Sierra Club Florida News: Sierra Club Florida releases 2018 Legislative priorities

Sierra Club Florida News: Sierra Club Florida releases 2018 Legislative priorities

A KIND GENTLER WEEK OF ACTIONS

These are all the things we're doing while getting ready for the holidays, travel and family time. This list reminds us to take care of ourselves despite what we know have been some recent "dark nights of the soul".
Please check it out, try a few (all links are active and quick) and most of all, take care of yourself. We have a long way to go.

Here you go:

Americans of Conscience Action Checklist

HERE'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO RE: FCC VOTE AND THE TAX SCAM BILL. IT'S NOT OVER

On the disastrous yet expected FCC vote yesterday to deregulate and turn over our internet to greedy service providers:

Congress can write legislation regulating the internet. Use the contact information on the right of our main page to call, email, resistbot, write, or fax ALL your MoCs.

On the Tax scam:

Cracks are appearing, Rubio is one. Work him. Rutherford and DeSantis are still worth bombarding with calls, emails, resistbots, letters, faxes. They have to be getting nervous about 2018. Make them more nervous.

 Also, ANYONE can write a letter to the editor. It's important our views are in the public paper of record. Send to: jim.sutton@staugustine.com

TODAY WE HAVE WORK TO DO TO STOP THIS TAX SCAM BILL! JUST PICK A COUPLE AND CALL!

The conference to reconcile both the House and Senate Tax Scam Bill was scheduled to start work today with one public hearing at approximately 1030 AM. We tried their email links, many require your personal information to ascertain if you are a constituent, in which case, Indivisible Nation advises us you will just be ignored. So, we’ve included their DC office numbers. We know this is a big ASK but if you just take a couple (preferably from the Republican conferees) and call to express your opposition, we feel you’ll have a better chance of either being heard or tying up their lines in protest. Please! Do what you can today to slow this flawed process down and ultimately KILL THE BILL.  This passes, they’re coming after Medicare and Social Security next.

TAX SCAM BILL CONFEREES

REPUBLICAN

REPRESENTATIVES

Rep. Kevin Brady (R., Texas), 202-225-4901 will chair the conference.

Peter Roskam (R., Ill.)  (202) 225-4561

Devin Nunes (R., Calif.), (202) 225-2523

Diane Black (R., Tenn.) 202 225 4231

Kristi Noem (R., S.D.) (202) 225-2801

Rob Bishop (R., Utah) (202)-225-0453

Don Young (R., Alaska), (202) 225-5765

Greg Walden (R., Ore. (202) 225-6730

John Shimkus (R., Ill.).  (202) 225-5271

SENATORS

Orrin Hatch (202) 224-5251

Mike Enzi of Wyoming, (202) 224-3424

Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, (202) 224-6665

John Cornyn (202) 224-2934

John Thune (202) 224-2321

Rob Portman (202) 224-3353

Tim Scott (202) 224-6121

Pat Toomey (202) 224-4254

DEMOCRAT

REPRESENTATIVES (give them a push and some love)

Richard Neal (D., Mass). (202) 225-5601

Rep. Sander Levin (D., Mich.), (202) 225-4961

Lloyd Doggett (D., Texas), (202) 225-4865

Raul Grijalva (D., Ariz.) (202) 225-2435

Kathy Castor (D., Fla.). (202) 225-3376

SENATORS

Ron Wyden of Oregon, (202) 224-5244

Bernard Sanders of Vermont, (202) 224-5141

Maria Cantwell of Washington, (202) 224-3441

Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, (202) 224-4822

Robert Menendez of New Jersey (202) 224-4744

Tom Carper of Delaware (202) 224-2441

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington (202) 224-2621

TODAY WE BREAK THE INTERNET! You have a job to do as well.

