SEATTLE - The cool temperatures, upscale stores and picturesque waterfront of this city beckoned the visitors from Florida.

But many state lawmakers who came west for a legislative conference stayed inside a convention hall instead. They sipped Starbucks coffee while sitting in workshops on the economics of health care, post-conviction DNA testing for prison inmates and looming problems in higher education in America.

More than four dozen Florida legislators and senior staff members spent much of the past week in this city, known for its seafood and the towering Space Needle. The Florida group was part of a crowd of 7,200 lawmakers and staff members at the National Conference of State Legislatures that ended Saturday.

Lawmakers in Florida are generally allowed to take one taxpayer-funded legislative trip a year. More of them pick this conference than any other, saying it's a chance to dig deep into public policy and learn how other states cope with similar problems.

Rep. Dudley Goodlette, R-Naples, moderated a workshop on how to improve civility in politics.

Rep. Dick Kravitz, R-Jacksonville, explained the added penalties facing sex offenders under the Jessica Lunsford Act, named after the Homosassa girl who was abducted and killed in February.

Rep. Ed Jennings, D-Gainesville, wanted to learn how independent redistricting commissions work in other states. Arizona, New Jersey and Washington have appointed panels that draw legislative and congressional districts, and several other states, including Florida, are considering such proposals through the ballot-initiative process.

Jennings, Rep. Curtis Richardson, D-Tallahassee, and Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, all took front-row seats to listen to UCLA law professor Daniel Lowenstein and Washington political organizer Cecilia Martinez debate the merits of independent redistricting commissions.

Martinez is director of the Reform Institute, which supports removing redistricting from legislatures. She cited polls showing voters consider it a conflict of interest for elected officials to draw their own districts.

"The system needs changing," said Martinez, who described the "inevitability of a public cry for reform."

Lowenstein said legislative systems inherently involve conflicts of interest. "I urge you - whether it's politically convenient or no t - to retain control of this," he told a room packed with lawmakers.

As elected officials from all over realized, their districts may be diverse, but the issues they face are similar. They include Medicaid costs, the rising number of working poor without health insurance, and compliance with the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act.

Lawmakers trade information with each other or from lobbyists, and the conversations can lead months from now to bills on legislative calendars in Florida and other states.

Rep. Anne Gannon, D-Delray Beach, said she got an idea for a bill after hearing New York lawyer Barry Scheck, of the Innocence Project, discuss flawed witness identifications that were a factor in many of the 161 wrongful convictions overturned through DNA testing.

At a workshop entitled "The Impending Crisis for Higher Education," experts from two higher education groups said that in many states, an increasing share of the cost of college has shifted from states to families over the past decade.

They also said that nearly 90 percent of the increase in the number of high school graduates from 2003 to 2018 will be in six states, including Florida.

On Wednesday, dozens of Florida lawmakers, some with their spouses, attended Florida Night, a cocktail reception and buffet dinner. The event was organized by Tallahassee lobbyists Jack and Keyna Cory, paid for by more than a dozen lobbyists and clients, and attended by two reporters from the St. Petersburg Times.

Hundreds of businesses and interest groups that lobby state capitals were here promoting their products and generating goodwill. Delegates could play with slot machines or get free cholesterol tests.

The Marijuana Policy Project was here, as was the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The National Rifle Association's booth was only a short distance from its archrival, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Kelly Link: http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/21/State/Legislators_go_long_w.shtml

 

TALLAHASSEE - A proposal to amend the Florida Constitution to ban gay marriage is nearing a major step toward getting on the November 2006 ballot.

Organizers announced Friday they are within days of having enough signatures to trigger a review by the Florida Supreme Court.

The proposal, billed as the "Florida Marriage Protection Amendment," seeks to amend the state Constitution to define marriage as a union between "only one man and one woman" and provides that no other kind of marriage or legal union is equivalent to marriage. Organizers have until Feb. 1 to gather the 611,009 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

Florida4marriage.org was 471 signatures short Friday of the 61,113 needed for judicial review, state elections records show. Organizers said they anticipate reaching the goal by early next week.

But opponents say the Supreme Court should block the measure because it deals with more than one subject.

Not only does it define marriage, it also states that "no other legal union that is treated as marriage . . . shall be valid or recognized."

That violates the constitutional requirement limiting citizen petitions to a single subject, said Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, a gay and lesbian rights group.

"What they are proposing is not simply a ban on equal access to marriage," said Smith. "It would also prevent civil unions and domestic partnerships across the state."

Florida already has a state law, passed in 1997, limiting marriage to two persons of the opposite sex.

But Bill Stephens, executive director of the Christian Coalition of Florida, told reporters Friday the amendment is needed because the law might be challenged in court. So the measure seeks to bar the Legislature from changing the definition of marriage.

"When the definition is expanded, it suddenly becomes nothing or meaningless," said Stephens, whose group is among those distributing petitions.

The issue is also expected to have political implications on the 2006 governor's race by drawing conservatives to the polls.

Democratic candidates Jim Davis of Tampa, Rod Smith of Alachua and Scott Maddox of Tallahassee say the measure is unnecessary.

But Republican candidates Charlie Crist and Tom Gallagher support it. Gallagher's campaign released a statement Friday charging that "Democrats, left-wing special interest groups and activist judges around the country are threatening to undermine the sanctity of marriage in Florida."

Stephens predicted his group will have no trouble passing the measure. But Smith said Equality Florida hopes a changing society will reject it.

"The more this conversation goes on and on, the more people get past the stereotypes and deal with real people and what is denied gay partners and their children," Smith said.

Under the state Constitution, citizens can propose a constitutional amendment by collecting signatures from 611,009 registered state voters. The state Supreme Court determines if a measure is clearly written and sticks to one subject.

Besides the Christian Coalition, florida4marriage.org also has ties to Florida Family Action, a nonprofit Orlando group. The Orlando group and florida4marriage.org are led by John Stemberger.

Stemberger gained visibility last year during the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. A supporter of Mel Martinez, Stemberger was at the center of a mailing that attacked Martinez's chief rival, Bill McCollum. Stemberger condemned McCollum's record as a congressman of supporting hate crime legislation.

After winning, Martinez said he regretted the attacks on McCollum, who opposes gay marriage.

PROPOSED BALLOT SUMMARY

This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.

Kelly Link: http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/20/State/Gay_marriage_vote_a_s.shtml