While Gov. Rick Scott and state lawmakers open the 2014 Legislature on Tuesday, rallies are planned for more than a dozen cities across the state, with Democratic-leaning groups blasting Republican leaders for the priorities set in Tallahassee.
Lake Worth’s John Prince Park is the site of the Palm Beach County “Awake the State” rally, planned to begin at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
“Average Floridians are fed up with Tallahassee politicians balancing the budget on the backs of hard-working families,” said Mark Ferrulo of Progress Florida, a St. Petersburg-based activist organization. “We will continue to fight Rick Scott and the tea party until we see these anti-middle class policies changed.”
A day before the session begins, similar themes are expected to be sounded at a “Moral Monday” demonstration planned at the state Capitol and led by the NAACP of Florida, unions and other groups.
The Awake the State movement has been around a few years. In 2011, organizers held two demonstrations, before and after Scott’s inaugural session that was marked by changes to the state’s public pension fund, tougher abortion laws, and a reduction in the days available for early voting, reversed last year by lawmakers.