Indivisible St Johns is joining in the Twitter storm today along with websites, blogs and Facebook accounts to make it known we stand for net neutrality. Today is also a great time to email the members of the FCC who will be voting on this issue on Thursday 12/14. Demand they vote against deregulation and keep the current standards in place. The internet was conceived and built with our taxpayer dollars. It should be treated as a common carrier as it belongs to all of us. Do you really love your service provider? As much as you love Comcast or Verizon? Ok, you know what you need to say. Here are the people who will vote:
Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov
Mike.O'Rielly@fcc.gov
Brendan.Carr@fcc.gov
Jessica.Rosenworcel@fcc.gov
Mignon.Clyburn@fcc.gov

ALSO, you can contact your MoCs and tell them how much you hate this idea! Congress theoretically has the power to reverse this by legislation.See our resources on the right side of the blog page for their contact information.

Let's get this done. We have a tax scam to fight tomorrow.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT! MEETING MINUTES FROM INDIVISIBLE ST JOHNS 12/7/17

INDIVISIBLE ST JOHNS

GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Deb Willis opened the meeting at 703 by welcoming everyone and stating our two principles:

                Donald Trump’s agenda will take America backwards and must be stopped.

                In order to work together to achieve this goal, we must model the values of inclusion, respect and fairness.

Joan McGinnis brought us up to date on the Trump Tax scam, noting it was time to turn anger into action despite the votes. Bill is in conference committee to be reconciled before a final vote in both houses. Joan will generate a list we will post of all the conference members and their contact information so we can address our concerns directly to them. Currently, CHIP (children’s insurance) is not included. The bills are very unpopular with the public and now is the time to really press calls, emails, letters, letters to the editor, and resistbot. It was noted Sen Grassley’s Facebook is not locked down at this time and tweets are able to be sent directly in response to other MoCs. She urged everyone to stay focused on the tax bill despite all the chaos Trump creates everyday. We only need to turn 23 in the house, 3 in the senate, to KILL THE BILL. Members then took time to use resistbot or 5 calls to immediately contact their MoCs. Useful sites: Resistbot.io, notonepenny.org, 5calls and trumptaxscam.org.

Jim Henry presented the Runaway Inequality program which Indivisible St Johns will be offering for free as a 4-5 hr workshop on January 13 at the SE Library in St Augustine. The program, as Jim carefully took us through, shows in graphic form how we got here, what the trends are and what the dangers are in regards to the current tax bill under consideration. He asked for participants to sign up since once you’ve taken the training, you’re able to pass this crucial information to others. The workshop is free, refreshments will be provided as well as workbooks. A sign up sheet was passed around. Space for the first workshop is limited to the first 20 people who sign up.

Lynn Willis, former IT specialist with the school district and experienced in the internet from its genesis, explained the dangers of Agit Pai’s (Chairman of the FCC and former Verizon lawyer) move to roll back net neutrality rules put in place during the Obama administration. He noted that ISPs (your data provider) will be able to throttle back speeds on content, discriminate on content you receive over their systems and basically control the internet. Mr Pai seems to think these ISPs will do the right thing. Big content/service providers like Amazon and Google do not support this. One of our members, a librarian here, noted all librarians are also against this roll back. She noted the hundred of clients they deal with everyday in the public library system who do not have internet access elsewhere. We must continue to call, write, email, resistbot our MoCs and tell them we do not want this. Members did a resistbot on the spot on this issue to their MoCs.

 Also, contact information for the FCC commissioners is here:

Agit.pai@fcc.gov

Mike.O’Rielly@fcc.gov

Brendan.Carr@fcc.gov

Jessica.Rosenworcel@fcc.gov

Mignon.Clyburn@fcc.gov

Fight for the Future was also recommended as a good resource website. Members participated earlier in the day at a nationwide Verizon/Save the Internet protest of which Fight for the Future is a part:

OUR VERIZON PROTEST 11-1215 PM on 12/7

Deb ran down our upcoming and ongoing events:

                Bi weekly protests at US 1 and King Street. Visible, safe venue. Request ideas from members

                Monthly socials will be the SECOND FRIDAY of every month at DOS on San Marco, north of town

                Inequality Workshop January 13, 2018 from 10-3PM. Sign ups will be taken through Indivisible.st.johns@gmail.com. The first 20 will be accepted for this initial workshop.

