Advertisement

Dockery: Check records of Florida legislators before voting

 
Published Oct. 13, 2016

The election is just weeks away. Ballots have been mailed to voters who requested them and early voting is starting soon. Florida voters have a lot of decisions to make.

A good strategy is to pick three or four issues that matter most to you and ask the candidates their positions. Then check their voting records. If they haven't done what they said or acted against your interests, give someone else a chance.

Let's look at some major issues:

Fracking. This is the process of drilling and then pumping water and chemicals into wells at great depths and pressures to release oil and gas from rock formations. It's water-intensive and uses up to 600 chemicals in fracking fluid, including known carcinogens and toxins.

In the 2016 session, legislation would have granted the state sole authority to regulate fracking by preventing local governments from regulating or banning the process. At the time, 31 Florida counties and 46 cities had passed ordinances or resolutions banning or opposing fracking.

Fracking is dangerous and poses environmental and health risks. Limiting local governments' ability to do what's in the best interest of their residents is wrong.

The bill passed in the House on a 73-45 vote. Only seven Republicans bravely voted no. Three of them are up for re-election, including Chris Latvala of Clearwater.

Some candidates who voted yes are claiming they supported a ban on fracking with their vote. That is extremely misleading. The intent of the bill was clearly to pave the way for fracking and to remove local control.

Fortunately, the bill was defeated in a Senate committee.

Campus carry. The legislation would allow individuals with concealed-carry permits to take firearms onto all of Florida's public university and college campuses — against the wishes of university presidents and faculty, campus police chiefs and student government leaders.

While a strong proponent of the Second Amendment, I oppose guns on campus because the combination of drugs, alcohol, raging hormones, immaturity and guns is a recipe for potential disaster. Polls at the time showed 73 percent of Florida voters agreed.

The House didn't. The bill sponsored by state Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, passed on an 80-37 vote, mainly along party lines. Steube is running for the state Senate.

The Florida Senate stopped the bill.

Education. When bills are in danger of failing, they are often added to other bills. An education train ended up as one of the most controversial and least transparent mega bills of the session.

The Senate version started as a three-page bill but grew to 132 pages during the final days of the session. How could legislators possibly know what they were voting for?

The final bill is a conglomeration of unrelated and contentious education policies. It allows students to transfer to any public school — a nightmare for school district planning and budgeting. It also financially punishes school districts for construction spending while making it easier for charter school operators to get access to public funding, even if it inures to their private gain.

Spend your days with Hayes

Subscribe to our free Stephinitely newsletter

Columnist Stephanie Hayes will share thoughts, feelings and funny business with you every Monday.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

This is the kind of rigged process that voters are angry about. The bill passed the House on an 82-33 vote and the Senate on a 29-10 vote. Candidates running for re-election to the House who voted no included Rep. Amanda Murphy, D-New Port Richey.

Medicaid expansion. About 848,000 Floridians are without health insurance because they earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but don't qualify for subsidies for private insurance. They would be covered if the state agreed to expand Medicaid. Florida refused to do so. Well, the House and governor refused.

In a 2015 special session, the Senate passed Medicaid expansion on a bipartisan vote of 33-3. The bill failed in the House on a 41-72 vote, mainly along party lines. Two Republicans voted to help cover Florida's working poor, including Rep. Shawn Harrison of Tampa.

Reward incumbents who do what they say or who vote with your best interests in mind, but replace them when they don't. The power is in your hands.

Paula Dockery is a syndicated columnist who served in the Florida Legislature for 16 years as a Republican from Lakeland. She can be reached at PBDockery@gmail.com.