Franklin Sands Calls for GOP House Leadership to Back Amendment Banning Oil Drilling

With less than a week until a special session of the Legislature opens to consider forwarding a constitutional amendment to the November ballot to ban oil drilling in Florida waters, House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands of Weston came out swinging at the Republican leadership on Wednesday, calling on them to let the measure pass.

House Republican legislative leaders who like to talk the talk about helping small businesses and promoting our states economy are not yet walking the walk, said Sands. They are putting Floridas economy at grave risk in their shameful alignment with petroleum giants opposed to letting voters create a permanent ban against oil drilling in Floridas coastal waters.

Stonewalling over the special session does not help Floridas economy, said Sands, who noted that Republican leaders in the House have backed offshore drilling. It does not help small business. And it does nothing to improve confidence in our states vitality. The stonewalling of House Republican legislative leaders must come to an end.