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Coalition fighting limits on initiatives

TALLAHASSEE - Single mother Angela Maxwell says she can afford to send her 4-year-old son to preschool because Florida voters approved a citizen initiative. Minimum-wage worker Alice Laguerre credits her recent pay raise to another such initiative.

The two women told their stories Wednesday as a coalition of more than 30 groups launched a campaign to defeat proposals that would limit citizen initiatives and make it harder for them to get on the ballot and pass.

Some legislators say too many recently passed citizen initiatives were frivolous, are cluttering the state Constitution and are forcing the state to divert funds to unworthy programs and projects.

"I'm fearful of the plans of some politicians who disagree with our right to amend our Constitution," Maxwell said at a news conference held by the Save the Voters Voice coalition.

"We've not been frivolous with these amendments. They have been issues concerning our children's education, our income, our environment and our taxes."

The coalition's first target is a proposed amendment the Legislature has put on the Nov. 7 ballot that would require future initiatives to pass by at least 60 percent, not just a simple majority.

Maxwell's son is in a state-paid voluntary prekindergarten program created by a constitutional amendment that got on the ballot in 2002 through a petition drive.

Laguerre, who does temporary work in Orlando, now must be paid at least $6.40 per hour as the result of an initiative passed in 2004, although the federal minimum wage remains at $5.15.

Other recent initiative successes include amendments that ban smoking in workplaces and restaurants and competing proposals over medical malpractice offered by doctors and lawyers.

Voters in 2000 approved one initiative to establish a high-speed rail system but four years later passed another to abolish it.

The push to limit initiatives is supported by business groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida.

Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican legislative leaders also have complained that a 2002 initiative to lower class sizes in public schools is too expensive. The Legislature is considering another amendment that would weaken those limits.

Lawmakers also are considering an amendment that would require 66 percent approval for initiatives that would result in new state spending of at least $50-million.

Another legislative proposal would limit initiatives to subjects already in the Constitution, fundamental rights or changes in the structure of state government.

Lawmakers also have introduced bills that would put new requirements on petition gathering, such as requiring signers to list birth dates and addresses.

The coalition calls such efforts an attempt to limit democracy.

Coalition members include the League of Women Voters, Florida AFL-CIO, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now!, Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club, Florida Public Research Interest Group, Humane Society of the United States and People for the American Way.

[Last modified March 2, 2006, 01:32:18]