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A Letter from Dan Peterson, Director of the Center for Property Rights at
The James Madison Institute (Formerly the Coalition for Property Rights):
*Please reply to this email with your first and last name, zip code and county. Thank you!
Thank you for your past support and engagement in the Coalition for Property Rights (CPR). As you may already know, the board of directors of CPR made the decision earlier this year to incorporate the Coalition under the auspices of The James Madison Institute (JMI), Florida’s premier free-market think tank. The Coalition will now be called the Center for Property Rights (CPR) at The James Madison Institute and I, Dan Peterson, the director of the Coalition, transitioned to the director of the Center.
As you know, over the past 14 years, CPR has led the fight for the protection of property rights in Central Florida and other places around Florida. With your support, CPR has sounded the alarm and won many policy victories.
Under this new alliance with JMI, CPR can now highlight and elevate the vast array of issues in the property rights arena throughout Florida like never before. This new partnership elevates CPR’s efforts to a whole new level. The Center has full access to JMI’s resources, talented staff and deep reservoir of trust in the state capitol. In fact, in this past legislative session, there were many times when property rights had an increased visibility and authority due to the new alliance.
For nearly 30 years, JMI has been Florida’s leading research and educational organization focused on promoting personal responsibility, limiting government and increasing economic freedom in the Sunshine State. Many CPR board members also serve as members and individual contributors to JMI. CPR has also partnered numerous times with JMI on events and policy advocacy.
Through that work, CPR’s staff and affiliates have become good friends with JMI’s incredible staff and see first-hand everything that they bring to the table -- including policy researchers, communications experts with unparalleled media access, as well as event and development personnel. It is why JMI’s brand continues to grow stronger each day and their influence in the halls of the legislature is recognizable and respected by many elected officials across Florida.
While this new alliance is clearly a big change for everyone involved, I also want to emphasize what will not change. As you have read, the “CPR” acronym will continue as our recognizable brand across Central Florida, as our official name becomes the Center for Property Rights at JMI. I will personally continue leading our work on property rights from the same office in Orlando that we have called home for so many years now. And of course our commitment to the ideals of private property and the rule of law will remain as strong as ever, with JMI having done their own important work in this area over the years.
I hope you are as excited about this new alliance as I am. It is truly an exciting opportunity to partner with like-minded and trusted friends. And, as never before, the impact of your financial support will enable us to speak with an even louder voice.
We need you to continue to support property rights efforts here in Florida under CPR. Be assured, your donations will continue to be tax deductible and will go directly to supporting the causes of private property rights. Here is how you can continue to help:
1. Please make your check payable to The James Madison Institute and write in the memo line, CPR. Then, mail your gift to:
The James Madison Institute | The Columns
100 North Duval Street | Tallahassee, Florida 32301
2. Or, please contribute online at: www.jamesmadison.org
As before, I will continue to inform you of property rights issues via mailed and emailed newsletter updates. Thank you for continuing to help promote and protect property rights through the new CPR movement.
Sincerely yours,
Dan Peterson
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2015 Legislative Session Update from CPR
The Regular and Special Legislative Sessions of 2015 have concluded. For those concerned for property rights, it was very successful. Here are a few of the exciting decisions made in the property rights arena during the 2015 legislative session.
EXCITING DECISIONS
Property Rights Exactions
After three years of promoting such legislation, HB 383 by Rep. Keith Perry & Rep. Katie Edwards and SB 284 by Sen. Diaz De La Portilla has become the law of the land in Florida. This bill puts the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Koontz v. St. John’s River Water Management District into statute. It protects property owners by providing limits on what a government can require of an owner seeking a permit to improve property and the conditions, which must be met.
Drone Surveillance
With this new technology becoming more and more available to citizens, a bill was sorely needed to protect property owners on their own property. HB 649 by Rep. Larry Metz and SB 766 by Sen. Dorothy Hukill now prohibits drones from invading personal privacy.
Amendment 1 Funding
Amendment 1 called for money to be used: “to acquire, restore, improve, and manage conservation lands…including the Everglades…” Despite extreme uses of these funds by environmentalist to buy huge amounts of land, legislators held to principled and wise decision making, while honoring the intent of voters who approved Amendment 1.
They first focused on the urgent needs of the Everglades allocating $81.8 million towards restoration projects. Additionally, $20 million was allocated for land purchases for the purpose of bringing improvement to the Kissimmee River.
The sum of $47.5 million was targeted the restoration of natural springs and in consideration of the fact that more than 28 percent of Florida land is already in conservation, $17.4 million was apportioned for Florida Forever.
The legislature also showed tremendous financial restraint and responsibility by not bonding money and potentially sending our state into debt. While interest rates may be low, debt is debt. With dedicated, recurring Amendment 1 revenue guaranteed for 20 years, it is good government policy to reject incurring additional debt unless absolutely necessary.
Thank you for your continued support!
It was a successful session for property rights issues, but as always there is more to be done to protect, preserve and promote property rights. We hope that you’ll continue to stay informed through the Center for Property Rights at JMI, and support our enhanced efforts. We look forward to hearing from you!
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