Legislative Advocacy

Support for the positions of public policy and specific items of legislation noted on this page and in Action Alert emails are initiatives of the UU Justice Florida.

Supporters of UUJF urge our elected representatives and appointees in local, state and national offices to support public policy and legislation consistent with values of faith and principle. We insist that the administration of justice and governmental operations be unbiased, transparent, compassionate, accountable, non-partisan, fair and ethical. We urge that long term challenges and opportunities facing our state be addressed with a focus on prevention rather than remediation. Proposed actions to address areas of specific interest and concern are detailed below.

UU Justice Florida supporters are encouraged to schedule virtual meetings with their legislators before the start of each Legislative session, develop relationships and respond to email Action Alerts regarding legislation that will come before their representatives in Committee hearings or in subsequent votes on the House or Senate floor.

The biggest obstacle to passage of bills supported by UUJF is getting Committee Chairs to place bills of interest on their committee agendas for hearings and votes. Use the guidelines in the following section to address and overcome these obstacles.

Resources and Strategy for Meetings with Elected Representatives

Sign up for Action Alerts on the Take Action page.
Join or form a team with members of your congregation or affiliated organization. Schedule meetings virtually or in your Legislators’ district offices in person before the start of each Legislative session.
Edit the Legislative Agenda to include contact and demographic information about your congregation or partner organization and print copies for your legislators and staff.
Congratulate your Legislators on their recent election in a letter or email. Include a copy of the Legislative Agenda saying that it expresses your (faith) values of justice, compassion and support for the democratic process.
Refer to the Bills-2023 tab on the Legislative Tracker for links, talking points and additional information on bills of interest.
Look up committee assignments for your Senator and Representative. Note whether they chair or sit on committees to which bills of interest have been referred.
Urge your legislators to file, co-sponsor or support bills consistent with positions expressed in the Legislative Agenda.
Urge House and Senate Chamber Leadership and Committee chairs to place to these bills on meeting agendas of committees to which they have been referred for hearings.

Legislative Agenda

Environmental Protections and Sustainability

Set goals and timetables for achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions
Ban fracking and matrix acidizing
Set goals and timetables for the transition to sources of renewable energy from fossil fuels
Continue to fund the purchase of Florida Forever lands and enact protections from development
Protect springs, aquifers, Everglades and coral reefs from overdevelopment and pollution
Support the proposed ‘Right to Clean and Healthy Waters Amendment’
Replace septic tanks with sewers and water treatment systems
Upgrade wastewater treatment facilities to prevent sewage discharges
Reduce the solid waste stream – compost organic waste and expand recycling efforts
Regulate land application of biosolids containing nutrients that feed toxic algae in rivers
Address sea level rise and salt water intrusion
Replace pre-harvest sugar field burning with sustainable, burn-free green harvesting
Breach the Rodman Dam and restore the Silver, Ocklawaha and St. Johns Rivers
Legalize human composting, through which a person’s remains are turned into usable soil as an alternative to traditional burial and cremation

Criminal Justice Reform

Support programs to reduce prison populations, recidivism and end mass incarceration
Facilitate re-entry programs with occupational licensing reforms and job training
Support civil citations and similar diversion programs for youth and adults
Recognize and end racial disparities in the criminal justice system
End cash bail and drivers license forfeiture for failure to pay fines that criminalizes poverty
End the war on drugs and reduce or eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing
End solitary confinement and protect the dignity and well being of prisoners
Expand police force anti-bias and de-escalation training
Hold police accountable for use of excessive force
End or limit the qualified immunity doctrine for police officers
End privatization of prisons that incentivizes recidivism
Transfer incidents involving substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health and homelessness from law enforcement agencies to agencies with expertise in those fields
Ban chokeholds, end racial and religious profiling, require use of bodycams and dashboard cameras and prohibit certain no-knock warrants
Expunge the nonjudicial arrest records of youth who completed diversion programs and keep their records private
Expand hate crimes laws
Abolish the death penalty

