Florida Ballot Measures
There are four measures on the Florida ballot this year: Amendments 1, 2, 3, & 5. Amendment 4 was passed on the primary election ballot. This is Florida, it doesn’t have to be logical.
You can read the official explanation of the amendments, which leaves out the intents of the backers.
Amendments 3 & 5 are feel good referrals by the Republican legislature to give property tax breaks to first responders who were permanently disabled while on duty, and to senior citizens. The legislature does this because they get credit for a tax cut that doesn’t affect them, since property taxes are the principle support for local governments, not the state government. The legislature doesn’t get the blame when local services are cut, and gets the credit for lowering taxes – all gain and no pain.
Amendment 1 is evil- It is written to sound like support for solar energy but it is sponsored by the utilities to block any real change to their business model.
I am only voting yes for Amendment 2 – in spite of the fact that it is titled medical marijuana. The actual citizens who are pushing the amendment have issued a statement of their intent so there is no confusion as to what they want the amendment to accomplish.
When it was grown by the founding fathers, cannabis was used to make ropes, among other products, and was often mandated as a vital crop. ‘Marijuana’ is actually an anti-Mexican slang term for the plant, but it won’t go away.
2 comments
Amendment 4 was passed on the primary election ballot. This is Florida, it doesn’t have to be logical.
and in this particular case, it was a good thing that we got amendment 4 voted on first.
thank you for the link to that intent information on amendment 2. I’ve been somewhat on the fence about this amendment.
I generally look to the league of women voters for information on these things if I have any doubts, but they aren’t as definite in their views on the other amendments as they are on amendment 1, so I wasn’t sure what to think.
FYI, another news source says Exxon and the Koch brothers have also donated to the Amendment 1 cause.
The people behind Amendment 2 have/had loved ones who could have benefited from medical cannabis. If we had taken the money we spent on arresting and imprisoning people for possession of cannabis and actually studies the plant, we might have developed targeted versions for nausea, seizure control, and pain without the psychotropic effects, but people keep voting for prohibitions in one form or another without any attention to effectiveness.