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2010 Legislative Priorities

The League of Women Voters of Florida

STATEMENT OF 2010 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

The LWVF board has selected Legislative Priorities for the 2010 Regular Session of the Florida Legislature. The priorities were selected using input from local Leagues, the LWVF Board and

other sources. A summary statement of the LWVF's position on each priority is included.

Government in Florida : Promote an open government that is responsive to the people of the state.

Equitable Taxation : Support a state fiscal structure that is equitable in its distribution of the tax responsibility and responsive to public needs. Support the repeal of tax exemptions that do not fulfill a public purpose.

Redistricting : Support single-member election districts that are equal in population, provide access for minorities, and are not determined by the Legislature.

Citizen Initiatives including the Statutory Initiative : Support citizens' right to have both constitutional and statutory initiatives.

Elections: Promote election audits based on a statistically significant sample size and done before certification of election results.

Support early voting and granting supervisors of elections greater flexibility in determining those sites.

REDISTRICTING

The LWVF supports single-member election districts that are equal in population, that provide access for minorities, are compact and, when possible, take local characteristics such as political and geographical boundaries into consideration.

Background:

During 2005, many Leaguers over the state of Florida collected signed petitions that would put a redistricting amendment on the ballot in 2006. The Committee for Fair Elections collected over

900,000 signatures, many more than the required number. However, the proposed amendment was struck down by the Florida Supreme Court; the Court ruled that the wording of the proposal did not comply with the requirement that only one subject be addressed in an amendment.

By 2007, the League joined the steering committee of FairDistrictsFlorida.org and we have been collecting petitions for the two proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution that would

establish standards for drawing congressional and legislative voting districts. During the 2008 session, Senator Justice introduced a constitutional amendment that would have created an independent commission to draw the lines for districts; it was never placed on any

agenda and had no companion legislation in the house. Senator Justice tried again during the 2009 session but results were the same.

FairDistrictsFlorida.org is near the goal of 678,000 signatures for each of the amendments and hopes to have them on the 2010 ballot.

A new census will be taken in 2010, and the Florida legislature will once again draw new district lines, possibly adding two new congressional seats.

Legislative Position:

It is possible that the Legislature will attempt to address this issue.

     The LWVF will support redistricting legislation that:

􀂙 Would depoliticize the redistricting process by setting statewide  standards,

􀂙 Provides an equitable process for redistricting,

􀂙 Establishes a process that supports true representation for minorities.

    The LWVF will oppose redistricting legislation that:

􀂙 Further politicizes the redistricting process,

􀂙 Fails to allow minority representation.

EQUITABLE TAX POLICY REFORM

The League supports a state fiscal structure that is equitable in its distribution of the tax responsibility and responsive to public needs.

Background:

Although the Legislature tried to address property tax reform during the 2007 session, it became obvious that there was not agreement; a June special session was called. During that session HB 1 was passed. HB 1 imposed a “rolled-back” property tax rate on counties, cities and special property districts and also limits the increases in tax rates and tax revenues that can be collected in the future. The Amendment was passed by a majority of voters. The League opposed this amendment due to its burden on local government services and its failure to consider ability to pay of taxpayers. Because of all the special attention given to taxation during the special sessions, during the 2008 session, then Senate President Pruitt made it clear that there would be no leadership assistance with any tax bills filed during the session. That did not stop Speaker of the House Rubio from

championing deeper property tax cuts with a joint resolution. However the bill did not reach the floor of either house. The session also saw the rise of the TABOR amendment which the League

strongly opposed. This legislation would restrict revenue growth at both the state and local levels to a formula based on population change and inflation. Colorado is the only state to implement

such a law and its general funds revenue were decreased by 17% with two years. TABOR requires budget cuts in both good and bad economic times, and state services would face constant budget cuts and services would deteriorate. Colorado's K-12 funding went from 35 th to 49 th in the nation and higher education funding dropped by 31%. This bill was voted down by the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission but was brought up in the session by Senator Haridopolos. While it passed the House, it died in the Senate.

