It only comes around every 20 years and after months of listening to you, the voters, on how to improve our state constitution, the list of what you'll be voting on in Nov. is finally set.
But critics are calling foul on a decision to pair up some proposals, meaning you might be forced to vote for something you don't even support if it's lumped in with something you do.
On the ballot, voters will see eight constitutional amendments proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission. But those eight amendments actually represent more than 20 different issues.
For example, supporting a proposal directing the Legislature to file legislation to "promote civic literacy in schools" also requires supporting term limits on school board members. It also means overhauling the way the state governs charter schools by authorizing the creation of a state-run agency to oversee charter schools, which are currently supervised by local school boards in the communities in which they operate.
In other similar instances, a proposal to expand the rights of crime victims is bundled with new age requirements for judge retirements, while a ban on offshore oil drilling has been combined with a ban on vaping indoors.
Commissioner Roberto Martinez, a former U.S. attorney appointed to the commission by the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court called it "logrolling," and fought to have the issues unbundled.
"Does the grouping fairly inform the voters as to what it is they're voting for, or does it mislead," Martinez said. "I submit to you that by grouping—what we have done by bundling different proposals together—we have undermined the work we have undertaken."
But this wouldn't be the first time the commission has bundled ballot proposals.
In 1998, the majority of amendments proposed by the CRC were also paired and all but one passed.
“I think this idea the voters are going to get confused is literally absurd," Commissioner Brecht Heuchan said.
Heuchan, of Tallahassee, pointed to 1998—when every proposal but one was bundled, he said, and eight of nine proposals passed—as a "crown jewel" example of the commission's success.
“I just, I’m sorry, I don’t like this notion that we’re talking about undermining a process that we are allowed to do," he said.
And he's correct.
While a so-called 'single-rule requirement' limits the kind of constitutional amendments the Legislature and citizen-led initiatives can propose, no such prohibition exists for the CRC.
Representatives for the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of Women Voters and the AFL-CIO have openly criticized the bundling of proposals.
Florida's constitution is open to change in a rare citizen-based process every two decades. The CRC is made up of 37 members and takes in input on how to change the constitution.
Florida is the only state in the country that has this unique path to legislation.
An amendment will need 60 percent voter approval in November to be adopted into Florida's constitution.
Here are the Commission’s eight proposals for the Nov. ballot
- Proposal 6001 expands rights of crime victims in the Constitution similar to so-called "Marsy’s Laws" in six other states. It provides for victims the right to be heard in court and to be notified of bail and parole decisions. The measure also mandates how a judge interprets state law in disputes between an agency and private party and increases the retirement age for a judge.
- Proposal 6002 would require a super-majority vote of the Board of Governors and university trustees to raise existing fees or impose new ones, provide a governing system for the State College System, and give college scholarships to survivors of certain first responders and members of the military.
- Proposal 6003 combines term limits for school board members with a directive to the Legislature to "promote civic literacy in schools," and allows the state to approve and supervise charter schools instead of the local school board.
- Proposal 6004 bans drilling for exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas in specified coastal waters and bans vaping in enclosed workspaces, including restaurants.
- Proposal 6005 moves the start of the Legislature’s annual session to the first Monday in January of even-numbered years. The initiative would also establish a Department of Veterans Affairs in the Constitution, create an Office of Counter-terrorism and require charter counties to elect their sheriff and tax collectors.
- Proposal 6006 removes some never-enforced provisions in the Florida Constitution including a 1926 ban prohibiting immigrants not eligible for citizenship to own or inherit real property, known as an alien land law, which was invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court more than 60-years ago. This amendment also would remove another provision mandating the development of a high-speed ground transportation system.
- Proposal 6007 would make state and local officials wait six years before they could begin lobbying the government for which they had worked. It also mandates that government officials are not to use their office to receive a “disproportionate benefit” for themselves or relatives. The Florida Commission on Ethics would be tasked with defining a disproportionate benefit.
- Proposal 6012 would phase out greyhound racing by 2020.
The Tallahassee Democrat contributed to this report.
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