You’ll love the USPS’ new stamps for 2025
Plus: These taxpayer-funded political ads helped defeat two of the most expensive ballot measures of the year
Hello, in this issue we’ll look at how ads from Florida state agencies helped defeat two amendments in the state, plus a first look at some of the new postage stamps coming out next year.
Scroll to the end to see: which Canadian province is running ads in the U.S. ahead of Trump’s second term 🇨🇦
These taxpayer-funded political ads helped defeat two of the most expensive ballot measures of the year
Florida had two of the three most expensive ballot measures in the U.S. this year, and taxpayers helped foot the bill.
Florida voters this year voted on two amendments to their state constitution: Amendment 3, which would have legalized marijuana, and Amendment 4, which would have guaranteed the right to an abortion. Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis opposed both, and multiple state agencies — Florida’s Departments of Education, Children and Families, Health, Transportation, and Health Care Administration — ran ads against one or both of them, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
At least $50 million in taxpayer money was estimated to have been spent to defeat the marijuana measure and at least $16 million to defeat the abortion measure. And though both were approved by more than 55% of voters, they failed to reach the 60% threshold necessary to pass a constitutional amendment.
Among the ads these agencies produced was a “Florida Cares” campaign from the Agency for Health Care Administration that featured healthcare professionals, like an OBGYN (above) and Florida Board of Medicine member, who said the state’s abortion laws were already sufficient for women. The Florida Departments of Health, Children and Families, and Education ran banner ads first reported by the newsletter Seeking Rents that didn’t mention the marijuana amendment specifically but showed a stressed teenager and the text “Make Sure Your Teen Knows The Risks To Marijuana.” DeSantis has defended the ads as public service announcements.
Some in the state have pushed back. The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is among those who’ve filed lawsuits or complaints over the ads (“Florida's government has crossed a dangerous line by using public resources to mislead voters and manipulate their choices in the upcoming election,” ACLU Florida attorney Michelle Morton said in a statement), and a bipartisan group that includes President-elect Donald Trump’s Florida campaign co-chair came out against using taxpayer money for them.
“No matter where you stand on this issue, this is still a democracy,” state Sen. Joe Gruters, the Republican who worked for Trump’s campaign, said on a Zoom conference call. “We do not spend taxpayer dollars in advance of a political issue.”
As goes Florida, so goes the nation? Despite the pushback, there’s at least one Republican who seems open to bringing the practice to the national level. Trump wrote in a post on his social network last month that he will be working on a large scale ad campaign “explaining how bad Fentanyl is for people to use.” Trump did not detail how the campaign would be paid for, but added, “By the time the Campaign is over, everyone will know how really bad the horror of this Drug is” (capitalization his).
While anti-drug PSAs certainly have their place (and marijuana, which has been legalized widely without a comparable increase in public awareness about the risks associated with abusing it, could definitely use some), it’s a slippery slope from PSA to propaganda when such ads are produced with a political purpose in mind. An anti-drug campaign is one thing. An anti-drug campaign used as cover to, say, influence public attitudes about border policy, would be another thing entirely.
You’ll love the USPS’ new stamps for 2025
If you’ve been waiting for a Betty White postage stamp, 2025 is your year.
The U.S. Postal Service has announced its first slate of new stamps for the new year, including one showing a digital illustration of the late Golden Girls actress by Dale Stephanos, plus the latest Love and Flag stamps.