Lawmakers Vote to Protect Florida’s Constitution

Provide Floridians Greater Transparency on Proposed Amendments

TALLAHASSEE, FL (March 11, 2020) – Today, the Florida Chamber of Commerce applauds the Florida Legislature for passing a bill that will provide Florida voters with greater information about proposed constitutional amendments and better protect our state’s foundational document.

Today’s bill passage comes on the heels of polling showing broad bipartisan consensus among Florida voters that it’s too easy for special interests to pass amendments to Florida’s Constitution.

While the Florida Legislature and Governor Ron DeSantis have enacted measures that have brought greater transparency to the constitutional amendment signature gathering process, given voters more information at the ballot box, and protected our state’s foundational document from constitutional clutter, more work was needed.

With today’s passage of SB 1794 by Senator Travis Hutson, important safeguards will provide further protections, including:

-Allowing the Florida Supreme Court to clarify if a proposal violates the U.S. Constitution,
-Ending the state subsidy of petition gathering firms by requiring that a sponsor pay the actual cost of validating signatures incurred by Supervisors of Elections,
-Giving voters more information about the proposed measure, which is effectively permanent, when casting their vote, and
-Saving government resources and reducing uncertainty by requiring a higher threshold for Supreme Court review.

“For far too long, special interest groups have bought their way into Florida’s Constitution, by placing poll tested proposed amendment titles that do little to explain what the amendment actually does onto voters’ ballots. Now voters will have stronger facts and information to better understand the amendment before casting their vote,” said David Hart, Executive Vice President, Florida Chamber of Commerce.

According to Florida Chamber statewide survey results released last week, when asked about the process for getting an amendment to the state constitution on the ballot, 76 percent of 800 likely voters said adjustments are needed compared to only 14 percent that said the process works very well and needs no adjustment.

The bill now travels to Governor DeSantis for his action, and the Florida Chamber is encouraging the Governor to sign the bill into law.

The Florida Chamber thanks both bill sponsors, Senator Travis Hutson and Representative James Grant (HB 7037), for their leadership on this legislation.

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The Florida Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business and the state’s largest federation of employers, chambers of commerce and associations aggressively representing small and large businesses from every industry and every region. The Florida Chamber works within all branches of government to affect those changes set forth in the annual Florida Business Agenda, and which are seen as critical to secure Florida’s future. The Florida Chamber works closely with its Florida Political Operations and the Florida Chamber Foundation. Visit www.FloridaChamber.com for more information.