Veto sought for travel-restrictive bil

Veto sought for travel-restrictive bill

In an editorial Wednesday, The Tampa Tribune urged Gov. Charlie Crist to
veto a bill that "would have Florida regulating the few travel agencies
licensed by the U.S. State Department to provide travel services to
Cuba." The bill's author, Rep. David Rivera of Miami, "says the
regulations will fight terrorism but, absent proof of a problem, the
only people he's hurting are the families who hope to see their
relatives," the editorial said. It then asked Crist to "see the
legislation for what it is -- an unnecessary regulation of business" and
to veto it. The Tribune sided with Rep. Michael Scionti of Tampa,
Sciontix_3 who "argued that the people who will pay the trickle-down
price for this regulation are working-class families who can barely
afford to travel to Cuba as it is now -- trips that the U.S. government
already limits to once every three years." The editorial concluded by
saying that "no one begrudges the effort of Miami's Cuban-American
community to fight the island's repressive regime. But in this case,
lawmakers would penalize the wrong people." To read the entire
editorial, click here.
---Renato Pérez Pizarro.

May 14, 2008

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2008/05/veto-sought-for.html