                Monthly general meetings will be the FIRST THURSDAY of every month, starting February 2.

                Rapid response if Mueller is fired is still ON. If he’s fired before 2 PM, rally in the Plaza in St Augustine at 5-?. If it occurs after 2 PM, we are in the same place at noon the next day til ?

                The Postcard group is doing a remarkable job of putting out hundreds of postcards a week on selected topics (or your own). They meet at DOS every Thursday at 2 PM

                Visits to both Rubio’s and Rutherford’s occur every week on an alternating basis. The details are always on our weekly action calendar and who to contact for carpooling.

Members suggested adding advocacy for our national parks and monuments which are under attack by the Trump administration.

Mary Lawrence gave a brief rundown of the SE Indivisible Leadership Institute in Atlanta 11/18-11/19. Attendees came from VA, NC, SC, TN, GA and FL. One group is currently building a website to monitor state legislation which all indivisibles in Florida can access. The whole SE region is building and verifying all progressive groups in the state so we can reach out for larger support on actions. It’s exciting things are coming together so quickly.

Meeting adjourned at 9 PM.

INDIVISIBLE ST JOHNS MEMBERSHIP MEETING THURSDAY 12/7...AGENDA

This is a meeting for all members to get up to speed on the following issues AND we need to hear from YOU on what you care about!

THE TRUMP TAX SCAM: Where it stands and what to do next.

RUNAWAY INEQUALITY: How we got here and how to reverse it.Sign up for 1/13 FREE workshop. Space is limited.

SAVING THE OPEN INTERNET: What is net neutrality, why is it important and what we can do to keep it.

RAPID RESPONSE PLANS IN CASE TRUMP FIRES MUELLER: Where to go, when to be there, what to do.

UPCOMING EVENTS: Regular meetings and socials schedules, standing appointments with Rutherford and Rubio offices, bi-weekly protests, discussion of an Impeachment March in solidarity with national actions and YOUR comments and suggestions.

CALL TEXT EMAIL RESISTBOT SHOW UP.....WHATEVER IT TAKES, AS LONG AS IT TAKES!

Members of several NEFL Indivisibles protested on Indivisible's nationwide day to kick off  the resistance to the horrific tax bill making its way in secret through the Senate. The vote could be soon! This is not the time to kick back and wait. BOTH your senators need to hear from you. And yes, don't ignore Nelson. These days we never know which way things will go.

You can call: RUBIO: 202.224.3041  NELSON: 202.224.5274

You can sign up here: RESISTBOT

You don't have to be an economist to write to your MoC. Just do it everyday. We know everyone's busy but it takes less than 2 minutes.Here's a Resistbot sample from yesterday:

It's GO TIME. Let's kill this #trumptaxscam bill and have a happy holiday season!

We can do this. We've done it before on healthcare with all of us doing whatever we can. Some of us cannot march or protest. That's OK! Some of us cannot make meetings or visit congressional offices. That's OK! We still need people to call, write, email, fax (Resistbot) and write LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. We know many people in this group who are following the issue and can articulate a good letter for publication. Our representatives have staff who monitor these as well as how many people show up or call or email so they are just as important!

Here's the thing: we have an amazing group of multi talented people who can contribute in many different ways to stop this horrific tax bill. The Senate will vote to proceed on Monday. We need to start NOW to keep filling those inboxes and voicemail boxes with our dissent.

As always, we appreciate everything each of you do everyday and we know we're making a difference. We are thankful for YOU.

MASSIVE CALL IN BLITZ AGAINST THE #TRUMPTAXSCAM

 THE CALL-#BackdoorStrategy to gut the Affordable Care Act

Senate Republicans have decided to include the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most people have health insurance into the sprawling tax rewrite, merging the fight over health care with the high-stakes effort to cut taxes.

The move to tuck the repeal of the so-called individual mandate into the tax overhaul is an attempt by Republicans to solve two problems: math and politics. Repealing the mandate, a longstanding Republican goal, would save hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade. That would free up money that could be used to expand middle-class tax cuts or help pay for the overall cost of the bill, which can add no more than $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years. It could also help secure the votes of the most conservative senators, enabling lawmakers to pass the bill along party lines.

