60% voter approval required to take effect
Note that there is no Amendment #7
Endorsing “Yes” vote on all constitutional amendments
Amendment #1 - HEALTH
CARE SERVICES
·
This amendment is intended to preserve the
freedom of Florida residents to provide for their own health care, and is aimed
at thwarting the ObamaCare federal health care overhaul
·
The measure aims to prevent penalties for not
purchasing health care coverage in order to comply with federal health care
reforms, and would ban federal government mandates to buy health insurance
·
Supporters hope that this amendment would allow
Floridians to choose not to participate in the individual mandate requirement,
but many legal experts say it would have no effect because the Supremacy Clause
of the Constitution generally leads to federal laws trumping state laws when
conflicts arise
·
A nearly identical amendment was proposed in
2010, but was kicked off the ballot by the FL Supreme Court because of
misleading wording
·
This version was filed by Plakon in the House
& Haridopolos in the Senate – after tweaking the wording to address the FL
Supreme Court’s concerns
·
All 28 Senate Republicans voted in favor, and 79
out of 81 House Republicans
·
This amendment will expand the availability of the property tax discount on the homesteads of
veterans who became disabled as the result of a combat injury to veterans who
were not Florida residents when they entered the military
·
Sponsored by Senator Mike Bennett, related to
a bill in the House sponsored by Representative Doug Holder
·
If approved by the voters, this bill will
allow partially or totally disabled veterans who were not Florida residents
when they entered the military to qualify for the combat-related disabled
veterans’ ad valorem tax discount on homestead property
·
The Revenue Estimating Conference estimates
that the total impact on taxes will be about $15 million in the first 3 fiscal
years, and about $7.6 million every year afterwards
·
The Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs
estimates the maximum number of veterans who may qualify for the benefit
proposed in this bill to be approximately 74,000
·
Since 2010, veterans have been eligible for
this ad valorem tax discount as long as they were Florida residents upon
entering the military, after a measure was approved by voters by a margin of 78
to 22
·
27 out of 28 Senate Republicans voted in
favor, and 78 out of 81 House Republicans (there were zero “nay” votes from
Republicans or Democrats)
Amendment #3 - STATE
GOVERNMENT REVENUE LIMITATION
·
Commonly referred to as the “smart cap”
amendment and modeled after Colorado’s “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” - replaces the
existing state revenue limitation (which is based on personal income growth)
with a new system based on inflation and population changes
·
Opponents argue that Florida already has a
revenue cap, but proponents say this will make it more difficult to raise taxes
·
Bill was filed by Precourt in the House &
the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Finance and Tax (chairman Bogdanoff)
·
26 out of 28 Senate Republicans voted in favor,
and 78 out of 81 House Republicans
·
Florida's fiscally conservative Senate wants to
leave its mark in the Constitution by more tightly capping the amount of taxes
the state could collect in any given year – Haridopolos has tried to pass such
a measure since being elected to the Legislature a decade ago but without
success until now
·
Rep. Precourt has said that “we did not have the
fiscal discipline to not spend the money when it showed up in the good times,
when we had lots of revenue rolling in. That's not responsible behavior.”
Amendment #4 - PROPERTY
TAX LIMITATIONS; PROPERTY VALUE DECLINE; REDUCTION FOR NONHOMESTEAD ASSESSMENT
INCREASES; DELAY OF SCHEDULED REPEAL
·
This amendment is an attempt to reduce
inequities produced by Florida’s current tax system, particularly that which
resulted from the Save Our Homes amendment
·
24 out of 28 Senate Republicans voted in
favor, and 80 out of 81 House Republicans – bipartisan support, with half of
the Democrats in the Legislature also voting in favor
·
Rep. Dorworth was the bill’s main sponsor, and
backed by Florida’s real-estate industry
·
If approved, it would give breaks to
first-time homesteaders, cut the cap on annual growth of assessed value from
10% to 5% for owners of non-homestead residential rental & commercial
property, and repeal a provision for owners with homestead exemptions that lets
assessed values rise even when property values fall
·
Advocates say it would lift the Florida
economy by increasing home sales and encouraging businesses to invest and hire
in Florida, by making property taxes more manageable without huge yearly increases
·
Property owners who don’t claim a homestead
exemption (including investors, businesses, and owners of rentals & second
homes) are big beneficiaries
·
Over a 10-year period, Florida TaxWatch
estimates that this amendment would result in the creation of approximately
19,483 private, non-farm jobs. Their
model also estimates that Florida GDP would increase by approximately $928.65
million, and personal income would increase by more than $5.3 billion. Additionally, they estimate between 319,861
and 383,810 additional home sales.
