Committee Bill Filed to Implement Transparency, Election Safeguard Measures Proposed by Governor DeSantis

We posted here that Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed measures to provide transparency and security measures to safeguard our elections in Florida. 

Some of DeSantis proposals are already included in SB90:

• Addressing mail ballot drop boxes
• Measures to prevent ballot harvesting
• No mass mailing of ballots
• Mail ballot requests must be made each election year 
• Signature on mail ballots must match the most recent signature on file.

Now Committee Bill PCB PIE 21-05 has been filed to implement other measures DeSantis proposed. These safeguard measures will ensure transparency in our elections process and reporting:

• Political parties and candidates cannot be shut out of observing the signature validation process
• Supervisor of Elections must post over-vote ballots on their website before the canvassing board meets
• Prohibits the use of private funds for election related expenses, voter education or registration programs (e.g. Zuckerberg grants)
• Requires real time reporting of voter turn out data by precinct level
• Supervisor of Elections must report how many ballots requested, how many received and how many left to be counted
• Mail ballot drop boxes manned by sworn election officials or law enforcement can only be used during the early voting hours of operation and must have video surveillance.
• $25,000 penalty to the Supervisor of Election (SOE) if any mail ballot drop box is accessible for ballot receipt when early voting is not underway

Rebate Unlawful Transit Tax Dollars, Fix Our Roads First and Do Not Trust AFT

The All for Transportation (AFT) unlawful and egregious 2018 rail tax was thrown out by the Florida Supreme Court. 

Sharon Calvert, co-founder of this blog and No Tax For Tracks, was a guest on Saturday's AM860 BrookeTalksAmerica podcast to talk about the illegal AFT transit tax and where to go from here. Take about 15 minutes to listen as Calvert emphasized the paradigm shifts away from traditional transit and costly rail, the need to fix our roads first and stop another wasteful AFT 2.0 rail tax boondoggle.

Hillsborough County Commissioners: Rebate Illegal AFT Transit Tax with one Hand, Start Launch of AFT 2.0 Transit Tax Hike with Other Hand

 NoTaxForTracks (NTFT) issued a statement last week after the Florida Supreme Court threw out the unconstitutional and unlawful All for Transportation (AFT) transit tax hike in its entirety. NTFT requested that the AFT transit tax dollars illegally collected be given back to the residents of Hillsborough County.  

About $502 Million has been collected since January 1, 2019. The Florida Supreme Court did not issue a remedy for disposition of those funds. Wednesday, the Hillsborough County Commission agreed with NTFT and voted 6-0 to refund the hundreds of millions of AFT dollars back to their constituents. 

The commissioners did that because of what came next. Immediately after voting to refund the unlawfully taken AFT transit tax dollars, the county commissioners voted to start the process for putting AFT 2.0 on the 2022 ballot. 

Breaking: No Tax For Tracks Issues Statement on Yesterday's FL Supreme Court Ruling Striking the AFT Transit Tax

No Tax For Tracks, the formal opposition to the All For Transportation transit tax, has issued the following Statement on Florida Supreme Court Ruling Striking the AFT transit tax.

No Tax For Tracks Statement

On Florida Supreme Court Striking Down the All for Transportation Transit Sales Tax

 

Tampa, FL—February 26, 2021  NoTaxForTracks celebrates the Florida Supreme Court ruling yesterday that threw out the 1% All for Transportation (AFT) transit sales tax in its entirety as unconstitutional, illegal and unlawful. 

NoTaxForTracks thanks Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacy White for filing his legal challenge against AFT in 2018. We are grateful to those who supported NoTaxForTracks and our effort to get the truth out about AFT’s deceptive tax hike referendum. 

NoTaxForTracks Officer Sharon Calvert stated, “AFT was a 30 year $16 Billion rail tax that was a massive transfer of wealth from unincorporated Hillsborough to the City of Tampa. The wealthy downtown Tampa developers and special interests who funded AFT do not care about road needs in unincorporated Hillsborough.” 

AFT had charter language that conflicted with Florida State law. NoTaxForTracks publicly warned about AFT’s potential legal issues and provided that warning to local media in 2018 who failed to report about them or inform the voting public.

With the AFT transit tax gone, this is a time for a Reset.  

NoTaxForTracks Chair Karen Jaroch stated, “The AFT sales tax prohibited funding new road capacity and prioritized costly rail, that was already on the road to obsolescence, before the pandemic landed the knockout punch. This tax unlawfully took $300 for every man, woman and child in Hillsborough and the reset needs to include returning these funds back to them in the form of a rebate, which has the added benefit of providing a much-needed economic stimulus.” 

NoTaxForTracks spokesperson Jim Davison stated “The Supreme Court decision helps our struggling small businesses in a time of the pandemic and provides a second chance to fix our roads and transportation issues in a more equitable manner.

NoTaxForTracks spokesperson Tom Gaitens stated “Tyler Hudson, AFT and the BOCC owe the residents an apology for their malfeasance and violations of the Public Trust. Their rush to place a tax on Hillsborough County residents to fund their rail transit dreams not only cost taxpayers $472 million and unnecessary legal expenses, but also lost time in improving, widening and building new roads to meet the ever increasing population. Common sense tells us FixOurRoadsFirst.com". 

