Lawmakers propose to make South Florida the 51st state

[Tsutarja]

Source.

Officials in the City of South Miami have passed a resolution in favor of splitting the state in half so South Florida would become the 51st state.

Vice Mayor Walter Harris proposed the resolution and it passed with a 3-2 vote at the city commission meeting on Oct. 7.

Harris told the commission that Tallahassee isn't providing South Florida with proper representation or addressing its concerns when it comes to sea-level rising.

"We have to be able to deal directly with this environmental concern and we can't really get it done in Tallahassee," Harris said. "I don't care what people think -- it's not a matter of electing the right people."

Mayor Philip Stoddard agreed with Harris' reasoning, saying during the meeting that he's advocated for secession for the past 15 years but never penned a resolution.

"It's very apparent that the attitude of the northern part of the state is that they would just love to saw the state in half and just let us float off into the Caribbean," Stoddard said. "They've made that abundantly clear every possible opportunity and I would love to give them the opportunity to do that."

But the vote wasn't unanimous. Commissioners Gabriel Edmond and Josh Liebman voted against the resolution with Edmond, a history teacher, being the most vocal about it.

"I just want you guys to be careful because if you vote for this you're setting a precedent that if other people in this city don't like our representation or feel we're not responsive to them they might say 'we want to break away from the city of South Miami'."

The resolution lists the northern border of what would be the state of South Florida as being Brevard, Orange, Polk, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

Orange County is particularly important because that's where the South Florida Water Management District begins, Harris said. It was even suggested that a Central Florida city could possibly be the state of South Florida's capitol.

In total, the proposed 51st state would include 24 counties.

The resolution's 3-2 approval paved the way for it to be sent to the governing bodies of the proposed South Florida counties for consideration. In order for secession to be enacted, however, the measure would require electorate approval from the entire state and Congressional approval.

Click here to read a copy of the resolution.

Honestly, I'm not so sure why this has become such a large thing on social media. It's been proposed several times to have Florida split into two states, all of which have failed.

In my opinion, I'm far against this. In the proposed split, notice how it shows Orlando to become part of South Florida. Orlando is the prime area in which tourism occurs in the state; if the splitting of the states were to happen, then how would North Florida get their money from tourism?

Also, I happen to live in one of the counties along the proposed border as well (Hillsborough). I know quite a few people that travel between Hillsborough and Pasco Counties (the latter of which is "North Florida" and the former in "South Florida"). Not only would people who commute to work be working in another state, but it's also going to have an impact on primary, secondary, and post-secondary education as well if this did in fact go through.

I honestly think it won't go through, but I felt it would be worthy to discuss.

 

[Kanzler]

When was the last time a state ever split in two (other than West Virginia due to Civil War politics)?

I think it if it ever goes through, it would further solidify cultural differences between North and South Florida.

What's really interesting though, is how Miami is making this move to better respond to environmental concerns. This could lead citizens of South Florida to become more environmentally conscious and elect politicians that are interested in prioritizing environmental issues. Maybe this could spill over to other places in the US, giving the environmental agenda more attention and action?

 

[Oryx]

Source.



Honestly, I'm not so sure why this has become such a large thing on social media. It's been proposed several times to have Florida split into two states, all of which have failed.

In my opinion, I'm far against this. In the proposed split, notice how it shows Orlando to become part of South Florida. Orlando is the prime area in which tourism occurs in the state; if the splitting of the states were to happen, then how would North Florida get their money from tourism?

Also, I happen to live in one of the counties along the proposed border as well (Hillsborough). I know quite a few people that travel between Hillsborough and Pasco Counties (the latter of which is "North Florida" and the former in "South Florida"). Not only would people who commute to work be working in another state, but it's also going to have an impact on primary, secondary, and post-secondary education as well if this did in fact go through.

I honestly think it won't go through, but I felt it would be worthy to discuss.

I don't think it'll go through either, but I don't think that the issues you raised are really that big a deal. Plenty of states have no real tourism, and there's still more than enough ocean for North Florida if they wanted to make their own tourist trap. Also, tons of people work in different states. I'm from Southern New Jersey and lots of people there work in Pennsylvania because Philadelphia is just half an hour away. It's not unusual at all.

Kanzler is right though - nothing's going to happen because change is hard enough when it's small. If Texas won't secede and California won't split up, I highly doubt Florida will split in two.

 

[Entermaid]

This would cause major issues for senatorial representation.

This would encourage other states to follow suit if the precedent is set. Major shift in state lines is an extra cost to both run and reorganize. Allowing states to split or succeed will inevitably lead to instability. And actually, political parties would seek to split up states in to get more representation in congress. Ex. Split Alabama=2 extra republican senators; split New Mexico=2 extra democratic senators.

But....I wouldn't take this initiative seriously.

 

[Tsutarja]

Plenty of states have no real tourism, and there's still more than enough ocean for North Florida if they wanted to make their own tourist trap.