Amendment #5 - STATE
COURTS
·
This amendment will add a requirement that a
Supreme Court justice nominated by the Governor must be confirmed by the Senate
to take office
·
If the Senate votes to reject the confirmation,
the Nominating Commission must reconvene and give a new list of justices to the
Governor
·
The Supreme Court adopts rules for
practice/procedure in lower courts. This
amendment provides for the repeal of a Supreme Court rule by general law &
simple majority, instead of a two-thirds vote of the Legislature
·
This amendment allows the Speaker of the House
to request to review all investigative files of the Judicial Qualifications
Commission, which are currently confidential
·
Sponsored by Rep. Eisnaugle
·
The Senate could not get the votes needed to
pass the House’s preferred version of the bill, which would have split the
Supreme Court into civil and criminal divisions, and added more justices
·
Critics have said that this is political payback
for Court rulings that removed several proposed (and Legislature approved)
constitutional amendments from the November 2010 ballot
·
24 out of 28 Senate Republicans voted in favor,
and 80 out of 81 House Republicans
·
The purpose of this amendment is to strengthen
parental rights by allowing future legislation to restore parental consent if a
child seeks an abortion, and it prohibits the spending of public funds for abortion
or for health care benefits coverage that includes the coverage of abortion
·
The provisions of the amendment affirm the
current Federal law (Hyde Amendment) regarding taxpayer funding of abortion
·
Does not apply to federally required
expenditures, abortions due to pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, or
cases including a life-endangering, physical condition arising from the
pregnancy which would place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is
performed
·
Limited health care dollars should be allotted
to those with the greatest need instead of paying for abortions
·
Today, a child can have an abortion without
parental consent – restoration of parental consent will enable a family to
decide together such a personal decision about a life-changing procedure with
government interference
·
26 out of 28 Senate Republicans voted in favor,
and 76 out of 81 House Republicans
·
The majority of Americans believe it is wrong
for government to use public funds for abortion – a November 2009 poll showed
that 61% were opposed to using public funds when a woman cannot afford the
abortion, and a September 2009 poll found that 55% agree that it would be wrong
for the government to pay for abortions
·
Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops strongly
supports this amendment to protect taxpayers and respect parental rights
Amendment #8 - RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM
·
This amendment preserves
time-honored public-private partnerships between taxpayers, government, social
service organizations, and those who rely on the social services for
the common good that many of us take for granted
·
This amendment eliminates
discrimination against churches and religious institutions that provide social
services, allowing those organizations to work with government to meet
important community needs
·
Taxpayers benefit from more efficient and higher
quality service delivery by religiously-motivated and private organizations at
a lower cost
·
Florida’s constitution currently includes the 19th
century, anti-Catholic, Blaine Amendment language (which had sought to amend
the U.S. Constitution to effectively shut down Catholic schools), excludes
religious organizations from government support, and discriminates against
religious providers of social services simply because they are religious
·
This amendment will not infringe on the
so-called separation of church and state, and does not promote any group over
another – religious organizations that provide secular services should receive
equal treatment as secular institutions that are eligible for state-funding for
similar programs
·
Religious organizations and individuals have an
equal and rightful place in the public square and should not have their freedom
to participate there limited simply because they are religious – Floridians
deserve the opportunity to benefit from programs with a secular purpose run by
religious entities
·
Sponsored by Rep. Plakon and Rep. Precourt
·
25 out of 28 Senate Republicans voted in favor,
and 78 out of 81 House Republicans
·
Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops
strongly support this amendment for religious freedom and non-discrimination
