Florida in 2006 face tough Ballot Issues

[DanCa]

Subject: 2006 state ballot could see tough issues -PELICAN PRESS

09/12/05
2006 state ballot could see tough issues


Florida's 2006 general election is more than a year away, but it
already promises to be a wild ride. In addition to senate and
gubernatorial races there is a strong possibility three
controversial constitutional amendment proposals will be on the
ballot. A great deal has already been reported about two of them: 1) Former Senate President John McKay's attempt to sunset more than $20
billion worth of state sales tax exemptions; and 2) Florida Home
Democracy's bid to require voter approval of local growth plan
changes. The third proposal, offered by Palm Beach County Commis-sioner Burt Aaronson, has recently stirred up a political hornet's nest on Florida's east coast -- and promises to do so statewide -- because it would amend the state constitution to allow embryonic stem cell research.


Forcing their hands
A stem cell research ballot question would force Republican office
seekers -- such as U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris of
Longboat Key -- to declare where they stand on a divisive issue that
could hurt them both within their own party and in a general
election. State law doesn't prohibit stem cell research, but Gov. Jeb Bush's recent decision to oppose it at BIO 2005 (an international biotech convention) angered Aaronson and others who have lobbied the Scripps Research Institute to locate in Florida. Last month, Aaronson said he anticipates the ballot language will be ready for legal scrutiny this autumn. If it passes muster with the state's high court, more than 600,000 petition signatures must then
be gathered so it can appear on the Nov. 7, 2006 statewide ballot.

There is a precedent for what Aaronson has in mind. In California,
voters agreed to spend $3 billion on stem cell research and make the
state eligible for research grants if federal money begins to flow.
Aaronson and others insist Bush's statements clouded the issue in
Florida. In June, the Palm Beach Post reported Bush told the convention crowd in Philadelphia, "I think taking a life to create a life is a huge contradiction morally." A Scripps scientific conference in Palm Beach this November is slated to address "Stem Cell and Gene Therapy." Entangled Politics and stem cell research became entangled in 2001 when the governor's brother, President George W. Bush, restricted federal spending for the types of studies being conducted worldwide by researchers who believe the cells could grow new tissue and repair damaged organs.

Democrats believe there is strong support across political party
lines for stem cell research. They want to put the proposed
constitutional amendment on a statewide ballot so Republican
candidates are forced to take positions on the issue. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican and surgeon
from Tennessee who may, political pundits believe, seek the
presidency, recently separated himself from the Bush brothers and
announced support for legislation that loosens restrictions on human
embryonic research. A political action committee known as StemPAC has waded into the fray and will help with the petition drive. It reportedly consists of paid political consultants, scientists and patient advocates who support stem cell research. The organization's Web site is StemPac.com.