You'd be surprised at how much local and state politicians down here tie tourism into their campaigns, and that's one of the many ways that tourism is hyped down here. I agree that there's plenty of water for other areas of tourism for the state and for new attractions to go up as well, but most of the tourism in the state overall does in fact actually focus more on the southern and central parts of the state.

This would cause major issues for senatorial representation.

I honestly didn't even think about the fact at first that it would require two additional seats in the US Senate to have to be opened at all if this did go through. Not only that, but also redrawing of congressional districts to fit along the proposed border as well; that's bad enough as is already though because Florida has been known for its controversial congressional borders and gerrymandering for a while now.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

Yeah, if you're in a tourism state, that will be a major focus. We get quite a bit in Michigan too.

Anyways I really don't think that it will go through. There's very little difference in culture to really encourage voters to support such a change. This is why something like Texas or Scotland seceding has support by the way. It seems like the people of Florida are fairly unified enough to prevent fissioning of the state, since really its only a political suggestion.

 

[Livewire]

I mean, on one hand I can't blame the sane citizens of Florida for trying to separate themselves from the wacky ones, but dividing up states like this over something as petty as partisan politics (at the end of the day, it is) is a dangerous precedent. But there's really no way for this to happen so once the initial media attention wave recedes the motion will die.

 

[twocows]

They don't plan to secede, they just want to make a stink because northern Florida doesn't represent their interests. It's a political ploy.

 

[Urist McHemlock]

How about we saw off Florida instead? With all the weird events happening, I would be more than happy to get rid of Florida.

 

[Immaterial Lion]

Being a citizen of northeast Florida, I honestly wouldn't notice of south Florida was its own thing, at least short term. I mean we have a lot of military bases close by, a lot of mills, and power plants. And sports generate a bit of money, I think they said the Florida georgia game brought something like 32+ mil to Jacksonville. But I'm sure long term we'd suffer some how, maybe. I don't really know how it would work if that was to ever really happen. I really only ever consider the southern half of the state when I have something to do in port st.lucie or Tampa. Maybe that's why they aren't represpsented as much as they'd like? A great sum of the population is temporary.

 

[Immaterial Lion]

I feel like these attacks on the state as a whole are offensive and "trash". You only see the bad. And you most likely don't form your own opinion but adopt that of the media. If you don't have anything to contribute other than hate just don't contribute.

 

[Tsutarja]

This. I still am a firm believer in the 49 States of America, and the pit stain that is Florida is not one of them. It's full of fruitcakes, murderers, crazy moms, kooky kill or be killed laws, and monsoons. One of the main reasons I hate Florida is that Bush Jr. was elected solely on this piece of trash 'state'.

I have a question for you: have you ever been to Florida? What is your basis on forming this opinion? If you have such opinion about Florida, then clearly you don't look at all sides of the spectrum.

Surely, Florida has its idiotic parts as a state *cough* its governor *cough* but at the same time, there's also good in Florida as well. I dislike politics in Florida because a majority of Floridians oppose my political views, but at the same time, I'm proud to be Floridian.

Unlike you, I live in the state and know more about the state than you ever will.

 

[CoffeeDrink]

I love censorship. Truly wonderful.

Yes. Also, recent news has it that Florida won't allow people to feed the homeless. Great. I am so pleased that I can reaffirm my deadlocked opinion with hard evidence. Perhaps next time we'll let the person who decries such things room to breathe, hm?

For the record, being robbed, burgled, attacked, and assaulted tends to give one the opinion that the area is in a bad way. Make no mistake, I've lived in about 10 states, and Florida was far worse than downtown New York. I've lived in areas where bullets flew through my window. I hate Florida. I will always hate it, and due to the free act of just being in this country, I can hate whatever I well please. If that makes me a villain, then so be it.

https://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/11/06/3589693/ft-lauderdale-arrest-feeding-homeless/

https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/04/justice/florida-feeding-homeless-charges/index.html

https://news.vice.com/article/video-shows-florida-police-arresting-a-90-year-old-man-for-feeding-the-homeless

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/11/05/fort-lauderdale-arrest-for-feeding-homeless/18525049/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2821129/90-year-old-man-arrested-feeding-homeless-Fort-Lauderdale-new-law-introduced-bans-people-sharing-food-public.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fort-lauderdale-charges-90-year-old-two-pastors-feeding-homeless-n241971

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/04/0-year-old-among-first-charged-under-fort-lauderdale-strict-rules-against/

 

[Entermaid]

I love censorship. Truly wonderful.

Yes. Also, recent news has it that Florida won't allow people to feed the homeless. Great. I am so pleased that I can reaffirm my deadlocked opinion with hard evidence. Perhaps next time we'll let the person who decries such things room to breathe, hm?