If it becomes law, the repeal would save more than $300 billion over a decade but result in 13 million fewer Americans being covered by health insurance by the end of that period, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Republicans said on Tuesday that they would use the savings — which stem from reduced government spending to subsidize health coverage — to pay for an expansion of the middle-class tax cuts that lawmakers had proposed.

Don't be fooled: they're coming for Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security because these tax cuts are NOT sustainable and will trigger Pay Go down the road. Further, there's language in the section on tuition savings accounts that pave the way for fetal personhood, a concept that's been defeated in state after state and that 70% of Americans do not believe in.

Use our resources to call, write, email, fax or Resistbot! 

INDIVISIBLE ST JOHNS RECLAIMING ARMISTICE DAY

We were small but mighty. Between Richard and I we passed out over 30 flyers on the trillions of dollars spent on the GWOT since 2001. This was especially timely as the tax bill is being crafted. And of course, our fans from the Tea Party showed up.

We had a presence as the Veterans Day parade passed in the plaza and at 11:11, we were the only ones ringing any bells. We did this in solidarity with nationwide Veterans for Peace actions. Thank you thank you thank you to all who came out.

INDIVISIBLE ST JOHNS STANDS WITH INDIVISIBLE FLAGLER TO WELCOME WARMONGER JOHN BOLTON

On Friday, November 10, members of Indivisible St Johns traveled to Hammock Beach Resort to welcome John Bolton, keynote speaker for the Republican's Lincoln Day Dinner/fundraiser in support of Indivisible Flagler's action. About 18 people came out to stand against war as the guests were being flagged in at the gate.

IT'S HERE! INDIVISIBLE435

Let's get busy! After Tuesday's stunning electoral wins, we have the wind at our back. Indivisible played a huge part in Michigan and Virginia. Here's all you need to know and do. Pick one or all of the actions, no matter how small. Everyone counts. Literally.

Indivisible435

ARMISTICE DAY. WHAT DID IT REALLY MEAN? MARCH ON SATURDAY 11/11 1030-1111 AM

After WWI, the world said "never again" and in the US and other countries, 11/11 was established as a day of recognizing those who died in wars. After WWII, Armistice Day morphed into Veterans Day which, while appropriate, ignores the cause of the tragic waste of human lives due to war. On Saturday, November 11, 2017, at 1030 am, Indivisible St Johns will march in solidarity with Veterans for Peace to Reclaim Armistice Day. Marchers will gather at the City Gates at 1030, proceed down St George Street to the Plaza de la Constitucion to ring bells at 11:11 AM. Signs should include honoring our veterans of war, demanding diplomacy over war and eradication of nuclear weapons. Marchers are encouraged to bring bells to ring in the Plaza at the end of the march.

With the rhetoric and tension over North Korea, it's especially important to remember what this day originally meant to Americans and people the world over. We've lost the meaning of this important day. Join us.

Fantastic movie screening of Scarred Lands, Wounded Lives held Saturday 11/4/17

We will definitely plan to hold another screening of this movie. Turnout was low Saturday night and this film used historic footage and current facts to highlight the environmental effects of war throughout the decades. It is a must see movie.

We know the holidays are fast approaching and people's time is limited. We continue to resist and educate. Join us when you can. If you want a re-screening of this film, please send an email to us at Indivisible St Johns and check our weekly calendar, Facebook or the Record.

Everything you do to resist counts whether it's a call to your representative, a postcard, showing up at a rally or event. We need to #standindivisible!

TROJAN HORSE TAX "REFORM"

Watch here: Robert Reich lays it out for you

RAPID RESIST TEXT TOOL: HELP OTHER DISTRICTS AND THEY'LL HELP US

This is a great and easy tool to text (scripts, numbers included) to help GOTV and inform voters anywhere about positions of candidates on issues we care about. You can sign up at this link. Rapid Resist Texting Tool sign up  It's easy and people have also been making friends and sharing stories all over the US.

