All animals are equal except for some animals ... that's a theme in George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and it's certainly the major theme of Rep. Pat Rooney's elitist and unnecessary funeral bill.
Tell you what: Let's kill HB 31, give it its own funeral, and if Rooney wants to wrap the dead bill in a 500-foot buffer zone and parade it up and down Monroe Street, I'll be on the sidewalk waving a flag. As long as he buries it before any committee wastes a minute on it.
For some reason, Rooney in the House and Liz Benacquisto in the Senate think Florida will be a kinder, gentler place with HB 31.
Rooney's press release claims his bill would "protect the rights of grieving family and friends of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice protecting and promoting our freedoms" -- and the way to do that, according to the bill, is to create a 500-foot buffer zone from the property line of where a funeral service is being held, starting one hour prior to the service to one hour after the service ends.
And who gets the buffer zone? The families of soldiers, first responders, minors and -- here it comes -- political figures. Yes, George Orwell, Rep. Rooney did say "political figures."
But, with or without political figures, HB 31 is a frivolous bill that could create more heartbreak than help.
I understand that this bill is in answer to Pastor Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church and his Heinous Half-Dozen -- the half-dozen-or-so members who like to show up for a hate-event at a gay soldier's funeral. There are no words for such faux holy people. But Rooney's bill is not the answer. It's a First Amendment nightmare and a gross overreaction to this irrelevant gang of moral pygmies.
Does any family need a buffer zone to keep mourners out? What if I want to attend a funeral of an old friend, but the family doesn't know me? Or like me? I have to stay behind the buffer line. What about my rights?
I have a million questions about minors, about their ages and whether cause of death is a buffer factor. Does this bill truly apply to all who die under the age of 18?
And then there are the politicians. How would your new law define them, Rep. Rooney? Would they be current officeholders, current and former officeholders, and would they include "political figures" in town government and county government, or just, say, constitutional officers? What about the folks who once won a seat on a little water and sewer district board somewhere? Or a guy like Rick Lussy, who has run for property appraiser in Martin County and lost virtually every election cycle for the past 20 years. Does Lussy -- certainly a political figure -- get a two-hour funeral buffer even though he never carried more than 8 percent of the vote?
I'm just wondering if there are actually more citizens who will be eligible for buffer zones when they die than there are also-rans who have to let the riff-raff walk right up to a bufferless church or graveside.
You want to do something for the families of fallen soldiers and first responders, Rep. Rooney -- I mean really do something? Then write a bill that extends and expands current benefits to their survivors. All a buffer zone law will do is add another nuisance job to busy police forces all over Florida.
Let's not go camping
A week ago, word leaked out that Gov. Rick Scott was about to ignore the pleas of thousands of Floridians who wanted him to reject a series of high-impact campgrounds at sensitive state parks around the state. Sources close to his office said the campgrounds were as good as "in" at Honeymoon Island State Park, Fanning Springs, DeLeon Springs, and Edward Ball Wakulla Springs, among others.
But late last week the governor met with Herschel Vinyard, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and after a packed public hearing, lo and behold, he scotched the campground plans and yielded to the public's wishes.
Said Scott, After seeing the publics reaction, it is clear that this is not the right time to expand camping at Honeymoon Island State Park. These natural treasures belong to all the taxpaying citizens of this state and it would be unfair to proceed with a plan that so many Floridians are so adamantly opposed to.
This is a good sign for a governor who badly needed to show he can hear Floridians whose issues might not be at the top of his own list. Florida's 160 state parks are indeed all individual gems and, instinctively I think, he knew that those who protested the campgrounds were right.
Did political realities and the opinion of Vinyard help his decision along? Probably. But it doesn't matter in the end. The governor showed he has the ability to learn and the political maturity to change his mind. The real winner is Florida's unique, 700,000-acre state park system, among the finest in the nation.
This is an opinion column written by Nancy Smith. Reach Nancy at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
