John Rutherford: “This November, Floridians in my home State are going to be asked to vote on two constitutional amendments, State…”

“This November, Floridians in my home State are going to be asked to vote on two constitutional amendments, State constitutional amendments. Not only am I opposed to both amendments, but I am vehemently against using the constitutional referendum process in the State of Florida to legislate. That is not what the referendum process was created for. It was designed to amend our State constitution, not to legislate. We have a legislature. We have a process to pass laws that do not involve radically changing our constitution. The referendum process seeks to circumvent Florida's legislative process by offering quick, easy, and often worse fixes to complicated problems. Need I remind everyone--Mr. Speaker, this is amazing--that in Florida's State Constitution, we have pregnant pigs discussed. I am not making that up. If you are unfamiliar, in 2002, Floridians passed a constitutional referendum that made it unlawful to confine a pregnant pig in an enclosure that would prevent her from being able to turn around safely in that pen. That is in our constitution. We were the laughingstock of the Nation. While Florida's Constitution is silent on the rights of cows, horses, chickens, or other barnyard animals, it addresses in considerable detail the rights of pregnant pigs. That is unbelievable. We passed that into Florida law.…”