WE CARE!!! WE FIGHT!!! WE SHOW UP!!! WE VOTE!!!!
WE CARE!!! WE FIGHT!!! WE SHOW UP!!! WE VOTE!!!!
Dear U.F.T./R.T.C. member,
With 13 constitutional amendments, as well as proposed city and county charter amendments and a long list of candidates, the November 2018 ballot will be quite lengthy. Some believe it could be up to 5 pages in length. This length, plus lines on voting day, make it vital for us to vote by mail this year. Please make sure you have requested a VBM ballot so that you can look over the issues in the comfort of your home, rather than in a booth with long lines waiting for you to finish. What follows in my next few e mails will be the listing of the amendments without recommendations.
After you have read the amendments there are plenty of organizations who will present their positions to you. Either political party headquarters have opinions, also there is the ACLU, the League of Women's Voters. Everyone will have an opinion as to how you should vote. However, like everything else, educate yourself and vote.
Amendment 1… INCREASED HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION:
... would raise the portion of a home's value that can be exempted from non-school property taxes. The proposed changes would apply to the assessed value of a homestead property between $100,000 and $125,000. The shift could save homeowners a couple hundred dollars, but a legislative staff analysis estimated local governments, which rely on property taxes for revenue, would lose about $645 million in the first year if the exemption is approved. This proposal would go into effect January 1, 2019.
Amendment 2… LIMITATIONS ON PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENTS:
...would permanently retain an existing cap on non-homestead property assessments. Such property tax assessment increases have been limited to 10 percent of the previous year's assessed value since 200, when another constitutional amendment that capped the increases passed.
Amendment 3...VOTER CONTROL OF GAMBLING IN FLORIDA:
...a citizen-initiated amendment, would give voters the exclusive right to decide to authorize expansion of casino gambling in Florida. Card games, casino games and slot machines are limited to tribal facilities in most of Florida. Though the Legislature has tried in recent years to pass gambling bills that would address the state's agreement with the Seminole Tribe and allow for some expansion of casinos, negotiations have repeatedly broken down in the House, which is more opposed to gambling.
Amendment 4… VOTING RESTORATION AMENDMENT:
This is another citizen initiative, it would restore voting rights to former felons if they have served their time, with the exception of those who have committed crimes like murder or sex offenses. For the past seven years, the state has required that felons wait at least five years after their sentences are complete to apply to regain voting rights. The current process can take up to a decade or more under the current administration's requirements that a state clemency board consider each request during their four meetings a year. if passed, about 1.5 million people win Florida would have their voting rights restored.
Amendment 5… SUPER-MAJORITY VOTE REQUIRED TO IMPOSE, AUTHORIZE, OR RAISE STATE TAXES OR FEES:
If approved, this amendment would require a two-thirds vote by the legislature for all future tax increases at the state level, no matter how small. This amendment does not include a provision that would allow for tax increases in times of emergencies (hurricane, floods, recession, etc.)
This Amendment is put forth from the Constitution Revision Commission
Amendment 6... RIGHTS OF CRIME VICTIMS:
Judges would create a bill of rights for crime victims and set new requirements for judges. Amendment 6 deletes from Florida's constitution existing protections against any interference with the constitutional rights of the accused. It also increases the mandatory retirement age for judges to 75 from 70.
Amendment 7..FIRST RESPONDER AND MILITARY MEMBER SURVIVOR BENEFITS; PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES:
Pulls together three proposals: providing college tuition for the survivors of first responders and military members killed on duty, requiring trustees to agree by a two-thirds super-majority to raise college fees (not including tuition) and establishing the state college system in the Florida Constitution. Universities are in the state Constitution, but state colleges (also known as community colleges) are not.
Amendment 8...SCHOOL BOARD TERM LIMITS AND DUTIES; PUBLIC SCHOOLS:
wraps three proposals together- a proposal for eight-year school board term limits is linked to expanded civics literacy in public schools, and to a controversial plan to enable charter schools to bypass local school boards by expanding the state's authority to control and supervise them.
Amendment 9...PROHIBITS OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS DRILLING; PROHIBITS VAPING IN ENCLOSED INDOOR WORKPLACE:
ties a ban on oil and gas drilling in state-owned waters with a proposal to add vaping to the ban on indoor smoking.
Amendment 10.... STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE AND OPERATION:
links four proposals: one to have the state's legislative session start in January rather than March in even-numbered years (the legislature currently changes its dates by statue), two that would create a counter-terrorism office and make the state veterans affairs department constitutionally required, and a proposal that would require five county-level offices to be elected.
Amendment 11.... PROPERTY RIGHTS; REMOVAL OF OBSOLETE PROVISION; CRIMINAL STATUTES:
would revise the Constitution to remove some obsolete language, including a provision that stops "aliens ineligible for citizenship" from owning property and wording approving a high-speed rail system. It would also clarify that repealing a criminal statute would not retroactively affect the prosecution of a crime committed previously.
Amendment 12...LOBBYING AND ABUSE OF OFFICE BY PUBLIC OFFICERS:
is a stand alone proposal that would bar public officials from lobbying both during their terms and for six years following, and restrict current public officers from using their office for personal gain.
Amendment 13....ENDS DOG RACING:
would end commercial dog racing involving wagering by 2020. There are about a dozen tracks in Florida, and the practice has drawn criticism from animal rights advocates who assert that the practice is inhumane. The Florida Greyhound Association has sued seeking to remove the amendment from the ballot.
These are the Amendments on the ballot this year, VOTE BY MAIL!!!!!!!!!
Finally, the July 13th edition of USA TODAY had an interesting article which is worth noting.
BUDGET DEFICIT TOTALS $74.9 BILLION IN JUNE, REFLECTING TAX CUT.
The federal government recorded a $74.9 billion deficit in June, a month when the government often runs a surplus, as corporate taxes dropped sharply compared with a year ago. The Treasury Department reported that the June deficit pushed the imbalance this year to $607.1 billion, 16.3 percent higher than the same period a year ago. The Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the deficit for the entire budget year will total $793 billion.
ACTIVISTS NEVER RETIRE!!!!!!
Fraternally,
Stewart H. Cohen
West Coast U.F.T./R.T.C. Section Coordinator
Political Action Coordinator
Florida UFT Retired Teachers Section