The Florida Chamber of Commerce is opposing a proposed Florida constitutional amendment which would legalize recreational marijuana that will be on the November ballot.
If it passes, I am confident the Florida Legislature, with Governor Ron DeSantis encouragement, will do everything in their power to gut it. That happened when the medical marijuana amendment passed in 2016.
And it happened when Floridians, by over a 60 percent majority, approved an amendment restoring voting rights to people who had committed non-violent felonies and had completed their sentences. The Legislature decided that included paying all fines, fees and other costs, thus delaying the restoration of those rights. I doubt any of the people who voted for that amendment had thought of which particular angle to keep people from the polls.
Anyway, the Chamber’s position is that a voter initiative on drugs does not belong on the ballot. The proper place to handle it is in the Legislature, the people’s representatives.
The problem is that gerrymandering has effectively assigned voting districts which favor the Republican party, rendering the people’s voice mute in many cases when it comes to the Legislature. Even with an amendment, pushed by initiative, requiring legislative districts to be as compact as possible, the Legislature has still managed to create House and Senate districts that heavily favor Republican candidates.
The result is that people go around them by amending the Florida Constitution. That happened with not only medical marijuana and restoring felons’ voting rights, it also has happened with the minimum wage in 2020 and voters approving casinos in 2018.
If the Chamber wants those issues decided by the Legislature, perhaps it should push for a constitutional amendment taking redistricting out of the hands of the Legislature and the governor.
A balanced non-partisan redistricting commission with no political party holding a majority may do the trick. The only review would be by the Florida Supreme Court.
Keeping political self-interest out of the process may go a long way to making the Legislature reflective of the electorate.
For more, go to williamblocher.com
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