From their sign up site:

Rapid Results (Rapid Resist's partner LLC) has partnered with Run For Something and vetted a handful of progressive candidates ourselves - like Caren Fitzpatrick in Atlantic City, NJ, who is challenging a Confederate flag-wearing incumbent!

The voters we're reaching aren't getting national attention like folks in Virginia so every minute you spend supporting these down-ballot candidates makes a big difference. Learn more about the candidates we'll be supporting here: http://bit.ly/RRSlate

You won't have to come back here to sign up again for a new workflow, just one sign-up for the whole she-bang!

ARMSTRONG AND INDIVISIBLE WORKING TOGETHER!

INDIVISIBLE ST JOHNS STANDS WITH ARMSTRONG

ST AUGUSTINE October 9, 2017 Members of Indivisible St Johns joined with the extraordinary community of Armstrong on Saturday October 7, 2017 to clean up their historic cemetery which houses many veterans, in time for Veterans Day. The cemetery had extensive damage from both Hurricanes Matthew and Irma. Thanks to Armstrong Baptist Church and Mary Kellough from Indivisible as well as the dozens of people (and kids!!) who came out to make this a beautiful place again.

Indivisible St Johns is a non-partisan organization focused on issues involving the economy, the environment, healthcare, social justice and good government. We work to hold our elected officials accountable at the federal, state and local levels. 

WITH 2 DAYS LEFT AND HEALTHCARE SUCKING OCYGEN OUT IF THE ROOM, WE NEED TO ADDRESS THIS WITH OUR SENATORS. IT'S ALREADY PASSED THE HOUSE!

IN THE MIDDLE of a consequential week for the future of American health care, Senate Republicans are hoping to sneak through a controversial nullification of a key rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Republican leaders are whipping to secure the votes to overturn a rule CFPB finalized in July, which would protect financial companies from class-action lawsuits and deny consumers a day in court. The rule is among the most consequential actions the CFPB has taken since its founding.

An added wrinkle here: Executives for both Wells Fargo and Equifax, both accused of ripping off millions of consumers, will testify in Senate committees next week. Both companies have used arbitration clauses in an attempt to deny consumers access to the courts. By getting the arbitration vote out of the way before the hearings, Republicans can avoid having to hand a gift to financial companies while Wells Fargo and Equifax sit squarely in the public spotlight. With Obamacare repeal sucking up all the oxygen, this week offers a perfect cover.

“This rush toward a vote in the Senate is a cynical attempt to roll back an important consumer protection before anyone gets straight answers from Equifax and Wells Fargo about the damage they’ve done to the financial lives of millions of Americans,” said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recently told financial industry lobbyists at a dinner in Washington that he planned to bring the bill to the floor as soon as he had the votes, according to a Republican at the dinner. 

The CFPB’s rule bars consumer financial contracts from including clauses that force disputes into an arbitration proceeding, instead of allowing customers to join together with others in a class-action lawsuit. Critics say this gives financial institutions a license to rip people off, confident that only a maniac would go through years of costly arbitration to recover an erroneous $30 charge. “That is exactly what the banks are counting on. … They can get away with nickel and diming you forever,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in a Senate floor speech Monday night.

Rumors are bouncing among Democrats in the Senate and on K Street that McConnell could bring it to the floor for a vote as early as Tuesday. But with Alabama Sen. Luther Strange out campaigning, that makes a Tuesday vote highly unlikely. Don Stewart, a spokesperson for McConnell, noted that a vote is not yet on the schedule.

Later in the week, however, could be more likely, particularly if Strange loses his primary, which would give McConnell his second major loss in two days. At that point, a win on the arbitration rule looks awfully enticing.

CALL, EMAIL, RESISTBOT (text Resist to 50409 and follow the prompts) to your SENATORS. 

POST IRMA

Apologies to everyone for being offline for so long!. We hope everyone survived Irma and is safe and in recovery mode.