During the 2009 session, the bill TABOR bill was revived. While the bill passed out of the Community Affairs Committee, it was postponed four times in the Governmental Oversight and

Accountability Committee, a committee chaired by Senator Haridopolos; it died in committee. In the House, the bill passed the Military & Local Affairs Policy Committee but died in the Finance

& Tax Committee

Legislative Position:

We expect to see the TABOR amendment introduced during the 2010 session.

    The LWVF will support tax legislation that:

􀂙 Focuses more on ability to pay,

􀂙 Does not jeopardize local services,

􀂙 Addresses Florida's infrastructure deficit,

􀂙 Enhances Floridian's quality of life,

􀂙 Removes unfair tax exemptions that hinder the State's or local governments' ability to

serve Floridians.

    The LWVF will oppose tax legislation that:

􀂙 Does not provide true, fair tax relief to Floridians,

􀂙 Further burdens the State's or local governments' ability to serve Floridians.

CITIZENS' INITIATIVES INCLUDING THE STATUTORY INITIATIVE

In 1968, an amendment to allow citizens to petition for amendments to the Constitution was placed on the ballot by the Constitution Revision Commission. The League supported this action. Since that time, there have been over twenty amendments to the state constitution. At the 1995 LWVF convention, delegates adopted a study of the process and impact of citizen initiatives on the state Constitution. Later that year, the LWVF board announced a position that reaffirmed support for the constitutional citizen petition initiative and established support for the

statutory citizen petition initiative. Over the years, citizens, frustrated by the legislature's unwillingness or inability to address specific concerns, have resorted to the initiative process in order to force the legislature to deal with said concerns. Many times, these initiatives address issues that should more properly be dealt with by statutory law and are inappropriate for inclusion in the Constitution.

In 2003 and 2004, the League worked with other groups and opposed the restricting of citizens' ability to amend the Constitution through the initiative process. The Legislature has been successful in shortening the time period for collection of petitions and has raised the threshold for passing an amendment to 60% of the vote rather than a simple majority; both of these were constitutional amendments, and the latter amendment did not get 60% of the vote. What's the difference between the citizens' initiative to amend the Constitution and the statutory

initiative? Once an initiative becomes part of the Constitution, it cannot be removed except by constitutional amendment. Statutes can be reviewed and discarded when no longer appropriate. A statutory

initiative, if passed, would result in a new statute or new law. To reverse a statute the legislature would have to pass a counter-measure by simple majority. LWVF supports both constitutional and statutory initiatives and believes that the number of signatures for placing a citizen initiative on the ballot should be greater for a constitutional

amendment than the number for a statutory initiative.

TAX EXEMPTIONS THAT DO NO T FULFILL A PUBLIC PURPOSE

The League supports tax legislation which does not jeopardize local service, addresses infrastructure deficits, and removes unfair tax exemptions which affect government's ability to service citizens.

Background:

During the 2008 session, former Representative Gelber introduced legislation that would have closed an existing tax loophole in Florida's system which allows companies in Florida to assign business profit gained in Florida to other states, thereby avoiding Florida taxation. The League supported this bill. While the House Government & Accountability Council Chair allowed 1.5 hours for presentations for and against, no public testimony was allowed. The

bill was laid on the table. In the Senate, Senator Deutch offered a companion bill, but it was never taken up in any of the committees to which it was referred. At the same time, the Tax and Budget Reform Commission was meeting but did not review current tax exemptions.

