Florida Ballot Amendments

It's one week until election day! And so today, I present a sneak-peek at Jamie's Votes on Florida's Amendment Proposals:

1. No
2. No
4. No
5. Yes
6. Yes
8. Yes

Want some more specifics? Sure! Well, I used Scott Maxwell's Amendments for Dummies column as a guide. And since he's already boiled down each proposal into 10-words-or-less synopses, I hope he'll forgive me for not paraphrasing them further...

1. Should Florida stop offering subsidies for statewide campaigns? I said no, because I like the idea of someday (obviously not this year) non-billionaires being able to competitively run for public office without dumping millions of dollars of their own money into mud-slinging ads. In college, the USG presidential candidates were held to a spending cap, and the election board had to log and stamp each and every sign, banner, and flyer before they went up. I think it made sense then, and I wish it worked that way in the real world.

2. Do soldiers serving abroad deserve property-tax breaks? This one was tough for me. I respect and revere soldiers, but this is just too vague. I don't think serving abroad in Germany is really that tax break worthy. I also don't like the idea that parents could add their adult soldier child as a co-owner on their home and live there tax-free indefinitely. Had the wording been more restrictive, I would have said yes. But now I say no.

4. Should voters have a more direct say on growth? No thanks...I elect city council so that I don't have to be bothered with little issues. Want more say? Go to council meetings and argue to your representatives. Otherwise, what are you paying them for?

5 & 6. Should Florida have compact, geographically sensible congressional and legislative districts? Yes. Have you seen our congressional districts? Thank you!

8. Should we make the class-size cap more flexible? Yes. It's ok to have 30 kids in a class, as long as that's the exception and not the rule.

Thanks to Scott Maxwell for paring down the amendments into normal-speak. And thanks to anyone who read all the way to the bottom. If you disagree with me, I hope you'll leave me a comment.