Originally, a blast email went out last week with the calendar but gmail wouldn't cooperate and therefore only about 100 of you received it. One event of note was a Social at DOS for Friday 9/15 at 7 PM. We are still confirming availability after the hurricane and will keep you posted via our platforms as soon as we know.

Also, if any member would like to discuss working on our blog and email, please send an email to marylawrence@bellsouth.net

HERE'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO TODAY SEPTEMBER 5! DEFEND DACA

1. Defend DACAmented youth. Media reports this weekend indicate that Trump is getting ready to eliminate the DACA program -- and yank the American Dream from 800,000 young immigrants who are living in the U.S. lawfully. Congress can prevent this. You can make them.  Ask your representative and two senators to co-sponsor S.1615 in the Senate and H.R. 3591 in the House to permanently protect these young Americans, and take their future out of Trump’s hands. Here’s an explainer to get you started.

Contact information under resources list. Bill numbers listed above. Resistbot takes less than 5 minutes. Stand with these young people, 800,000 of them!

Trump Just Got Slapped In The Face; Landslide Win For Democrats In Fairfax County Tonight

".. Despite all Republican efforts to win this election by underhanded means, such as having a special election where voter turnout was expected to be extremely low, the usual Republican ploys did not prevail. Four percent turnout was anticipated and the Democrats rallied and raised that figure to ten percent. 62,000 votes were cast, in excess of the 50,000 max figure that was anticipated. Of those votes cast, 41,000 were for Keys-Gamarra and 21,000 for Grisafe. That’s a comfortable margin to win by."
".. But this election means so much more. This was the first election in the country post Charlottesville and the fact that the electorate was galvanized to get out the vote and put a fine Democrat in office is not to be taken lightly. A message has been sent to Washington and not via Western Union. If Donald Trump and the GOP don’t get it, then we’ll just have to keep winning elections until they do get it and “it” is this: America is not going backwards. The blacks are not going back to the ghetto, nor the gays to the closets, nor the disabled to hiding in the shadows, nor all the plans that Donald Trump, David Duke, Richard Spencer and their ilk were rubbing their small hands together about in eager anticipation. It’s not going to happen...
Read further commentary at  https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/29/1694453/-Trump-Just-Got-Slapped-In-The-Face-Landslide-Win-For-Democrats-In-Fairfax-County-Tonight?detail=emaildkre

The New Front in the Gerrymandering Wars: Democracy vs. Math

“Sophisticated computer modeling has taken district manipulation to new extremes. To fix this, courts might have to learn how to run the numbers themselves.

In the late spring of 2011, Dale Schultz walked the short block in Madison from his State Senate office in the Wisconsin Capitol to the glass-­paneled building of Michael Best & Friedrich, a law firm with deep ties to his Republican Party. First elected in 1982, Schultz placed himself within the progressive tradition that made Wisconsin, a century ago, the birthplace of the state income tax and laws that guarantee compensation for injured workers. In the months before his visit to Michael Best, Schultz cast the lone Republican vote against a bill that stripped collective-­bargaining rights from most public employees. But if Schultz had doubts about some of his party’s priorities, he welcomed its ascendance to power. For the first time in his career, Republicans controlled the State Senate and the State Assembly as well as the governor’s office, giving them total sway over the redistricting process that follows the census taken at the beginning of each decade. ‘‘The way I saw it, reapportionment is a moment of opportunity for the ruling party,’’ Schultz told me this summer.

Inside the law firm’s doors, Schultz took the elevator to what party aides called the ‘‘map room.’’ They asked him to sign a nondisclosure agreement, which he did without complaint. Schultz sat down and was given a map with the new lines for his rural district west of Madison. He and his wife, a former school superintendent, own a 210-­acre farm in the area, where they grow corn and beans and hunt pheasants. Schultz noticed that the newly drawn district mostly included precincts he’d won before. ‘‘I took one look at the map and saw that if I chose to run for re-­election I could win, no trouble,’’ Schultz remembered. ‘‘That was it.’’