During the 2009 session, members of the Senate and House Finance & Tax Councils were asked to review all current sales tax exemptions. The Senate heard a presentation by Tax Watch that identified over 2 million dollars in exemptions that could be eliminated, but none of the

recommendations were adopted. Instead, fees were raised on driver's licenses, title transfers, court fees, university students, and fishing licenses. A bill increasing the cigarette tax by $1 and levying the tax on other tobacco products was passed and became law; cigars were exempt from the legislation. A bill calling for all reviewable tax exemptions to be considered for repeal or modification by the

Joint Legislative Sunset Committee and for all reviewable exemptions to expire if not renewed or modified was introduced by Representative Hukill and Senator Lynn. The bills never made it out

of committee. Again, the League supported Senator Gelber and Representative Randolph in their attempt to close

existing tax loopholes that allow companies to assign business profit gained in Florida to other states, and, again, the bills did not make it out of committee. Senator Altman offered a bill that would close other corporate tax loopholes with respect to deductibility of intangible expenses, interest expenses and management fees. It died in committee.

    The League will support legislation that:

􀂙 Requires periodic review of all current tax exemptions and the repeal of those that do not serve a public purpose

􀂙 Collection of taxes on Internet Sales

􀂙 Levying taxes on corporations earning money in the state but reporting the income in other states

    The League will not support legislation that:

􀂙 Continues the status quo for tax exemptions

ELECTION AUDITS

The League supports election audits based on a statistically significant sample size and done before certification of election results.

Background:

Following the 2008 election, many League members observed the audits that were conducted by Supervisors of Elections around the state. Our information was sent to the Florida Voter Coalition

which then compiled a report on the auditing process. Early in the session, Secretary of State Browning asked for legislation that would authorize full manual recounts in races where the margin is one quarter of 1 percent, the same standard that now triggers manually counting overvotes and undervotes. He was unsuccessful.

The audits were conducted 7 days after certification of the races. Each county randomly selected one race that appeared on the ballot in that county. Two percent of the precincts in that race were

randomly selected to be hand counted and compared to the machine count. Then, each county attempted to resolve any discrepancies found between the manual counts and machine counts and reported the results to the state. Florida is one of 18 states that have manual audit provisions. There was transparency in the audit procedure, allowing the public to observe and verify the proceedings; all ballots, including early voting, absentee, provisional, etc. were counted during the

audit. All selections were random. The problem is that the audits are small and the window to contest a race after an audit is

approximately three days. Secretary of State Browning did ask for legislation that would mandate auditing three races, but the percent of ballots to be audited would remain at two or three per cent.

    The League supports legislation that:

􀂙 Enhances the auditing procedure

􀂙 Calls for the audit to be performed prior to certification of the race

    The League will oppose legislation that:

􀂙 Does away with the auditing procedure or weakens it

EARLY VOTING

The League supports measures to protect, extend and encourage the use of the voting franchise.

Background:

The 2008 election saw early voting on a large scale for the first time in Florida. Supervisors were allowed to use libraries and some municipal buildings for early voting sites. When Secretary

Browning made his presentation to the legislature early in 2009, he praised early voting and said that it was the reason the whole election went so smoothly on election day. 2.6 million voted early, 2.5 million voted absentee, and 4.1 million voted on election day. [ adds up to 9.2 million ] Supervisors would like to have more flexibility in the choosing the buildings used for early voting; according to Secretary Browning, early voting put a strain on the libraries. Some discussion was given to devising a formula for the number of early voting sites in a county based on population. Some legislators were opposed to the early voting since it did not result in a huge turnout; it was

the best turnout since 1992. The Secretary attempted to explain that early voting made the whole election process run more smoothly. However, when an elections bill was presented later in the

session, it did not include any of the Secretary's requests; instead it ignored early voting, audits, and required citizens who had moved within 29 days of the election to vote a provisional ballot.

The supervisors, with a few exceptions, want to keep early voting; since the counties will be picking up the tab for the early voting process, there will be some who do not emphasize early voting.

    The League will support legislation that:

􀂙 Gives the Supervisors of Elections greater flexibility in determining early voting sites

􀂙 Enhances the ability of Supervisors in larger counties to have more early voting sites

    The League will oppose legislation that:

􀂙 Does away with early voting

􀂙 Creates obstacles for Supervisors in choosing early voting sites.