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Florida Legislation

No taking back a death penalty

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on March 24, 2023. OUR POSITION: We would urge lawmakers in Tallahassee to take a step back and reconsider their zeal for making it easier to hand down the death penalty in Florida. The Florida Legislature is about to make a decision we believe is driven almost

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Florida Legislation

Contact legislators to protest anti-freedom bills

The following Letter to the Editor was published in The Daily Sun on March 23, 2024. HB 991 and SB 1220: Defamation, False Light, and Unauthorized Publication of Name or Likenesses must not become law. These anti-democratic bills silence the First Amendment right of free speech in seven ways: Chill speech critical of government. Make

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Health Care

Ladapo’s claims, beliefs are a concern

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on March 23, 2023. OUR POSITION: Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is not protecting Florida residents by spouting his theories and opinions on COVID that run counter to all medical knowledge we have about the disease. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is doing no favors for people

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Housing

Property values or neighborhood values?

The following Letter to the Editor was published in The Daily Sun on March 23, 2023.  My neighbors recently defeated a proposal to increase the number of residents in a house that functions as an assisted living facility. They cited changes in density and property values. In a county where workers and families and the

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Florida Legislation

So many questions about school voucher bill

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on March 21, 2023. Any day now, the Florida Senate will side with their colleagues in the House and approve a voucher bill that will give money for any student in the state to attend a private school. Republican legislators want to expand the state’s voucher

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Environment

State wants power of oversight over water

The following letter to the editor was published in The Daily Sun on March 21, 2023. Communities across Florida have a huge stake in clean water. But if two bills filed and introduced in the state Legislature early this month become law, they will abolish local governments’ ability to fight pollution, inevitably leading to dirtier

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Florida Legislation

Is DeSantis darkening Florida’s sunny open-records laws?

By DAVID A. LIEB, ASSOCIATED PRESS, Mar 14, 2023. Florida has long been known for sunshine — not only the warm rays that brighten its beaches but also the light of public scrutiny afforded by some of the nation’s strongest meetings and records laws. Although years of rollbacks have gradually clouded the impact, advocates are ringing

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Florida Legislation

School vouchers deal will increase our taxes

The following Letter to the Editor was published in The Daily Sun on March 11, 2023. The Florida Legislature is passing an expanded school voucher program. (HB1 & SB202). The program will divert $7,000 for each student whose parents decide to use a private or home school education for their student, regardless of income. The

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Housing

Developing affordable housing in Charlotte County

By CARRIE WALSH, Charlotte County Human Services Director, The Daily Sun, March 11, 2023. The Department of Housing and Urban Development defines affordable housing as a dwelling a family or household can obtain-whether through rent, purchase or other means-that costs 30% or less of the household’s income. Since household incomes vary widely, what is affordable

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Call to Action

Stop harmful water bills now

Communities across Florida have a huge stake in clean water. But if two bills filed and introduced in the state legislature early this month become law, they will abolish local governments’ ability to fight pollution, inevitably leading to dirtier water. House Bill 1197 and Senate Bill 1240 would grant sole authority to the state to

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Economy

Commissioners’ questions are coming too late

The following Letter to the Editor was published in The Daily Sun on March 7, 2023. I was in disbelief at this morning’s newspaper concerning the new Sunseeker Resort. Now the commissioners are “concerned” about traffic, parking, and finding 13,000 workers? Now you have questions? You are now concerned that our roads are not built

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Environment

Florida’s Right to Clean Water Initiative!

The Story of Florida’s Right to Clean Water In 1950, there were 2.8 million people in Florida.  In 2022, there are 22 million.  With this explosion of new residents comes an array of certain human impacts — the clear-cutting of water filters and nutrient cyclers; the diversion and hastening of water flows; the removal or

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Florida Legislation

Florida Legislature seems lost on priorities

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on Mar 4, 2023. OUR POSITION: From the looks of bills being proposed by Republican lawmakers in Tallahassee, we are left wondering how the party could have diverted from what should be its priorities this year. Florida is flush with cash and riding a population explosion

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Analysis

Before presidential bid, DeSantis has policies to push. Florida lawmakers are set to comply

By John Kennedy, Capital Bureau | USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA, Mar 4, 2023. TALLAHASSEE – Policy moves that may appeal to conservative voters across the country but will strike directly at Floridians are what Gov. Ron DeSantis is demanding from the Republican-controlled Legislature during the 2023 session. But here’s a spoiler alert. GOP lawmakers are poised to give DeSantis everything he

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Florida Legislation

Priorities for the 2023 Legislature

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on March 3, 2023. OUR POSITION: The Florida Legislature opens its 2023 session this week and among the dozens, maybe hundreds, of issues its members will address there are a few we urge our lawmakers to make a priority. The Republican-led Florida Legislature will no doubt

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Opinion

What is Ron DeSantis doing to Florida’s public liberal-arts college?

By Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, February 22, 2023 DeSantis is not simply inveighing against progressive control of institutions. He is using his powers as governor to remake them. In the context of other universities—the sort of assessment the Princeton Review’s guidebooks might do—New College of Florida, situated on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico,

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Issues

Florida welcomes you — with certain exceptions

Satire by DIANE ROBERTS, Florida Phoenix, Feb 27, 2023. Welcome to Florida! We’re glad to have you. If you’re white. Black people are such a lot of trouble, aren’t they, always demanding “equal justice” and voting rights and AP classes blaming white people for stuff like slavery and lynching and whatever. They get a whole month to

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Health Care

Hospital critics have their own agenda

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on Feb 27, 2023. OUR POSITION: Critics of a Sarasota Memorial Hospital report on its COVID response seemed focused on political theories instead of what the report said. A common theme among the people who criticized Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s COVID-19 response report Tuesday was that questions, especially

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Florida Legislation

Scrutiny of charter schools out the door

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on Feb 24, 2023. OUR POSITION: The recent approval of a charter school for the Wellen Park community in North Port is an example of the lax oversight dictated by the Legislature. Let’s start a charter school. A for-profit one for sure. There’s money to be made.

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Florida Legislation

Florida takes dangerous turn with permitless carry

The following Bloomberg Opinion was published in The  Daily Sun on Feb 20, 2023. After winning reelection in November with nearly 60% of the vote, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had political capital to spend on any number of priorities. Sadly, he’s settled on one of the most the ill-considered choices available: allowing the public to

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