Florida voters going to the polls this November may decide whether to accept up to 25 proposed amendments to the state constitution.
The proposals have been formally sent to the Style and Drafting Committee by the Florida Constitution Revision Commission. After the wording is finalized, the commission will vote on whether each individual proposal will be presented to voters.
To be forwarded for Style and Drafting, each proposal must win approval from a majority of the commissioners (19 votes if all 37 members are present and voting). However, to be formally submitted to voters, 22 votes are required.
Some proposals are far-ranging and others more narrowly focused. One that touches on a current national debate would limit the authority of state bureaucrats and the administrative state. It would prohibit state courts from deferring to an administrative agency’s interpretation of a state statute or rule in lawsuits. Such a prohibition would give voters and their representatives more authority in the rulemaking process.
The proposals still under consideration are listed below. Proposal numbers are not sequential because many proposals did not make it this far in the process.
Florida Constitution Revision Commission, 2018 proposals
Religious, Economic, Property: Deletes provision allowing laws to prohibit residents ineligible for citizenship to own, inherit, and possess real property (27-0 Approved)
Administration of Justice: Prohibits state courts from deferring to an administrative agency’s interpretation of a state statute or rule in lawsuits (28-4 Aproved)
Government Organization: Creates a state Department of Veterans’ Affairs (29-4 Approved)
Education: Requires the promotion of civic literacy in public education (25-7 Approved)
Public Ethics and Elections: Allows any voter to vote in a partisan primary if all candidates in the general election will have the same party affiliation, excluding write-ins (21-12 Approved)
Technical Revisions: Deletes obsolete provision requiring a high-speed ground transportation system (30-0 Approved)
Public Ethics and Elections: Prohibits counties from abolishing certain local offices and requires elections for certain local offices (26-7 Approved)
Administration of Justice: Provides that the repeal of a criminal statute does not affect the prosecution of any crime committed before the repeal (29-2 Approved)
Government Organization: Creates a state Office of Domestic Security and Counter-Terrorism: (22-11 Approved)
Religious, Economic, Property: Requires employers to use the federal E-Verify program to check if a potential employee is eligible to work in the U.S. (19-13 Approved)
Government Organization: Prohibits state and local governments from naming public buildings and programs after an official who is currently serving (20-13 Approved)
Public Ethics and Elections: Prohibits legislators, statewide elected officials, and judges from personally representing another person for compensation before the legislature or government agencies, other than judicial tribunals, and prohibits political subdivisions from having lobbyists to advocate for or against an appropriation from the legislature or executive budget request to benefit that subdivision (28-5 Approved)
Administration of Justice: Increases judicial retirement age from 70 to 75 (30-3 Approved)
Education: Establishes a term limit of eight years for school board members (27-6 Approved)
Education: Requires a nine-member vote of the board of trustees and a 12-member vote of the board of governors to increase a college fee (29-4 Approved)
Public Employees: Requires death benefits for the survivors of specified first responders and military members (25-7 Approved)
Healthcare: Prohibits the state from forbidding hospitals to enter a county if any existing hospital has an infection rate above the statewide average (19-14 Approved)
Healthcare: Prohibits vapor-generating electronic devices in enclosed indoor workplaces (26-6 Approved)
Religious, Economic, Property: Prohibits wagering on greyhound and other dog races (18-14 Approved)
Specifies that school boards control all public schools established by the school district (27-8 Approved)
Education: Adds to constitution that there is a state college system for all public community and state colleges and that each college has a local board of trustees (26-8 Approved)
Environment: Prohibits the drilling for exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas in certain coastal waters (32-1 Approved)
Education: Allows a high-performing school district to become an innovation school district exempt from certain provisions of education code (24-9 Approved)
Administration of Justice: Adds a Marsy's Law crime victims rights amendment (30-4 Approved)
Legislature: Requires legislature to convene regular session on the second Tuesday of January of even-numbered years (32-1 Approved)
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.
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