Florida's Catholic and evangelical social conservatives expect the GOP-heavy Florida Legislature to sympathize with their moral concerns as the 2013 session gears up, but they're not taking anything for granted as they prepare to lobby legislators on issues dear to them.
I dont anticipate anything too harmful happening in the area of social conservative causes, Bill Bunkley, who represents the Florida Baptist Convention on the newly-formed Florida Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (of which he is also president), tells Sunshine State News. However, on the Senate side of things, the Legislature is clearly not as socially conservative as it has been in the past.
By way of example, Bunkley points to Senate President Don Gatezs appointment of very liberal Democrat Eleanor Sobel to chair the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs. The committee will consider a domestic partnership bill on Tuesday afternoon, one likely to not see the light of day but is a sign of the direction in which he thinks the Senate might be going, compared to previous years.
Our primary focus this session is how can we strengthen the institution of marriage and family as a means to produce more social order and therefore less government interference and intervention, John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, tells SSN. When families and marriages break down, it increases the welfare state, its just not the best way to build society. Thats our overall premise.
The social agenda of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops echoes that of the states more evangelically oriented organizations, though it tends to be a bit broader in scope. As the introduction to this years policy outline puts it, in addition to the protection of unborn life, traditional marriage, and religious freedom, the Conference supports legislation which relieves the burden of the poor, aged, children in need, and disabled; contributes to the reform of the criminal justice system; assures the rights of parents in the education of their children; protects the environment for future generations; and addresses the needs of farm workers and immigrant families.
What follows is an outline of the filed and forthcoming legislation the states social conservatives are keeping an eye on.
Gambling
Each of the spokesmen interviewed for this piece reiterated their organizations longstanding opposition to the expansion of legal gambling in Florida, and on Monday Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, announced that one bill likely, the only one dealing with gambling to be introduced in the 2013 session will be one that expressly outlaws the estimated 1,500 to 2,000 Internet cafes that operate as sweepstakes parlors, skirting the states anti-gambling laws.
We think that gambling is a vice, Stemberger says. Theres no social good that comes from it, theres crime associated with it, and addiction, and suicides. Theres families and marriages that break up because of it, and we just dont think Florida needs to expand it any more than it already is.
Stemberger and Bunkley say their organizations will advocate that the Florida Houses two-year gambling review incorporate research on the potential social costs associated with the legalization of gambling, including increased rates of crime, addiction, and family breakdown -- though the Senate Gaming Committee has already said it's doing just that.
We know from other states, for every dollar they take in gambling, there can be two to five dollars put out the back door with social costs, police protection, etc., Bunkley concurs. Hes proposing that the Legislature conduct research into how advertising for the Florida Lottery is directed (e.g., by way of billboards) and where Internet cafes are conducting their business, and to compare those findings with census records to see if low-income communities are being disproportionately targeted by public and private gaming interests.
Domestic Partnerships
This has nothing to do with families, Stemberger says of Sobels SB 196, which is titled Families First. Its a full-blown civil unions-gay marriage bill, an attempt to appropriate every right, under both federal and state law, that mirrors marriage in every way, in terms of children, finance, rights, responsibilities, duties, everything.
He suggests the bill might even violate the Florida Constitution, a provision of which (approved by the vast majority of Floridas voters in the 2008 general election) explicitly defines 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.
Traditional values such as chastity, the sanctity of marriage and family, as well as the development of sound parent-child relationships, and the freedom of parents to rear their children in a healthy and moral climate are critical to a well-ordered society, Michael Sheedy, director of public policy at the Catholic Conference, wrote Monday in a letter to Sobel. All of these are under assault today and can be further threatened by legislation such as SB 196.
Discrimination Against Gays
Stemberger expresses concern over HB 653 and SB 710 (Prohibited Discrimination), the Competitive Workforce Act, which prohibits private businesses from discriminating against their employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
In other words, if a man decides to turn into a woman, whether by cross-dressing or through sex change,' and wants to be your receptionist, and you the business owner believe thats inappropriate, you cant terminate or otherwise decline to hire that particular person, Stemberger explains. This would also apply to schools and private businesses where children are involved.
New Handbook for Married Couples?
On background, social conservative sources tell SSN they are working to get a bill filed that would require courts to hand out a new introduction to marriage handbook to couples who are civilly married. Currently, new couples are given a booklet published by the Family Law Section of the Florida Bar.
Thats basically a book on how to get divorced, according to one source. Right on the front end of the marriage, were giving couples a way to undermine the foundation of their relationship. I think thats really counterproductive. It sends a really bad message.
The proposed bill, which hasnt been filed yet, would contain information on marriage education, how couples communicate, how they can order their finances, how to raise children, and how to resolve conflicts. The source said about 10 states publish such a guide and distribute it to newlyweds.
Prison Reform
I think thats something youlll see moving this session, sources tell SSN on background. House leadership is checking out models from across the country that have had great success in rehabilitating people and returning them to the world as productive citizens.
Sheedy tells SSN the Conference is working with the Legislature to come up with a solution for what to do with incarcerated juveniles who have received life-term prison sentences. A June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last year determined that such punishments constituted cruel and unusual punishment.
Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at (954) 235-9116.