Hillsborough County has transportation needs that must be addressed and we will stay engaged on this issue.

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A copy of the No Tax For Tracks Statement can be found here.

Take Action to Support SB1130 and Eliminate TBARTA Once and For All!

TBARTA, the Tampa Bay Area Transit Authority, is a wasteful, duplicative and crony bureaucracy that must go. We have been advocating for eliminating TBARTA for almost a decade.

Senator Jeff Brandes has given us the opportunity to get rid of TBARTA with his SB1130 bill to dissolve TBARTA. 

Here's our latest podcast (about 5 minutes) explaining why we must get rid of TBARTA once and for all. Eliminating TBARTA will ensure this agency never becomes a regional taxing authority that would empower and enrich crony special interests.

The Florida 2021 legislative session begins March 2nd.

Take action today to help protect the taxpayer. SB1130 needs a champion and companion bill in the State House.

Voice your support for SB1130 by contacting Speaker Sprowls, Senate President Simpson and your State House and Senate Representatives at:
https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/representatives
https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators

A big Thank You to Senator Brandes for providing that rare opportunity to get rid of an unnecessary and wasteful bureaucracy.

Support Senate Bill 1130!

Gov DeSantis Election Integrity Proposals Will Help Stop Progressive Billionaires from Meddling in Our Elections

Kudos to Governor DeSantis who proposed new measures to safeguard our elections in the state of Florida.

His press release, found here, addresses a number of important issues including prohibiting counties from receiving grants from private third-party organizations for “get out the vote” initiatives.

We found out right after the November election last year that 12 county Supervisors of Elections officials in Florida, including Hillsborough County, received "Zuckerberg" grants. Mark Zuckerberg and his wife donated $400 million to a tax-exempt nonprofit Center for Tech and Civil Life (CTCL), a 501(c)(3) based in Chicago, IL. 

Local politician imposes new COVID curbs…while in Canada on vacation

 Reposted with permission from The Tampa Bay Guardian 

Hillsborough County Commission Chairwoman Patricia Kemp (D) yesterday voted for two new local laws that place additional COVID restrictions on local businesses. People in Hillsborough County may no longer stand at bars to eat and drink, gather on dance floors, and so-called “congregating areas” in nightclubs are prohibited. The new ordinance also requires that businesses make a reasonable attempt to enforce these local orders.

Importantly, Kemp failed to disclose that she was chairing today’s meeting from Toronto, Canada, a city under lockdown due to COVID. Kemp is in Toronto on personal business, and will therefore currently not have to live under or enforce the new restrictions she voted for. Hillsborough county businesses, individuals and law enforcement will.

The timing and optics of Kemp’s trip to Toronto could not have been worse as the City of Toronto today reported a single-day record of 850 cases. According to the Ontario Ministry of Health, Toronto currently has 159 active outbreaks of COVID. There is therefore a real possibility that Kemp could bring COVID with her back to the Tampa Bay area.

“The more cases at your destination, the more likely you are to get infected during travel and spread the virus to others when you return,” says the Florida Department of Health in its COVID advice. Kemp’s action also calls in to question whether she actually believes that COVID is a serious public health threat. If she did, why would she travel to a COVID hotspot? And then not disclose it to constituents. Just last month, Kemp was re-elected to another 4-year term on the county commission.

Canada requires all travelers entering Canada to self-quarantine for 14 days. We asked Kemp via e-mail whether she had done so, and also asked some other questions. Kemp did not respond to our email by our publication deadline.

It is also unknown whether Kemp has followed the CDC recommendations for international travel, which call for a COVID test 1-3 days before travel, along with a long list of other steps to take. Should Kemp fall seriously ill with COVID in Toronto, whether acquired there or in the Tampa Bay area, she could add to their already overburdened healthcare system.

Toronto is currently at 86% of ICU bed capacity, and the number of cases continue to increase. On its “COVID Monitoring Dashboard” as shown below, the city reports both its “Virus Spread & Containment” status and “Overall Status” as “Red.”

Kemp voted to prohibit “congregation areas” in nightclubs, without evidence that such restrictions would alleviate COVID, while still allowing people congregate in malls, Costco, Sam’s Club, airports and other places.

As mentioned above, businesses are required to enforce all these new restrictions. However, some fed up businesses may decide that “calling the police” will be their sole enforcement mechanism.

Apart from not really believing that COVID is a crisis, it appears that Kemp also doesn’t believe that we have a “climate crisis.” Kemp spoke of a “climate crisis” during her re-election campaign. Kemp’s 2,190 air mile roundtrip to Toronto and airport transfers puts approximately 1,000 pounds of additional carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere. By comparison, the average person exhales about 2.3 pounds of carbon dioxide on an average day.

Had Kemp traveled to Toronto by bus instead of flying, her carbon dioxide impact would have been reduced by 55 – 77%. Yes, the trip would have taken longer, but do we have a crisis or don’t we?

Perhaps Pat Kemp should stay out of the county and out of the country until COVID is completely over? That way, she won’t ever have to comply with the restrictions she imposes on others, and residents won’t have to wonder if she brought back disease from that COVID hotspot she traveled to.

Kemp could also spend her time away learning a new concept: “flight shame.” It’s a sentiment that acts as an antidote to hypocrisy.