On Monday, April 1st, SB 7096 will be heard at 4:00 p.m. in the Senate Judiciary Committee. This bill continues a decade-long attempt to eliminate your ability to amend the State Constitution through ballot initiative.

If your Senator is listed below call their office Monday April 1st before 4:00 p.m. and urge them to stand up for YOUR Constitutional Rights by voting NO on SB 7096.

David Simmons	(850) 487-5009
Jose Javier Rodriguez	(850) 487-5037
Dennis Baxley	(850) 487-5012
Audrey Gibson	(850) 487-5006
Travis Hutson	(850) 487-5007
Kelli Stargell	(850) 487-5022

This Bill will make the already burdensome process of having an initiative placed on the ballot nearly impossible. Of the states which allow for a citizen’s initiative, Florida already has the most difficult requirements to place an item on the ballot and have it pass once there.

Tell the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee NOT to eliminate YOUR Constitutional Rights and vote NO on SB 7096:

• This bill would limit free speech by only allowing Florida citizens to collect signatures
• Volunteers must register with the state to collect petitions, meaning they must register to exercise their first amendment rights
• If a petition collector is ruled ineligible the signatures of the voters who signed the petitions will be ruled invalid without their knowledge
• The popular vote threshold to pass would increase to a 2/3 majority, not the 60% currently required

Supporters of the proposed changes claim the bill addresses current issues with the citizen initiative process. These pretenses show their true motive is to eliminate the citizen initiative process, not protect our voting process:

• Fraud is statistically nonexistent in the initiative process, and it
  is disingenuous to use it as reasoning to further erode our constitutional rights
• The amount of amendments passed by the Legislature, CRC and TBRC outnumber citizen initiatives 3-1, meaning citizen initiatives do not overburden the process
• Some of the past citizen initiatives have led to rights restoration, homestead exemptions, increased minimum wage and tax exemptions. These are not frivolous amendments and represent the wishes of the citizens who worked to place them on the ballot and those who voted to enact them.

This is an important bill that could have lasting ramifications on the future of our democratic process and constitutional rights.

Call the Senate Judiciary Committee and tell them NOT to further erode your Constitutional Rights by voting NO on SB 7096.

TODAY, Tuesday, March 26th, SB 7030 will be up for its next vote in the Senate Infrastructure and Security Committee. Instead of properly addressing the needs facing Florida’s teachers, staff and students, this bill is a quick and inexpensive fix that ignores the systemic failure facing our state’s education system.

If your Senator is listed below call them NOW and urge them to stand up for school safety by voting NO on SB 7030.

🚨Tom Lee	📞 (850) 487-5020
🚨Keith Perry	📞 (850) 487-5008
🚨Aaron Bean	📞 (850) 487-5004
🚨Janet Cruz	📞 (850) 487-5018
🚨Ed Hooper	📞 (850) 487-5016
🚨Travis Hutson	📞 (850) 487-5007
🚨Linda Stewart	📞 (850) 487-5013
🚨Annette Taddeo	📞 (850) 487-5040

If school safety was truly a concern for the Legislature, they would choose to support funding for critical services such as resource officers for every school and a sufficient number of trained mental health professionals. This bill ignores the important role guidance counselors, school psychologists and social workers have in the education system.

Professional educators know, and the voting public agrees, that teachers should not be armed with guns; instead they should be armed with better salaries and working conditions.

Tell the members of the Senate Committee on Infrastructure and Security NOT to arm teachers and to vote NO on SB 7030.

• Student and staff safety is an issue of the utmost importance; we must address the underlying causes of bullying and violence on school campuses including mental health issues.
• Florida’s schools are woefully understaffed with average student to staff ratios of 458:1, 1,951:1 and 2,003:1 respectively for school counselors, psychologists, and social workers.
• The National Association of School Resource Officers says,
  “If a school determines the need for armed security, properly trained school resource officers (SROs) are the only school personnel of any type who should be armed. Our organizations believe that arming educators would cause more harm than good.”
• Each of Florida’s 67 counties has unique needs, and each county knows best how to invest in ensuring student safety. The legislature must support local control and allow for flexibility in how school safety money is spent.
• Please oppose any legislation that would allow more guns carried on campus by anyone other than trained law enforcement.
• The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Commission presented dozens and dozens of recommendations towards school safety. Arming teachers should be the last recommendation considered by the legislature – not the first.
• Teachers have a paramount duty to educate our students. They already take on more responsibilities than just teaching – they shouldn’t be asked to handle a firearm to protect their students as well.

Call the Senate Committee on Infrastructure and Security and tell them NOT to arm teachers and to vote NO on SB 7030

TOMORROW, Wednesday, March 20th, SB 7030 will be up for its next vote in the Senate Infrastructure and Security Committee. Instead of properly addressing the needs facing Florida’s teachers, staff and students, this bill is a quick and inexpensive fix that ignores the systemic failure facing our state’s education system.

If your Senator is listed below call them NOW and urge them to stand up for school safety by voting NO on SB 7030.

🚨Tom Lee	📞 (850) 487-5020
🚨Keith Perry	📞 (850) 487-5008
🚨Aaron Bean	📞 (850) 487-5004
🚨Janet Cruz	📞 (850) 487-5018
🚨Ed Hooper	📞 (850) 487-5016
🚨Travis Hutson	📞 (850) 487-5007
🚨Linda Stewart	📞 (850) 487-5013
🚨Annette Taddeo	📞 (850) 487-5040

If school safety was truly a concern for the Legislature, they would choose to support funding for critical services such as resource officers for every school and a sufficient number of trained mental health professionals. This bill ignores the important role guidance counselors, school psychologists and social workers have in the education system.

Professional educators know, and the voting public agrees, that teachers should not be armed with guns; instead they should be armed with better salaries and working conditions.

Tell the members of the Senate Committee on Infrastructure and Security NOT to arm teachers and to vote NO on SB 7030.

• Student and staff safety is an issue of the utmost importance; we must address the underlying causes of bullying and violence on school campuses including mental health issues.
• Florida’s schools are woefully understaffed with average student to staff ratios of 458:1, 1,951:1 and 2,003:1 respectively for school counselors, psychologists, and social workers.
• The National Association of School Resource Officers says,
  “If a school determines the need for armed security, properly trained school resource officers (SROs) are the only school personnel of any type who should be armed. Our organizations believe that arming educators would cause more harm than good.”
• Each of Florida’s 67 counties has unique needs, and each county knows best how to invest in ensuring student safety. The legislature must support local control and allow for flexibility in how school safety money is spent.
• Please oppose any legislation that would allow more guns carried on campus by anyone other than trained law enforcement.
• The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Commission presented dozens and dozens of recommendations towards school safety. Arming teachers should be the last recommendation considered by the legislature – not the first.
• Teachers have a paramount duty to educate our students. They already take on more responsibilities than just teaching – they shouldn’t be asked to handle a firearm to protect their students as well.

Call the Senate Committee on Infrastructure and Security and tell them NOT to arm teachers and to vote NO on SB 7030