> "The [Florida Civil Rights Initiative committee]
> has raised $100,000 to date, most of it coming from white
> contractors who claim minority preferences are keeping them from
> getting government contracts."
>
> Policy foe predicts ballot fight
>
> Published in The Orlando Sentinel on June 25, 1999.
>
> John Kennedy
> Tallahassee Bureau
>
> TALLAHASSEE -- California businessman Ward Connerly said
> Thursday that his anti-affirmative action campaign is gaining steam and
> likely will have enough ballot signatures for Supreme Court review this
> summer.
>
> Petition gatherers are well on their way to having at least 45,000
> signatures by fall -- allowing justices to decide whether the measures are
> constitutional for next year's ballot.
>
> "In short, the campaign is going well," Connerly said.
>
> Connerly spoke Thursday in Tallahassee, racing through a state that he
> has targeted as the third in the nation to test his theory that
> minority-preference programs are out of control.
>
> Similar affirmative-action limits led by Connerly have been approved in
> recent years by voters in California and Washington.
>
> "I have suffered some indignities because of the color of my skin," said
> Connerly, who is black and a former member of the California Board of
> Regents. "But I have always believed we are equal."
>
> Connerly's Florida Civil Rights Initiative committee has been circulating
> petitions, mostly in the Tampa Bay area, since late last month.
>
> The campaign has raised $100,000 to date, most of it coming from white
> contractors who claim minority preferences are keeping them from
> getting government contracts.
>
> Allen Douglas, head of the Florida chapter of Associated General
> Contractors, is treasurer of the initiative committee. He could not be
> reached for comment Thursday after several attempts.
>
> The petitions being circulated support four proposed amendments to
> the state Constitution for the November 2000 ballot.
>
> One wide-ranging amendment would ban gender, ethnic or racial
> affirmative action efforts in public employment, education and contracts.
>
> As insurance against a negative Supreme Court decision, Connerly is
> offering three additional amendments as well, each dealing with a
> specific portion of the first one.
>
> Connerly said the additional amendments are aimed at assuring that at
> least one proposal meets the high court's strict "single-subject" test.
> Ballot initiatives in Florida must be confined to one subject, or can be
> ruled unconstitutional.
>
> The anti-affirmative action effort has been condemned by the Florida
> Democratic Party, which pointed out Thursday that Connerly is chairing
> a pair of California fund-raisers this month for Republican presidential
> front-runner George W. Bush, the Texas governor.
>
> Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, met with Connerly earlier this
> year but has withheld support, saying he thinks the initiative is divisive.
>
> "Jeb Bush says he doesn't support Ward Connerly and at the same time
> his brother is holding hands with the man who wants to set minorities
> back decades," said Charlie Whitehead, Florida Democratic Party
> chairman. "This isn't conservative compassion. It's right wing masking."
>
> Connerly said he targeted Florida for his latest campaign because he
> considered it akin to "George W. Bush's back yard."
>
> Connerly said he wants to make the anti-affirmative action movement
> part of next year's presidential race.
>
> So far, however, the Texas governor has failed to embrace the effort.
> Like Jeb Bush, George W. Bush has said he opposes quotas and
> set-asides but is not ready to dismantle existing programs.
>
> The Florida Republican Party, which has favored ending preference
> programs for years, also is taking a pass on Connerly's effort. The party,
> which recently launched an extensive minority recruitment drive,
> contends that such prohibitions do not belong in the Constitution.
>
> "In Florida, education and tax-cutting are our top priorities and the
> priorities of Gov. Bush," said Lisa Gimbel, a GOP spokeswoman. "If
> there are flaws with affirmative action, we can address them through the
> Legislature. The timing is not right for this."