Special Mid-February ‘24 Legislative Issue:
Why a Special Edition?
Murcasel-Powell Visits Lee County
Give Working People a Seat at the Table
4 Terrible Bills
Lee County Legislators Repealing Conservation Efforts
Informed Democrats Take Action
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Why This Special Legislative Issue?
The current session of the state legislature has a little over two weeks remaining. Once again, Republicans have introduced scores of bills that roll back protections for women, children, LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, African-Americans, and workers. Meanwhile, they ignore serious issues facing Florida residents—like the need for affordable housing and property insurance, Medicaid expansion, mental health care and gun safety. They’re anti-woke—and also anti-worker!
Our Lee County Democratic Candidates for the Florida State Legislature have taken a close look at a few of the hard-core bills steam-rolling through committees this legislative session. They’ll review the records of the incumbents and highlight several of the dreadful bills introduced in this legislative session.
After you read this, you can do two things: 1) contact the Republican incumbents and urge them not to support these bills; and 2) vote to replace them with Democrats!
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Senate Candidate Debbie Murcarsel Powell Checks Out New Dem HQ
By Scott Kane
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Candidate for US Senate in Florida, wowed Democrats in her visit to the Lee County Democratic Central Committee HQ last week.
Debbie spoke of her background and her personal reasons for running, saying: “As the first South American immigrant to serve in Congress, I'm now running for the U.S. Senate”. As a first generation immigrant — coming to America at age 14 — she said that she will easily organize her fellow Florida Latinos to vote Democratic in November. She also spoke of her strong democratic platform:
- Gun reform
- Better Healthcare for all Floridians
- Child support and food for children of need
- An economy that works for all Floridians
She presented her plan to win the seat from Rick Scott, calling him far out of touch with Florida voters and eminently beatable in this race — emphasizing that she now leads him in the polls — pointing out: Election experts are saying that ‘this race is one of our BEST CHANCES to expand our Senate majority’. She then challenged us: “we can’t win without your help” and asked each of us to pitch in to help for a big win in November. Want to help? Start by visiting her website. |
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Support the
Lee County
Democratic Party
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Give Working People a Seat at the Table |
By Cornelius Fowler, Candidate for House District 77
The Florida Republican party has controlled the state for the past 30 years, 25 years as a trifecta. Controlling the Governor, State Senate, and State House offices.
The controlling party has refused to own the fact that in those 30 years
- It has become too expensive for everyday Floridians to afford to live here—without enough affordable housing, and with very little in the way of resources to help the homeless, the situation is reaching a critical level which also contributes to the mental health crisis throughout our counties.
- Healthcare is too expensive for our many citizens to afford.
- Homeowners are faced with the possibility of having to sell their homes because of the high prices of insurance and increased property taxes.
The past legislative session of 2023 proved to be an all-out assault on Floridians passing laws like:
HB7/SB300. Ban on abortion: Attacking Women’s right to have a say over the health of their bodies
SB1718. Anti-immigration bill: this law even makes it illegal for an immigrant with a driver’s license from a different state to enter the state of Florida. it's no surprise that Read More
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Unpacking Terrible Legislation:
Critical Analysis of Bills Introduced by the Incumbent Senator in District 33
By Chris Proia, Candidate for Florida State Senate District 33
In recent times, the legislative landscape of Florida has witnessed the introduction of several terrible bills. This article delves into four specific bills, all introduced by my opponent, Johnathon Martin. Each bill has detrimental effects on inclusivity, civil liberties, historical integrity, and human rights. LGBTQ+ individuals, historians, activists, and homeless populations are all finding themselves attacked in these 4 terrible bills. These diverse perspectives highlight the multifaceted nature of our communities and underscore the importance of a thorough examination of the proposed legislation.
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It is crucial to contextualize these legislative proposals within the broader conservative political agenda. Amid worsening income inequality in our country, conservative politicians like Jonathon Martin often use such bills as distractions, diverting attention from policies that favor the wealthy and exacerbate social disparities. While the primary objective of this article is to critically analyze the bills introduced in Florida State Senate District 33, I constantly want to remind people of that. By shedding light on the potential negative impacts of these bills, I aim to foster informed public discourse and encourage civic engagement in evaluating legislative proposals, and permanently turn the current conservative view on these issues into a third rail for politics.
