and the Senate.

During an abbreviated floor debate on a motion to adjourn the special session sine die without action on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban near-shore drilling in Florida waters, Florida House Democratic Caucus members made the following remarks:

(As reported by The News Service of Florida)

Rep. Ron Saunders, D-Key West: "The members trying to limit debate today should be embarrassed,” Saunders said. He said the voters should decide. “If they don’t decide today, they’ll decide for you in November,” Saunders said.

Rep. Daryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, said it would be a missed opportunity not to take up the issue and let the voters decide.

Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, said lawmakers were squandering a golden opportunity. “Let the people vote,” said Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg.

Rep. Adam Fetterman, D-St. Lucie, rose to say that lawmakers had failed to act on their own, so the “governor called your hand.” Fetterman, D-Port St. Lucie, said people weren’t listening to the voters.

Rep. Gwyndolen Clarke-Reed, D-Deerfield Beach, said she polled cities she represents and most wanted the issue on the ballot.

Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota, said that the state’s waters are what bring people to Florida. “We should not be cavalier about this issue,” said Fitzgerald. “We should not be dismissive to the people’s desire to be heard…..This proposal would be a crucial signal to markets that Florida is not an oil state….Mr. Speaker, I urge you to let the people vote.”

Rep. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, said “we are in a season of urgency.” He said lawmakers should be expanding the call to take up other issues in addition to the ban. He acknowledged the session was “forged in politics,” but said it could “end in success.”

Rep. Franklin Sands, D-Weston, the House Democratic Leader, said the people of Florida don’t want near shore drilling. “And that really is the issue,” Sands said. He noted that previous discussions of whether to allow new drilling have included assurances that new technology prevents spills, or makes them easy to quickly react to. That has proven not to be the case, Sands said. He also noted that Republicans called for letting people vote on gay marriage, even though law already bans it.
 

By JOHN KENNEDY
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

House and Senate Democrats demanded that Republican leaders drop their push for an amendment (HJR 7231) supporters say will “complement” the FairDistricts reapportionment ballot measures set for the November ballot.

Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, said the proposal set for floor votes in both chambers is designed to confuse voters and undermine the goals of the voter-supported FairDistricts proposals, which would prohibit legislative and congressional district lines from being drawn to help incumbents or political parties.

“We will not be bamboozled or hoodwinked by their proposal they say will clarify Amendments 5 and 6,” Thompson said.

“It’s really trying to rig the system to make sure that those now in power remain in power.”

Click here to download/read the complete article.

UPDATE: The Florida House voted to have HJR 7231 (Amendment #7) on the November ballot potentially neutralizing two earlier amendments (Amendments 5 and 6) that would re-district congressional and legislative districts in Florida.

The vote was 74-40.

In early July, a judge threw the legislatively-proposed Constitutional Amendment #7 dealing with the rules for drawing political boundaries off the November ballot.

Amendments 5 and 6 are being challenged by two members of Congress, and by the Legislature, claiming the proposals may run afoul of federal protections for minority voters, a claim vehemently denied by the two amendments' backers.

In photo above Reps. Kevin Rader, Keith Fitzgerald, Darren Soto, Luis Garcia, Perry Thurston, Leader Franklin Sands, Maria Sachs, Joe Gibbons, Ronald Brisé, Janet Long
and Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda

Reprinted with Permission of www.newsserviceflorida.com Independent and Indispensable