For the record, being robbed, burgled, attacked, and assaulted tends to give one the opinion that the area is in a bad way. Make no mistake, I've lived in about 10 states, and Florida was far worse than downtown New York. I've lived in areas where bullets flew through my window. I hate Florida. I will always hate it, and due to the free act of just being in this country, I can hate whatever I well please. If that makes me a villain, then so be it.

https://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/11/06/3589693/ft-lauderdale-arrest-feeding-homeless/

https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/04/justice/florida-feeding-homeless-charges/index.html

https://news.vice.com/article/video-shows-florida-police-arresting-a-90-year-old-man-for-feeding-the-homeless

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/11/05/fort-lauderdale-arrest-for-feeding-homeless/18525049/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2821129/90-year-old-man-arrested-feeding-homeless-Fort-Lauderdale-new-law-introduced-bans-people-sharing-food-public.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fort-lauderdale-charges-90-year-old-two-pastors-feeding-homeless-n241971

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/04/0-year-old-among-first-charged-under-fort-lauderdale-strict-rules-against/

This website has the right to exercise censorship as the owners/workers of this domain.
(Therefore, comments like your previous ones, that reflect poorly on the site in a variety of ways have been removed.)

Next time state that high crime rates are the reason why you support X rather than referring to the Floridian population as "fruitcakes" or "trash". Are you prepared to support that last part, which is a normative statement, and not at all supported by "facts" you provided?

Lastly, the ordinance in the articles provided doesn't state "Florida won't allow people to feed the homeless."

1. The example you have cited only supports a single city commission in Ft. Lauderdale. It's a city ordinance, not a Floridian state law as you have implied.

2. The ordinance doesn't ban people from providing food to the homeless. Rather, it places health regulations and property use restrictions on the process. (Whether you agree with the regulations is another story.)

Though I am not supporting this ordinance necessarily, you need to read the articles being cited and make sure that it actually supports your argument. In addition, the argument should be logical/rational rather than throwing in pejorative terminology rather than a coherent thought.

 

[CoffeeDrink]

too long, didn't read: Florida is the worst place to be homeless in the US.

This will mainly argue the atrocity perpetuated on the homeless. From this aspect alone, no one should defend Florida or stand by them during any crisis as they do not stand by others.

I see no issue arguing the view that Florida has failed to provide a proper front. The view that is seen is always the bad side, and what the State itself decides to do with this mess. Make no mistake, states, like any major corporation, can be torn to pieces if they cannot control their own messes. Having a politician backing the wrong cause always torpedoes their support groups.

Prime examples are the Watts riots in California, Segregation and lynching mobs in the South, gay bashing in Tennessee (which they handled properly by having their elected officials decry such violence), and defending corrupt officials in Arizona.

Each state has it's quirks that much is true, but when it comes to Florida and how it handles its issues is neither proper nor acceptable. I remind you that Florida crippled the 2000 election through lies and deceit, upholds the kill or be killed laws possibly more vehemently than Texas, and for the most part headlines news in some of the most ridiculous and heinous ways often. To say that the media blows things out of proportion is a rather easy way to place blame and move on. There is far too much 'bad news' that comes out of Florida for it all to be just happenstance and coincidence: behind each story lies a kernel truth, and by now Florida has enough kernels against it to treat you to a delicious all-you-can-eat corn on the cob BBQ.

I hold hate for Florida for a myriad of reasons, and how it treats it's homeless people is not acceptable. I've been homeless three times in my life, once with my parents, and twice on my own as a teenager and young adult. I've volunteered at various shelters and food banks, given the shirt of my back literally to cover up a naked woman who clearly needed mental and medical attention; resuscitated homeless people who have suffered heat stroke, given gallons of water to a family I saw drinking water from a gutter pipe, given them food intended for myself, and in short I hate seeing homeless people because I also see myself. It hurts to be in that position.

OOO: I've been spit on in Florida, have had eggs and balloons filled with piss thrown at me, in addition to all that I have mentioned before, so no love lost there. It also rings in at number 8 on a top ten most criminally inclined states. Where did those numbers come from? None other than the good ol' FBI. Basically, you have 1 in 205 chances in becoming a victim to a violent crime. Also, the median for the amount of crimes committed per square mile throughout the country is around 39, while Florida breaks in at over 70. Terrific. This can all be found on the FBI's domain and is public knowledge.

Further more Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty mentions the top ten cities in the US that are unkind towards the homeless, three of which are Floridian cities, taking places at 2nd, 3rd, and 5th beaten out only by LA which also happens to boast the largest Population on the list https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/14/the-10-worst-places-to-be_n_231476.html.

To further my point https://www.nlchp.org/reports lists a wonderful look at how the homeless are treated in America. Reading through their No Safe Place report, it mentions Florida a whopping 114 times. The runner up? California with 39. California is mentioned 34% less than Florida by a recognized organization based in DC. While California is not the best when it comes to handling the nation's homeless, it certainly isn't the worst, regardless of how Reagan left it and that's actually saying quite a bit.

Perhaps my attitude reeks of poor judgement and ignorance, but to justify why one doesn't like something is not always easy to do so every single time. So yes, I take the shortcuts that people rue so much and say the place is choke full of fruitcakes.