“Early in life I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.” Malcolm X
We are just six days away from the start of the 2012 Florida Legislative Session. Items such as internet sales tax to changes to the unemployment compensation system are up for debate once the sessions kicks off next Tuesday. Governor Rick Scott has stated that he wants a complete overhaul of how the state handles unemployment payments.
Last year the number of weeks of state benefits was cut down to 23 weeks from 26 and Scott wants to take it even further. While I doubt he’ll delve this far into the pool, Scott campaigned for governor stating that he believes the unemployed should perform community service.
But Scott isn’t done. He’s still pushing for deeper cuts to the corporate income tax and wants to use the money as he sees fit.
Governor Rick Scott has been an unmitigated disaster for the state of Florida from cutting millions from public education to testing welfare recipients for drugs, he’s shown that he has no empathy for the plight of the working class. But I digress from Scott as his record and polling numbers speak for themselves.
What also speaks for itself is the new voter suppression law in Florida. For renters, newly married or those with a recent name change this new law isn’t for you. In the past Floridians were able to make address changes at the polls but that option is no longer available. Instead those needing to make the change will be forced to fill out a provisional ballot, which are usually never counted.
So what can we do change this new law? Well state Representative Mark Prafford, D-West Palm Beach, is introducing a bill that will rollback some of the provisions of the new elections law. HB 1189 will allow early voting to start on the 15th day before an election instead of on the 10th. The bill will also give third party organizations 10 days to return voter registration forms to the supervisor of elections instead of the now mandatory two. We should do all that we can to support this new measure as it will add needed breathing room to a newly restricted voting process.
We can also do all that we can to make a little more noise. The Florida GOP has mastered the art of faux representation. They claim to do the business of the people by passing new laws that will negatively affect them. This is the definition of representation without any actual representation.
Minorities should make the most noise of all especially African-Americans. According to blackdemographics.com more than half of all black people in American rent. That means that at least half of all Floridians in the state rent their homes or apartments and maybe half of that number will have trouble voting in 2012.
The first step is education and the next one is trying to rectify the problem. The problem is voting rights and now its time to rectify. Time to make a lot of noise.
-JH
