Precision is the fix
Glossary
American political vocabulary has been flattened to about six words, all of them insults. These pages give you sharper tools.
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committee death
A bill that the committee it was referred to never takes up. Under Senate Rule 4.31 no bill may be considered by the Senate unless at least one committee has first reported it favorably, short of unanimous consent, and under Rule 4.6 the Senate President decides which committees a bill goes to. A bill nobody hears never reaches a floor vote, so no legislator is ever recorded against it.
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home rule
The authority of a city or county to govern its own local affairs without needing permission from the state for each decision. Home rule is what preemption removes.
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preemption
When the state legislature overrides what a city or county has the authority to decide, either by taking the subject away from local government entirely or by voiding an ordinance already passed.
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public records exemption
A law carving a category of government record out of Florida's public records requirements, so it no longer has to be released on request. Each exemption is passed as its own act and applies to a defined class of records.
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supermajority threshold
A rule requiring more than a simple majority to pass something. Florida requires 60 percent approval for a constitutional amendment, which means 40.1 percent of voters can defeat 59.9 percent.
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symbolically conservative, operationally liberal
Identifying with a conservative label while preferring progressive policy, item by item. The label and the policy preferences move independently, so a voter can call themselves conservative and still vote for a minimum wage increase, medical marijuana, or voting rights restoration.
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In progress. All six launch terms have drafted definitions, and each is still owed a sourced Florida example.