The Tallahassee Democrat covers the Florida's legislature's "undo the amendment" spree which has them overturning voter-approved laws, like the partial public financing program for statewide offices, that enjoyed high levels of public support.

The note the public financing provision in particular in light of last week's effort by the Florida Senate to reduce the amount allocated by the program, the eventual compromise to killing the program outright, as Republican leaders in the Senate had wanted:

And last week, the House voted to repeal the 1998 provision that requires public financing of campaigns for candidates for statewide office (primarily governor and Cabinet) who agree to campaign spending limits. Supporters of the repeal call public financing "welfare for politicians," but opponents of undoing this amendment, including Common Cause, see it quite another way.

They make the distinction that public financing empowers newcomers who want to challenge incumbents, whose financial advantages are enormous, and also that public financing should help reduce the costs of campaigns.

Though national polls show voters support public financing and spending limits, Florida's provision isn't effective. That's because lawmakers dramatically increased the spending limits, from a more modest $6 million to $20 million.

That's the problem that needs to be addressed, in keeping with a national trend toward more and better public financing systems, not fewer and lesser ones.