Disaster Resiliency and Recovery

Repair and rebuild hurricane damage so that Florida can be a model of climate resilience and sustainability
Require infrastructure vulnerability assessments and fund flood mitigation projects
Require post disaster rebuilding to account for sea level rise estimates
Provide temporary shelters and permanent affordable housing especially for those displaced by hurricanes and flooding

Education

Adequately fund teacher salaries to further excellence in education
Require and fund programs to address bullying, domestic violence and human trafficking
Eliminate the school to prison pipeline
Affirm that religious instruction and practice belong in the home and places of worship and not in public or private schools funded by the state or federal government
Oppose diversion of general revenue dollars to charter, private and religious schools
Require charter and private schools to meet the same standards as public schools
Support optional instruction and counseling on sexual orientation, gender identity, sex education and parenting at age appropriate levels
Permit the teaching of Critical Race Theory that examines social, cultural and legal issues as they relate to race and racism in higher education curricula

Election Reform

Establish non-partisan redistricting commissions and facilitate public input and participation following each decennial census
Insure election security with paper trails, Risk Limiting Audits and cybersecurity review
Pass the National Popular Vote Compact
Implement Ranked-Choice (Instant-Runoff) voting
Restore voting rights of returning citizens who are unable to repay debts or legal financial obligations
Create a voter verification system to confirm eligibility for voter eligibility and ballot access
Facilitate early-vote, vote-by-mail, and Automatic Voter Registration
Reject “independent state legislature theory,” a once-fringe doctrine that would give legislatures sole control over election and redistricting rules

Gun Safety

Require universal background checks and waiting periods
Ban assault weapons, high capacity magazines and bump stocks
Repeal “Stand Your Ground” to discourage the unlawful and reckless use of firearms

Immigration Reform

Appreciate and welcome the diversity, talents and skills of immigrants and their cultures
Recognize and develop the potential of immigrants to become contributing and self-supporting participants in Florida’s labor force
Protect the rights of families and those seeking asylum while maintaining border security
End family separation and inhumane detention of immigrants
Allow law-abiding undocumented residents to receive work permits and driver’s licenses so that they may sustain themselves and their families with dignity and respect
Repeal E-verify and bans on sanctuary cities

Human Rights

Support women’s reproductive freedoms
Ban conversion therapy
Rescind prohibitions on gender-affirming care for adolescents
Recognize, acknowledge and end structural racism in health care and criminal justice
Affirm the Constitutional right to peacefully assemble and protest
Reject measures that marginalize and stigmatize members of the LGBTQI+ community
Support the right of terminally ill and mentally competent adults to seek medical assistance in choosing to end their lives when they judge their quality of life to be unacceptable.

Public Health and Safety

Declare that universal and affordable health care is a human right
Expand Medicaid to increase coverage and take advantage of Federal funding
Treat mental illness, substance abuse and addiction as noncriminal public health issues
End human trafficking
Fund and staff state and local agencies to prevent the spread of pandemic diseases
Require that state health regulations, guidelines and recommendations be consistent with peer reviewed medical studies
End taxpayer funding for bogus anti-abortion clinics
Ensure access to family planning clinic entrances
Provide uninterrupted access to gender-affirming care for transgender and gender-diverse minors and adults

Budget and Tax Reform

Re-enact combined reporting of income for multi-state corporations, the throwback rule and eliminate corporate tax loopholes
Protect Affordable Housing and other Trust Fund accounts as intended in enabling legislation

Economy, Infrastructure and Job Creation

Fund job creating programs and infrastructure improvements for public schools, broadband accessibility, public transportation, high speed rail, environmental remediation, septic system replacement and conversion to renewable energy
Prohibit employers from excluding felons from initial interviews for employment

Home Rule vs. Preemption to the State

Acknowledge that local officials must be entrusted to balance the interests of property owners, residents, tourists, businesses and developers to protect the character of their neighborhoods, the environment, public health, public safety and jobs
Curtail influence of special interest groups and their lobbyists
Require a supermajority vote to enact preemption of local control and regulation to the State