On Tuesday, April 9th, SB 7096 will be heard in the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development. This bill is currently moving forward in both the Senate and the House and we need to take every opportunity available to tell our Senators to VOTE NO on this Anti-Voter Initiative Bill.
If your Senator is listed below, they sit on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development, and will be voting on this legislation next Tuesday, April 9th. This might be your final opportunity to act before it goes to a full Senate vote, so call their office and urge them to stand up for YOUR Constitutional Rights by voting NO on SB 7096.
| Travis Hutson | (850) 487-5007 |
| Perry Thurston, Jr | (850) 487-5033 |
| Jeff Brandes | (850) 487-5024 |
| Tom Lee | (850) 487-5020 |
| Keith Perry | (850) 487-5008 |
| Wilton Simpson | (850) 487-5010 |
| Annette Taddeo | (850) 487-5040 |
| Victor Torres, Jr | (850) 487-5015 |
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.
Phone calls to offices are great, but there are other options to contact your representatives if they do not sit on the committee that will take this crucial vote on Tuesday.
CLICK HEREto sign the petition urging your Legislators to VOTE NO on this voice-stealing legislation.
CLICK HERE for a list of Legislators and their Twitter handles.
Tweet your Senators and Representatives to let them know they need to
oppose this anti-voter legislation with the hashtag #FLVoterVoice.
Tell the members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development 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
- This bill could let the government place unfair and biased language on the ballot for initiatives they don’t support
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 Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development and tell them NOT to further erode your Constitutional Rights by voting NO on SB 7096.