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Florida alert
United Sportsmen of Florida is sending an alert (see "below the fold") that the Legislature raided most of the funds produced by CCW licenses, which are supposed to be set aside to handle license issuance only. Legislature also put in a proviso to pressure against veto, by saying if provisions of the appropriations bill are vetoed, the money to finance them will come out of the education budget.
***ALERT- Legislators Raid CCW Trust Fund - try to intimidate Governor
DATE: May 11, 2009
TO: USF & NRA Member and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
USF Executive Director
NRA Past President
In a last minute sneak attack on gun owners, the Florida Legislature raided the concealed weapons and firearms licensing trust fund.
They took $6 million from the Division of Licensing Concealed Weapons and Firearm Trust Fund that is intended, by law, to be used solely for administering the concealed weapons and firearms licensing program. (Read background Information below)
Please Call, Fax, or Email Governor Charlie Crist IMMEDIATELY, and ask him to veto the $6 Million trust fund sweep from the Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services Division of Licensing authorized under Section 59 of the Conference Report of SB-2600.
Phone number: (850) 488-4441 or (850) 488-7146
Fax number: (850) 487-0801
Send your email to the Governor at this address:
Please send your email today !!!!! And/or please contact the Governor's office by phone or fax ASAP
BACKGROUND:
Right now, the concealed weapons and firearms licensing program is backlogged and overloaded, due in part, to the refusal of budget officials and the Legislature to allow the Division of Licensing to use its own trust fund money to hire more employees and expand/upgrade equipment.
Crates of unopened mail containing license and license renewal applications sit in storage. The backlog of mail sitting unopened, at times, has extended beyond 90 days while existing licenses are expiring because renewal applications haven't been opened and processed.
Currently (although the Division of Licensing has been working weekend shifts to clear the backlog), it is taking 13-14 weeks to process a "perfect" application once it has been opened. That is an unequivocal violation of the law that requires issuance or denial of a licence by a time certain –– a violation of law that legislative leaders are condoning by their actions.
THE LAW REQUIRES THE DIVISION OF LICENSING TO ISSUE A LICENSE WITHIN 90 DAYS OF RECEIPT OF THE APPLICATION -- or deny the license "for cause", based upon the criteria set forth in the law. Theft of operating funds by the Legislature is not "just cause" for failure to issue licenses or renewals within 90 days.
While applications sit gathering dust, legislative leaders took $6 Million of approximately $8 Million held in the trust fund. That $6 Million is supposed to be used to pay employees, buy upgraded equipment, upgrade or replace computers or software, and to otherwise administer the concealed weapons and firearms licensing program.
BUT, feigning a desperate need for funds for education and health care, legislative leaders recklessly and ruthlessly confiscated trust fund money. Why? Because they were building a so-called "working capital" fund for the 2010-12 legislative term, reported now to be in the neighborhood of $1.8 BILLION DOLLARS. This so-called "working capital fund" is for the use of future legislative leaders.
They didn't take that money for education. They didn't take that money for health care. They didn't take that money to save jobs. They didn't take that money to avoid pay cuts, or budget cuts -- they took the money to help build their own fund.
While Senate leadership reportedly fought to stop the ruthless raids on trust funds, in the end, they simply caved and let the House of Representatives prevail.
The bad behavior doesn't end there.
Obviously fearing the Governor would use his line-item veto to stop trust fund raids, proviso language was inserted in the bill in an clear attempt to intimidate the Governor.
The proviso language says that if any portion of the moneys swept from this and other trust funds does not become law (meaning it is vetoed), that portion of the money shall be deducted from the EDUCATION BUDGET. This is clearly designed to keep the Governor from vetoing trust fund sweeps, and prevent trust fund money from being taken back out the House leadership's so-called "working capital" fund.
Money in the concealed weapons trust fund came from gun owners. No money to administer and run the concealed weapons and firearms licensing program has ever come from general revenue, or any other state fund or revenue source. The taking of these gun owner user fees is an unauthorized tax on the exercise of the Second Amendment.
AGAIN, Please Call, Fax, or Email Governor Crist IMMEDIATELY, and ask him to veto the $6 Million raid on the Concealed Weapons & Firearms Trust Fund!
Send your email to the Governor at this address:
Please send your email today !!!!!
You may also call the Executive Office of the Governor at: (850) 488-7146
9 Comments | Leave a comment
Governor Crist:
I have held a concealed weapons license since 1987 - the inception date of the statues allowing Floridians the right to bear arms enumerated in both the US Bill of Rights and the Florida Constitution. I have paid my TAX to exercise my rights and that fee was to be held in trust. I am aware that current applications for licenses are not being issued in the time certain allowed by the statute. My license expires this year I am very concerned that the trust fund is not being used to bring the issuing agency in compliance with the statute, and that my renewal may be delayed.
In the long term we should consider issuing the license for LIFE. Some states already do this. Some individuals have expressed a concern that this would prevent the agency from checking background of licensees. License holder are subjected to nightly background checks and any licensee who no longer qualifies could have their license revoked
I suggest that you issue an emergency rule that extends the current expiration date of any current license holder indefinably until the current backlog of applications and renewals are dealt with.
Please veto any legislation that steals money from the CCW trust fund.
"if provisions of the appropriations bill are vetoed, the money to finance them will come out of the education budget."
I'm thinking this makes a veto a "win/win" in my book...
Florida's legislature has a history of such tricks, such as when they introduced the lottery on the premise that revenues would go to education, then promptly cut the education budget by the amount of lottery revenues...
James
Michigan did the same thing.
Actually, there should be NO LICENSE required. When you must ask the state for permission, it is not a Right but a privilege, and privilege can be taken away.
Stand up for what is right even when you stand alone.
Tiochfaidh ar la!
Written & sent - veiled promise/threat about whatever office he runs for we will remember his response to this issue. Although I didn't mention his RINO status, I'm sure he is aware of what he is. Yes, I was polite!
I think you should consider a system similar to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We recognize a carry permit issued in ANY state and it normally only takes a few minutes to get a background check done via the local sheriff calling the state police. The sheriff in my county told me recently (while I renewed my permit) that they have NEVER seen the demand that they see now. They are issuing 200 permits/week despite only being open for this 16 hours (2 days per week/8 hours per day)per week. As an added bonus, if you happen to acquire a PA carry permit, FL honors it.
It is so typical of politicians to say "It's for the children!", and then refuse, ever, to repay the debt.
Whether it's the Lottery, or the "Gun Licensing Fee" (read "tax"), or any other fund that the politicians might "borrow" from.
This particular bunch of Florida politicians are simply a little more bald-faced than the norm.
Of course, the all-time champ at this is the US government. Think "Social Security Trust Fund", which is nothing more than a Ponzi scheme.
What an amazing, and disturbing, action by the Florida legislature. It actually brings to mind a couple of sentences from Alex Kozinski's famous dissent:
"The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed--where the government refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get to make only once."
Improbable? Less improbable today than yesterday, sad to say.