As responsible citizens, it is imperative that we stay informed, actively engage with our elected representatives, and advocate for policies that uphold democratic values, inclusivity, and social justice in Florida.
SB 1382 Gender Identity Employment Practices presents itself under the guise of protecting religious and so-called “biology-based beliefs.” However, its provisions pose significant threats to workplace inclusivity, religious freedom (defined as "You practice your way, I'll practice my way"), and educational initiatives aimed at Read More
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Support the Lee County Democratic Party |
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Lee County Legislators Repealing Conservation Efforts |
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By Rachel Brown
House Bill 957 and Senate Bill 1210 are identical bills that are both awful. Everyone— Republican, Democrat, and NPA—has an enormous reason to vote for Mitchel Schlayer and Chris Proia just for this single issue alone.
What is so bad about HB957 and SB1210?
They aim to redraw the boundary of Estero Bay Preserve in order to exclude section 19 (see the image below).
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Most bills are edits of old bills. These identical bills (HB957 and SB1210) are exactly that. They copied and pasted the original legislation that defined the boundaries of Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve and established the protection of it, only in these new versions section 19 is stricken.
Who wants to un-preserve land? Why Section 19?
Adam Botana of House District 80 and Jonathan Martin of Senate District 33 are the perpetrators. We are in luck however. Democrat Mitchel Schlayer is running to defeat Botana for HD 80, and Democrat Chris Proia is running to defeat Jonathan Martin of SD 33. Both Democratic candidates have signed the change.org petition to show opposition to these detrimental bills. Both, with enough support, and enough noise around this issue, may sway some conservation Republicans and NPAs.
Republican Adam Botana falsely claimed to be a conservationist in his 2020 campaign as we know many Republicans do. Fishermen, hunters, conservationists, and ecologists need to know the true intentions of the Republican party. What kind of conservationist wants to un-conserve land?
What can you do? Sign the Change.org petition and get everyone you know to sign it. The goal is to have a hundred thousand Lee County residents sign this petition within the next two months. With enough support for the petition, people will know where they stand on the issue, and know that they have something in common with our Democratic candidates.
How does the petition help?
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Far too often the public finds out about corrupt legislation far too late. Right now, these bills are in the rules committee stage (not passed yet). There is no telling how long it will be in various committees, which is why we need to act quickly. The bill has a desired effective date of July 1, 2024; that means if and when it passes, July 1st of this year will be the official date of the un-preserving of section 19 of Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve.
We don’t know when it will pass. For all we know it could be weeks or months. We need to circulate this petition as fast as we can, to raise awareness of the issue, possibly stop the bill from passing, and in the meantime expose these incumbent republicans for what they are; crony politicians bought by developers and destroyers of our natural world.
Show your opposition to destruction of our preserve lands. Sign the petition here. |
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Informed Democrats Take Action:
Write to the incumbents:
Jonathan Martin, Senate District 33: email him here
Tiffany Esposito House District 77 email her here
Adam Botana, House District 80 email him here
Vote for these Democrats to replace them:
Chris Proia, Senate District 33
Cornelius Fowler, House District 77
Mitchel Schlayer, House District 80
Find out more about Democratic Candidates running in 2024 on the Lee County Democrats webpage.
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The Informed Democrat is sent to subscribers and posted on the LeeCountyDems.org website on the first of the month. Do you have something you’d like to share with your fellow Democrats in Lee County? Do you have a club or an event Lee County Dems should know about? Please contact The Informed Democrat, at [email protected].
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Published monthly by the Lee County Democratic Party
Editor: Melissa Butler
If you have comments, questions, ideas about features you'd like to see, or would like to volunteer to help, contact us at [email protected].
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The Democratic Party of Lee County is an all-volunteer organization. We do not receive any funding from the Florida Democratic Party nor the national Democratic Party. |
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