Nearly all of the 79 Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly made a similar trip to the map room, signing the same secrecy pledge to see the new shape of their districts. The new maps efficiently concentrated many Democratic voters in a relatively small number of urban districts and spread out the remainder among many districts in the rest of the state. These are the twin techniques of gerrymandering, often called packing and cracking, which distribute voters to benefit the party that is drawing the district lines.”

Read more  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/29/magazine/the-new-front-in-the-gerrymandering-wars-democracy-vs-math.html

September 22nd is the deadline to comment

        CRC INFOGRAPHIC: How to Submit a Proposed Constitutional Amendment Through FLCRC.GOV

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today,August 22, 2017, the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) released a new infographic showing the simple steps Floridians can take to submit a proposed constitutional amendment through flcrc.gov.

CRC Chairman Carlos Beruff, said, “The recommended September 22nd deadline to submit a proposed constitutional amendment to the CRC is a month away and we encourage all interested Floridians to submit their proposals as soon as possible. The submission tool on flcrc.gov offers a simple, streamlined process to create and share proposed constitutional amendments with the CRC. Just follow the steps in our new infographic and make sure your voice is heard during this historic process!”

The CRC is considering Friday, September 22 as the filing deadline for public proposals. The recommended deadline is subject to approval by a vote of the full commission. The next full commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 19. For more information on upcoming CRC meetings, visit flcrc.gov/Meetings.

This is Southern St. Johns County's U.S. House Rep Trying to Defund Mueller

GOP Rep Introduces Measure to Defund Mueller Probe After 6 Months

"Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has introduced a measure that would defund special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling six months after its passage. The amendment would also bar Mueller, who is also looking into whether Trump associates colluded with Russian operatives, from probing items that occurred before Trump declared his presidential bid in June 2015. Mueller’s investigation is wide-ranging and is reportedly looking into the president’s finances, something Trump said would be a “red line.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-rep-introduces-measure-to-defund-mueller-probe-after-6-months

 U.S. Representative Ron DeSantis

Email

Local Office:                                                        Washington, DC Office:
31 Lupi Court, Suite 130                                      1524 Longworth House Office Building
Palm Coast, FL 32164                                          Washington DC 20515
Ph: 386-302-0471 // Fx: 386-302-0474                Ph: 202- 225-2706 // Fx: 202-226-6299

Letter To The Editor - "CRC: Rid Us of Bane of Open Primaries"

Editor: Because of sophisticated gerrymandering by advanced computerized technologies, primary elections are often the moment when winning candidates are selected. Primaries are increasingly the only meaningful round of voting for “We the People” of Florida.
The use of fake candidacies of write-in candidates who have no intention of actually contending by both major parties, frequently blocks majorities of Florida voters from participating.
This results in highly partisan candidates being elected who do not need to work with representatives of districts with differing views. Gridlock, born of unwillingness to compromise to reach solutions that benefit the broadest number of citizens, threatens confidence in the democratic process.
Many Floridians feel they are back in the colonial days of taxation without any representation of their views, values or priorities. If ever there was an issue the Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) needed to address, this is surely top of the list. Members of the CRC: give the voters of Florida the opportunity to enact an open primaries measure in 2018.
Warren Clark
St. Augustine
http://staugustine.com/opinion/2017-08-28/letters-editor

September 22nd is the deadline to comment

        CRC INFOGRAPHIC: How to Submit a Proposed Constitutional Amendment Through FLCRC.GOV

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today,August 22, 2017, the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) released a new infographic showing the simple steps Floridians can take to submit a proposed constitutional amendment through flcrc.gov.

CRC Chairman Carlos Beruff, said, “The recommended September 22nd deadline to submit a proposed constitutional amendment to the CRC is a month away and we encourage all interested Floridians to submit their proposals as soon as possible. The submission tool on flcrc.gov offers a simple, streamlined process to create and share proposed constitutional amendments with the CRC. Just follow the steps in our new infographic and make sure your voice is heard during this historic process!”

The CRC is considering Friday, September 22 as the filing deadline for public proposals. The recommended deadline is subject to approval by a vote of the full commission. The next full commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 19. For more information on upcoming CRC meetings, visit flcrc.gov/Meetings.