Rick's Blog

Amendments passed: What have we done?

Only one amendment (Amendment 1) failed to receive the necessary 60 percent to pass.

Amendment 2: Limitations on Property Tax Assessments 66%-34%
•Makes permanent the 10 percent limit on increases in tax value for non-homestead property, thus reducing tax bills.

Amendment 3: Voter Control of Gambling in Florida 71%-29%
•Requires that voters approve a constitutional amendment through citizen initiative to authorize any new casino gambling in Florida, essentially stripping that authority from the Legislature.
•Precludes constitutional approval of casinos through other means, including amendments offered by the Legislature or by the CRC.
•Continues to allow the Legislature to approve other types of non-casino gambling, such as poker rooms, bingo, lotteries and fantasy sports.

Amendment 4: Voting Restoration Amendment 64%-36%
• Grants ex-felons—excluding those convicted of murder or felony sex crimes—the right to vote after completing all the terms of their sentence.

Amendment 5: Supermajority Vote Required to Impose, Authorize or Raise State Taxes or Fees 66%-34%
•Requires a two-thirds vote by the state House and Senate to increase existing taxes and fees or impose new ones.
•Requires that any new or increased taxes or fees be voted on in standalone bills.
•Excludes local governments from any supermajority requirements if they choose to raise taxes or fees.

Amendment 6: Rights of Crime Victims; Judges 62%-38%
•Enshrines in the state Constitution an array of victims’ rights, many of which are currently in state law.
•Places new time limits on filing appeals.
•Requires that victims receive some type of written notification of their rights.
•Eliminates an existing constitutional provision that ensures victims’ rights don’t infringe on the rights of accused criminals.
•Raises the mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices and judges from 70 to 75.
•Prohibits courts and judges from deferring to an administrative agency’s interpretation of state laws or rules when deciding cases.

Amendment 7: First Responder and Military Member Survivor Benefits; Public Colleges and Universities 66%-34%
•Universities’ boards of trustees and the state Board of Governors must get supermajority approval from their members to increase student fees or impose new ones.
•Makes the governing framework for state colleges a part of the Constitution.
•Creates a constitutional requirement for state and local governments to pay death benefits to first responders.
•Expands the definition of first responders under state law to include paramedics and emergency medical technicians.
•Requires the state to provide death benefits to members of the U.S. military who are either residents of Florida or who are stationed in the state.

Amendment 9: Prohibits Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling; Prohibits Vaping in Enclosed Indoor Workplaces 69%-31%
•Enshrines in the Constitution a ban on oil and gas drilling beneath Florida state waters. Ban only applies to waters under state control.
•Adds new restrictions to the Constitution on the use of electronic vaping devices, largely mirroring current constitutional restrictions on indoor workplace smoking.
•Creates exceptions to the vaping restrictions in homes, bars, vaping retailers and hotel rooms designated for vaping.
•Allows local governments to pass stricter regulations on the use of vaping devices.

Amendment 10: State and Local Government Structure and Operation 63%-37%
•Fix the date for state legislative sessions in even-numbered years as the second Tuesday in January.
•Creates an Office of Domestic Security and Counterterrorism within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and establish it as the lead agency in terrorism investigations and responses.
•Makes the Department of Veterans’ Affairs mandatory.
•All of Florida’s counties, even those with a charter, must hold elections for all five local constitutional offices found in the state Constitution: sheriff, property appraiser, supervisor of elections, tax collector and clerk of the circuit court.

Amendment 11: Property Rights; Removal of Obsolete Provision; Criminal Statutes 62%-38%
•Repeal a nearly century-old provision that allows the Legislature to restrict the property rights of non-citizens.
•Deletes language that requires criminal suspects to be prosecuted under the provisions of the law they’re accused of breaking, even if that law is changed by the Legislature. Keeps language that requires prosecution if the law is repealed.
•Deletes a section of the Constitution—concerning high-speed transportation—that was repealed by voters in 2004. The language, however, was not removed.

Amendment 12: Lobbying and Abuse of Office by Public Officers 79%-21%
•Extends the ban on state lobbying by legislators and statewide elected officials from two to six years.
•Prohibits legislators and statewide elected officials from lobbying federal and local government agencies while in office.
•Prohibits top state agency employees from any lobbying while working for the state and from lobbying state government for six years after leaving their job.
•Prohibits local elected officials from getting paid to lobby anyone while in office and from lobbying their own governing body for six years after leaving office.
•Prohibits judges from lobbying any branch of state government for six years after leaving the bench.
•Prohibits any elected official or public employee from using his or her position to gain a “disproportionate benefit,” a term to be defined by the state Ethics Commission.

Amendment 13: Dog Racing 69%-31%
• Bans all dog racing in Florida by Dec. 31, 2020.

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