State Representative James Grant said when someone calls his bill a “poll tax,” they “may as well spit in the face of people who lived through an actual racist, discriminatory poll tax.”
A Florida GOP lawmaker is offering to publicly debate Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over her recent claim that he and other state Republicans pushed forward legislation that would force ex-felons to pay a “poll tax” in order to regain their voting rights.
Critics, such as Ocasio-Cortez, argue the new measure could restrict Floridians’ ability to regain their right to vote, especially those who are low-income. In a tweet, Ocasio-Cortez labeled the financial requirement a “poll tax,” a term that has Representative James Grant, who authored the legislation, challenging the freshman New York congresswoman to a televised debate.
“The problem in politics today is that there’s not a robust and respectful debate of policy,” said Grant, who is also the chairman of the committee that passed the bill. “It’s bombastic and divisive. To the extent that she and I sit on a stage live with any moderator she wants, any network she wants, and we have a conversation that informs the electorate, we have made politics better because we have informed the voters.
But critics, including the FRRC—which started a petition that says financial obligations"are not considered part of a sentence for the purpose of restoring voter eligibility"—argue the new bill requires a financial barrier for ex-felons equitable to a poll tax that Florida voters did not approve.
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