Florida Chamber of Commerce

Dear Doug ,

Special Interest Group Formed to Block Much Needed Constitutional Amendment Reform

Today, a special interest group calling itself "Hands Off Florida" announced efforts to block much needed constitutional amendment reform .

Hands Off Florida Holds Press Conference This Morning

In a media advisory ("Grassroots Groups Will Join Forces to Fight Special Interest Power Grab: Hands Off Florida – No on 2 will take fight to Florida Chamber") Hands Off Florida announced today's press conference, falsely claiming that amendment 2 takes voters rights away by making it more difficult to have measures placed on the ballot. The group accuses Tallahassee legislators and lobbyists of writing the amendment to "give themselves more power" and the "average citizens less." Hands Off Florida purports that its committee that will take the fight to the Florida Chamber includes the following:

	The American Lung Association of Florida, Inc.		Citizens in Charge
	Common Cause Florida		Florida Chapter Sierra Club
	Dave Biddulph, former chairman of the Tax Cap Committee		Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida
	The Florida Public Interest Research Group		Florida ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)
	Karl Wickstrom, editor, Florida Sportsman magazine		Clay County Citizens for Term Limits
	The ACLU		Polk County Home Rule Charter Committee
	Jack Gargan, former Reform Party candidate for Governor		The North Florida Progressive Caucus
	Florida Consumer Action Network		The Committee to Restore Voter Dignity
	Mike Block, president of the Florida Taxpayers Union		VoteSmarterFlorida.org, a group of concerned university students
	The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center		The Florida Initiative League, a grassroots citizen group dedicated to protecting the initiative rights of Florida voters

The Real Story on Amendment 2

The Florida Legislature placed amendment 2 on the ballot to lengthen the amount of time voters have to learn about proposed amendments to the Constitution. The Florida Chamber continues to educate Florida citizens about voting yes on Amendment 2, the No Surprises amendment, which gives Floridians an additional three months to educate themselves about what will be on the ballot versus the current 91 days. Click on the image below for more information and on November 2nd "Vote Yes on 2."

VoteSmartFlorida.org Alliance Fires Back

In response to Hands Off, VoteSmartFlorida.org released today the following press statement on amendment 2:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: Leigh Becker
September 21, 2004	850-224-0174

Statement from VoteSmartFlorida.org
RE: Amendment 2

VoteSmartFlorida.org, an alliance of more than 60 organizations across Florida, advocates for meaningful constitutional amendment reform and increased voter education and awareness surrounding constitutional amendments.

Specifically, by voting "yes" on Amendment 2, citizens will be assured of:

More time - three additional months - to obtain information, learn about the proposed amendments and the opportunity for additional citizen mobilization and legislative debate surrounding the issue

An intervening legislative session to review the proposed amendment and decide if an action is appropriate

Voting power on the issues - initiatives cannot be removed from the ballot by the legislature

A deadline by which the Supreme Court must issue an advisory opinion on the amendment ensuring more time for citizen empowerment

The Alliance understands that constitutional amendment reform is a long-term problem and its members are committed to finding meaningful solutions to empower voters.

Interviews available upon request.

# # #

For more information on constitutional amendment reform and the eight amendments on this November's ballot, please visit http://www.votesmartflorida.org/.

The Florida Chamber recognized that the ballot initiative process was broken and to fix it founded the VoteSmartFlorida.org Alliance. With this group, the Chamber has led and produced a campaign that is firmly committed to ensuring and maintaining the integrity of our Constitution and the citizen initiative process.

This message was originally sent to dcallaway@bettertransportation.org.


	September 21, 2004