SARASOTA- As we head into Election Day we’re continuing to profile the constitutional amendments on this year’s ballot. Amendment 9 focuses on clean water and clean air legislation with a proposed ban on off-shore drilling and indoor vaping.
“The first part of it would ban drilling and exploration within our state territorial waters,” Alcock said. “Which is only about 9 miles from our coast on the gulf side; it’s only three miles on the east side.”
Sierra Club of Manatee-Sarasota is supporting the amendment, due to potential damage from oil spills.
“A lot of oil can pour into the Gulf,” Reynolds said. “And ruin the fishing industries, the tourist industries, habitats for wildlife and the quality of life for people who live here. We don’t want to see that happen again; even a small oil spill can be a huge problem.”
Making the drilling ban part of the constitution stems from an almost decade old debate in the state legislature.
“We already have state statutes that ban off-shore drilling in state waters in Florida,” Reynolds said. “But in 2009 the Florida Legislature or the Florida House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that would allow off-shore drilling inside our protected waters.”
The bill was voted down in the senate, but another bill could come up in the future.
“Laws can be changed,” Reynolds said. “That’s why this constitutional amendment is important. It bolsters the statute.”
The second half of the amendment would ban indoor vaping.
“We have passed a prior constitutional amendment that actually prohibits regular cigarette smoking in a number of places indoors in Florida,” Alcock said. “This would expand that to the electronic cigarettes, right now vaping is not included in that original amendment, this would convert the language so wherever you can’t smoke you won’t be able to vape either.”
If you want to take a look at your ballot you can get a sample ballot online: