Kyra Lieberman
In Motion Staff Writer
On Nov. 6, Florida has 12 constitutional amendments are on the ballot, with five being bundled. According to the Tampa Bay Times, it’s the most amendments voters have had to face since 1998.
A “bundled” amendment includes more than one issue and those issues are usually unrelated. For example, Amendment 9 prohibits offshore drilling in state-owned water and would ban vaping and e-cigarette use in indoor workplaces. Who is behind such slick proposed legislation?
Only the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, which meets once every 20 years to update and review the state constitution, can bundle amendments. Citizens who want to amend the constitution do not have the right to bundle an amendment.
Legislators bundle unrelated amendments in an effort to get less popular items passed. When coupled with a more polarizing issue, voters are more likely to pass it, whether they agree with the other issue(s) because the amendments are voted on as a single entity.
Parties and other associations are quick to tell voters to vote “yes” or “no” on an amendment without explaining what they are voting for, especially when it comes to bundled amendments, where it is easier to get away with leaving crucial information out.
If passed, the amendments will impact citizens, including all of those enrolled in a state college, across Florida. The straightforward amendments are easier to understand.
Amendment 1: raises portion of home values exempt from property taxes.
Amendment 2: makes permanent tax cap of 10 percent value on second homes and commercial property.
Amendment 3: opening a casino will require signatures and voter approval, rather than legislative approval.
Amendment 4: restores voting rights to up to 1.5 million former felons, with the exception of murder and sex offense convictions.
Amendment 5: requires two-thirds vote of legislature, instead of simple majority of 51 percent, to raise taxes.
Amendment 12: prohibits public officials from lobbying while in office and for six years after their term ends.
Amendment 13: ends commercial dog racing by 2020.
Amendments 6 through 11 are bundled and there are more gray areas for voters. They were designed that way by the Constitution Revision Commission, or CRC.
Amendment 6: increases victims’ rights; raises mandatory retirement age of Florida judges from 70 to 75; prevents judges from deferring interpretations of the law by other government agencies.
Amendment 7: adds educational and death benefits to paramedics, EMTs and U.S. military members; provides government structure for state college system; requires three-fourths vote to approve changes to college system, including access to funding.
Amendment 8: removed from ballot by the state supreme court.
Amendment 9: prohibits offshore drilling in state-owned waters; bans vaping and e-cigarette use in indoor workplaces.
Amendment 10: creates a counterterrorism office; adds the state veterans’ affairs office to the constitution; requires that all counties must elect officers, including sheriffs; requires earlier legislature session on election years.
Amendment 11: removes language preventing non-citizens from owning or inheriting property; repeals clause that doesn’t allow for updated prison sentencing even when new laws change length of sentence for the same crime; deletes approval for high-speed rail in constitution that has already been voted against.
Tim Cerio, a member of the CRC, says, “I think that the voters are smart. They’ll read through these proposals, they’ll vote them up or down.”
The best way to combat the sometimes misleading bundling of amendments is self-education and sharing it with others. As long as the state is allowed to package unrelated amendments, citizens have to take time to learn what they are really voting for and whether these amendments serve them.