Editorial

The recently concluded 60-day Florida legislative session demonstrated the truth that when it comes to legislating, oftentimes no action is the best result. Unfortunately, the session also underscored the tragedy when legislators fail to act when human life and children’s worldviews are at risk.

Oftentimes, no action is the best result. Such was the case with gambling this legislative session. It’s no small thing in a year of major budget problems, often described as a “crisis,” that no new gambling expansion cleared the Florida Legislature. It’s not, however, because of a lack of trying by the Senate. The anti-gambling, conservative Florida House is the reason for the failure of a desperately-wanted gambling expansion from the gambling-obsessed, moderate Florida Senate.

Sincere gratitude and hearty praise is due Speaker Marco Rubio (R-West Miami) and other House leaders for their steadfast opposition to more gambling with the budgetary crisis pretext, however shortsighted, available to them as a political rationale.

After last year’s session, I editorialized against Gov. Charlie Crist, Senate President Ken Pruitt (R-Port St. Lucie) and Rubio for their roles in the passage of four gambling bills. Only Rubio responded to my editorial—and in that response promised renewed commitment to stopping gambling expansion. That promise—first made in his Witness op-ed, but often repeated by him in numerous other venues—was kept (while dodging a late-in-the-session pari-mutuel relief bill).

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When politicians keep their promises, they deserve to be praised—just as when they don’t, criticism is appropriate. Having faulted him last year, I’m delighted to offer my praise of Rubio this year.

As Florida Baptist Convention legislative consultant Bill Bunkley has noted, this year was the “perfect storm” for legislators to give in and accept more gambling in the hope that it would provide new revenue to prop up the faltering state budget. In the midst of severe criticism from editorial pages and political opponents for significant budget cuts, it would have been very easy to accept the alluring but false hope provided by gambling expansion.

In an exclusive interview with the Witness in March, former Gov. Jeb Bush warned gambling expansion to address budget problems would be a “permanent” solution to address a temporary shortfall and would be a “grave mistake. Period.” Bush praised Rubio—who is often viewed as Bush’s ideological kinsman—for speaking out against gambling expansion.

Having guided the legislative session to a conclusion without more gambling bills, Rubio’s leadership should not be overlooked. More than that, anti-gambling citizens should thank the Speaker, as well as budget chief and Speaker-designate Rep. Ray Sansom (R-Fort Walton Beach), for keeping the anti-gambling expansion promise.

Indeed, no action in a legislature is very often a great result. Still, other times no action is potentially harmful.

Such was the case with abortion and evolution, where the Senate and the House both bear the burden for their respective failures on priority legislation for pro-family conservatives.

On abortion, the moderate Senate was true to form in defeating by as close a margin as possible—a tie vote of 20-20—a modest pro-life bill requiring an ultrasound in the first trimester for women seeking abortions. Led by Sen. Jim King (R-Jacksonville), former Senate President and chief ring-leader of the RINO (Republican in Name Only)-wing of the Republican Party in the upper chamber, the Senate voted down the bill sponsored by Sen. Daniel Webster (R-Winter Garden) in his last session. Tragic outcomes like this one will continue until GOP moderates understand and fear an electoral consequence for stiffing pro-family conservatives.

More serious than political consequences, however, are the costs to human beings. Failure to pass this legislation will impact women and their unborn children, some of whose lives would have been saved if this bill had become law. There is considerable evidence that large numbers of women who see ultrasound images of their unborn children decide not to abort. That is why King and other pro-abortion legislators worked so feverishly to kill (word chosen with intention) this good bill.

It should be noted that passage by the Legislature (the House had passed a similar bill and was poised to accept the Senate bill, according to Sen. Webster) would not have ensured that it would become law. After all, our “pro-life” governor who nevertheless does not support any public policy deemed restrictive of abortion, refused repeatedly to take a position on the legislation, noting that he preferred to await the outcome of the Senate.

Lack of action was also harmful on the evolution issue.

Remarkably, the moderate Senate actually did the heavy lifting on evolution academic freedom led by conservative Sen. Ronda Storms (R-Brandon). And no matter what House leaders contend, the failure to send an evolution bill to the governor lies at the feet of the House leadership.

While I understand there were legitimate concerns on the merits of the competing approaches to academic freedom, the House leadership’s feet-dragging early on and the later decision to change course effectively made it extremely unlikely any kind of academic freedom bill would pass—in part, again, because of the moderate Senate.

It must be conceded the academic freedom issue got a late start due to the timing of the State Board of Education action on the new science standards in February, shortly before the beginning of the legislative session. Starting a major piece of legislation only two weeks before the session began made passage difficult. Further, and again, Gov. Crist refused to take a position on evolution academic freedom legislation, so passage by the Legislature may not have resulted in a new law.

The House leadership will say the clock ran out, although they insisted upon their perhaps better in substance language with less than five days left in the session when they had an opportunity to take the Senate language and send the bill to the governor.

Because of the House leadership’s decision, Florida teachers will be burdened with new science standards without the assurance that those who wish to offer scientific evidence critiquing Darwinian evolution will be protected from harassment or worse, as vividly illustrated at the collegiate and graduate levels in the Ben Stein documentary, “Expelled.” Children, who will learn only Darwinian dogma—which is philosophical naturalism, not science, are the losers for the House’s failure to act.

The results of the legislative session make one thing abundantly clear, more evangelicals need to take an active role in our Legislature—both as engaged citizens who hold their elected officials accountable in Tallahassee and at the ballot box, and as candidates to serve in our Legislature, especially in the Senate.