Amendment #9 - HOMESTEAD
PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR SURVIVING SPOUSE OF MILITARY VETERAN OR FIRST
RESPONDER
·
This amendment will allow the Legislature to provide ad valorem homestead property tax relief
to:
o
the surviving spouse of a
military veteran who died from service-connected causes while on active duty as
a member of the U.S. Armed Forces
o
the surviving spouse of a
first responder who died in the line of duty
·
First responders includes law enforcement
officers, correctional officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians,
and paramedics
·
The amount of tax relief can equal the total
amount or a portion of the ad valorem homestead property tax owed
·
Sponsored by Representative Harrison
·
The Revenue Estimating Conference estimates
that the estimated statewide impact would be annual reductions in school tax
revenues of $300,000, and annual reductions in local government non-school tax
revenues of $300,000
·
All 28 Senate Republicans voted in favor, and
77 out of 81 House Republicans (there were zero “nay” votes from Republicans or
Democrats)
Amendment #10 - TANGIBLE
PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION
·
This amendment will provide an additional
exemption from ad valorem taxes on the assessed value of tangible personal
property valued between $25,000 and $50,000 – currently the Constitution allows
for a $25,000 exemption
·
The Revenue Estimating Conference estimates that
the provision would have a negative impact on local government revenues of
$20.1 million
·
Persons owning tangible personal property with
an assessed value < $50,000 could see a reduction in their taxes
·
This amendment will also authorize the
legislature to permit counties/municipalities to provide additional exemptions
from ad valorem taxation for tangible personal property
·
Sponsored by Representative Eisnaugle
·
All 28 Senate Republicans voted in favor, and 80
out of 81 House Republicans
Amendment #11 - ADDITIONAL
HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION; LOW-INCOME SENIORS WHO MAINTAIN LONG-TERM RESIDENCY ON
PROPERTY; EQUAL TO ASSESSED VALUE
·
This amendment would authorize the
Legislature, by general law, to allow counties and municipalities to grant an
additional homestead tax exemption equal to the assessed value of homestead
property to certain low income seniors
·
To be eligible for the additional homestead
exemption:
o
the county or municipality must have granted
the exemption by ordinance
o
the property must have a market value of <
$250,000
o
the owner must have title to the property, and
maintained permanent residence there for > 25 years
o
the owner must be > 65 years old,
with an annual household income < $27,030
·
If all counties and municipalities offering
the current low-income senior exemption also pass the required ordinances to
offer this additional homestead exemption, the Revenue Estimating Conference
estimates a negative local government revenue impact of $9.1 million in 2014-15
and $9.4 million in 2015-16 (assuming current millage rates).
·
Sponsored by Representative Oliva
·
All 28 Senate Republicans voted in favor, and 79
out of 81 House Republicans (there were zero “nay” votes from Republicans
or Democrats)
Amendment #12 - APPOINTMENT
OF STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT TO BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
·
State-level government of the public
universities (the State University System) is provided by the Board of
Governors and the Legislature
·
The Board of Governors is comprised of 17
members:
o
Commissioner of Education
o
Chair of the Advisory Council of Faculty
Senates
o
14 members appointed by the Governor and
confirmed by the Florida Senate
o
Florida Student Association president (student
member)
·
This amendment requires the Board of Governors
to create the new council of State University System student body presidents,
regardless of whether their university pays membership dues to the Florida
Student Association
·
This amendment would remove the Florida
Student Association president as the student member of the Board of Governors,
and replace that member with the chair of the newly created council of student
body presidents
·
Currently, Florida State University does not
pay the FSA dues and is the only public university that is not an active FSA
member, and FSU’s student body president could never be on the Board of
Governors
·
Sponsored by Representative Gaetz
·
26 out of 28 Senate Republicans voted in favor,
and 78 out of 81 House Republicans
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