Florida Constitution Amendments on the November Ballot
Most of the amendments are bundled (2 or 3 amendments not related and you can vote on ALL) on the ballot.
Amendment 8, the Education Amendment, which sets term limits for school boards, promotes civic literacy for students and establishes charter schools where ever a Tallahassee Commission sees fit has been removed from the ballot, thanks to the FL League of Women Voters.
Amendment 6, Victims rights is misleading and FLNOW urges you to vote against it. Victims rights are already protected in the FL Constitution and this amendment would delete the protections and rights victims have. Amendment 6 would give huge corporations a new right to inject themselves into criminal proceedings.
The other subjects of amendment 6 is raising mandatory retirement age for judges to 75 and would bar judges from deferring to administrative agencies’ interpretations of a rule or statue when ruling in cases involving those laws.
Below are all the amendments and FLNOW positions.
FLNOW Positions on Amendments on 2018 Ballot
(most of the following information is from LWV & ACLU)
Amendment 1– Amendment placed on ballot by legislation to increase the amount of a home’s value exempted from property tax
Oppose– no tax sources or revenue should be specified, limited, exempted, or prohibited in the Constitution
Amendment 2 – Amendment placed on ballot by legislation that makes the cap on non-homestead parcel assessment increase permanent
Oppose– no tax sources or revenue should be specified, limited, exempted, or prohibited in the Constitution
Amendment 3 – Amendment placed on the ballot via citizen initiative that requires approval of any new casino gambling through a citizen initiative constitutional amendment, effectively barring the Legislature from making gambling decisions by passing laws.
No Position
Amendment 4 – Amendment placed on the ballot via citizen initiative that automatically restores the voting rights of felons after they completed their sentences, except for those convicted of murder or sex offenses
Support– FLNOW was one of the sponsors of this initiative. Florida is one of only four states that permanently bars felons from voting after their sentences are completed. This restriction on voting is a vestige of Florida’s post-Civil War Constitution. Everyone deserves a second chance.
Amendment 5– Amendment placed on the ballot by legislation that requires a 2/3 vote of the Legislature to approve any new or increased taxes or fees.
Oppose– This amendment does not include a provision that would allow for tax increases in times of emergencies (hurricanes, floods, recessions, etc.) and is an abrogation of the Legislature’s fiduciary responsibility to pass a reasonable budget.
Amendment 6– Vastly expands the scope of victims rights under the state Constitution: increases the mandatory age for judges from 70 to 75: forces courts and judges to interpret laws and rules for themselves rather than rely on interpretations by government agencies.
Oppose– Victims’ rights are already protected in the Constitution, and this amendment would eliminate an existing provision that victims’ rights do not interfere with the constitutional rights of the accused.
Amendment 7– Creates a supermajority requirement for universities to impose new or increase existing student fees, enshrines in the Constitution guidelines for the State College System, mandates that the state pay a death benefit to first responders or members of the military killed in the line of duty.
Oppose – Oppose a supermajority vote to increase fees or taxes. Family members of the military who die in the line of service are already compensated through the federal government.
Amendment 9– Prohibits oil and gas drilling beneath all waters controlled by Florida and prohibits vaping in enclosed indoor workplace.
Support– Concerns for the environment overrides concern about vaping in the Constitution. Also, if this amendment passes, it sends a signal to the federal government that Florida cares about off-shore drilling.
Amendment 10– Requires the Legislature to hold its session in early January on even numbered years, creates an Office of Domestic Security and Counter-terrorism, mandates the existence of a state Department of Veteran Affairs, and forces all counties (both charter and non-charter) to elect rather than appoint all constitutional officers.
Oppose– This limits the voters in local communities from deciding on the election of county officers. It adds an unnecessary provision as the Legislature already has the power to set dates during even numbered years. FDLE is already the lead agency in coordinating efforts to prevent terrorism, and the Constitution already has authorized the Legislature to create a Department of Veteran Affairs. This is clearly an effort to restrict the powers of local government.
Amendment 11 –Repeals the state’s ability to prohibit non-citizens from buying, owning, and selling property: deletes a provision that forces the state to prosecute criminal suspects under a law that has become obsolete, deletes obsolete language regarding high speed rail in Florida.
Support– Deletes an unconstitutional, anti-immigrant provision from our constitution and would address mass incarceration by allowing criminal justice reforms to apply retroactively.
Amendment 12– Expands ethics rules for elected officials and government employees by changing from 2 to 6 years the time that they would have to wait before being able to lobby state government.
Oppose– There is a need for lobbying reform, 6 years might be onerous, and the amendment does not address the real issue regarding lobbying, which is the impact of money in political campaigns.
Amendment 13 – Bans wagering on any type of dog racing, notably greyhounds, by December 31, 2020, while continuing to allow dog tracks to offer other types of gambling, including poker rooms
Support