Columns

Veto it? Heck, tear it up and torch it

By HOWARD TROXLER
Published June 19, 2007

Quick - what's your favorite First Amendment right?

It's a trick question, sorry. In my book they're all equally essential to a free nation.

Freedom of religion. Freedom of speech. Freedom of the press. Freedom of assembly.

There's one more ...

The right to "petition the government for redress of grievances." It comes last, but it's just as important.

When the framers put the word "petition" in the Bill of Rights, they meant it in a general sense.

But I have always believed that the literal act of petition - a citizen asking other citizens for support - is as pure an exercise of our core First Amendment rights as can be.

Here in Florida, though, there has been a war on petitions in recent years. Our Legislature and the business interests of Florida have sought to limit the power of the citizens to amend our state Constitution by petition.

Already, the opponents of petitions have won tremendous victories:

- From now on, amendments to the Constitution must pass by 60 percent of the votes cast.

- From now on, petitions must be submitted by Feb. 1 to get on the November ballot.

- Under a law just passed, opponents can run counter-campaigns to get citizens to revoke their signatures.

Enough is enough. We haven't even given these new rules time to work.

Yet the Legislature continues to pile on, and has passed Senate Bill 900, which is the subject of my little ditty today.

Senate Bill 900 imposes even more obstacles to petition gathering. The worst is that a signature is good for only 30 days - it has to turned in by then, or it expires.

The deadline is unrealistic and ignores the practical obstacles of running a statewide petition campaign in Florida. Many public-interest groups say SB 900 would make it impossible to get anything on the ballot at all.

Which is exactly the idea.

The backers of SB 900, most notably the Florida Chamber of Commerce, trot out all the same, tired arguments against citizen petitions that they used to win the restrictions that are already in place.

Among these arguments are that "special interests" can get an amendment on the ballot. You know, like the "special interests" who wanted a higher minimum wage. And the "special interests" who wanted a ban on tobacco smoke in public places.

Yes, some petitions have been more controversial - high-speed rail, protection for farm animals, even smaller class sizes in schools.

But I'm sure that even if you didn't like those ideas, you aren't saying that other people don't have the right to petition for them, and the voters shouldn't be allowed to decide them - are you?

We have made enough "improvements" to make petitions more difficult. Let's give them a chance to work.

Gov. Charlie Crist should veto this bill this week. He should veto it twice. He should veto it three times and rip it up in a public ceremony.

After all, he likes to call himself a "people's governor" who is running "the people's government."

Let's see if he means it.

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[Last modified June 19, 2007, 01:28:26]