House Bill 1911 includes repeal of the mandatory helmet law for motorcyclists over the age of 21. I signed the bill [because] I believe government oversteps its legitimate role when it excessively interferes with personal freedom.
That interference includes regulating an adult’s decisions about his or her well-being if such decisions do not endanger the life or safety of others. Reasonable adults should be trusted to make reasonable decisions.
For example, we have no laws requiring an individual to exercise, to eat a healthy diet, to get regular check-ups, or to avoid excess exposure to the sun - even though failure to comply with these habits reflects known health risks, and potential public
health costs. Of course, we could significantly reduce deaths, injuries or health risks in Florida through a mandate that all individuals exercise, wear sunscreen, stop smoking, and learn how to swim, yet we impose no such requirements.
Source: Approval notification on House Bill 1911
Jun 1, 2000
Fight corporate welfare: snouts out of public trough
Responsibility and self-government [also apply to] programs that are considered by many to be corporate welfare. Limited government does not mean limited for only one portion of society, one economic class. We cannot ask government to do less for the
many while doing more for the few. Limited government is about the fair distribution of limited resources, meaning that as we criticize social spending for being no solution to our social problems, we should also criticize unnecessary corporate
entitlements as no cure for our competitiveness problems. Creating barriers to competition and sanctuaries for profit is no answer. Many industries realize that they profit from a bigger, more involved government. Yet a return to limited self-government
would not be complete without pushing these corporate snouts out of the public trough. Limiting the role of government must be a process that is rational, equitable, and principled.
