Florida Senate - 2020                                    SJR 396
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       37-00407-20                                            2020396__
    1                       Senate Joint Resolution                     
    2         A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 6
    3         of Article XI of the State Constitution to require
    4         that any proposals to revise the State Constitution,
    5         or any part thereof, filed by the Taxation and Budget
    6         Reform Commission be limited to a single subject.
    7          
    8  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    9  
   10         That the following amendment to Section 6 of Article XI of
   11  the State Constitution is agreed to and shall be submitted to
   12  the electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next
   13  general election or at an earlier special election specifically
   14  authorized by law for that purpose:
   15                             ARTICLE XI                            
   16                             AMENDMENTS                            
   17         SECTION 6. Taxation and budget reform commission.—
   18         (a) Beginning in 2007 and each twentieth year thereafter,
   19  there shall be established a taxation and budget reform
   20  commission composed of the following members:
   21         (1) eleven members selected by the governor, none of whom
   22  shall be a member of the legislature at the time of appointment.
   23         (2) seven members selected by the speaker of the house of
   24  representatives and seven members selected by the president of
   25  the senate, none of whom shall be a member of the legislature at
   26  the time of appointment.
   27         (3) four non-voting ex officio members, all of whom shall
   28  be members of the legislature at the time of appointment. Two of
   29  these members, one of whom shall be a member of the minority
   30  party in the house of representatives, shall be selected by the
   31  speaker of the house of representatives, and two of these
   32  members, one of whom shall be a member of the minority party in
   33  the senate, shall be selected by the president of the senate.
   34         (b) Vacancies in the membership of the commission shall be
   35  filled in the same manner as the original appointments.
   36         (c) At its initial meeting, the members of the commission
   37  shall elect a member who is not a member of the legislature to
   38  serve as chair and the commission shall adopt its rules of
   39  procedure. Thereafter, the commission shall convene at the call
   40  of the chair. An affirmative vote of two thirds of the full
   41  commission shall be necessary for any revision of this
   42  constitution or any part of it to be proposed by the commission.
   43         (d) The commission shall examine the state budgetary
   44  process, the revenue needs and expenditure processes of the
   45  state, the appropriateness of the tax structure of the state,
   46  and governmental productivity and efficiency; review policy as
   47  it relates to the ability of state and local government to tax
   48  and adequately fund governmental operations and capital
   49  facilities required to meet the state’s needs during the next
   50  twenty year period; determine methods favored by the citizens of
   51  the state to fund the needs of the state, including alternative
   52  methods for raising sufficient revenues for the needs of the
   53  state; determine measures that could be instituted to
   54  effectively gather funds from existing tax sources; examine
   55  constitutional limitations on taxation and expenditures at the
   56  state and local level; and review the state’s comprehensive
   57  planning, budgeting and needs assessment processes to determine
   58  whether the resulting information adequately supports a
   59  strategic decisionmaking process.
   60         (e) The commission shall hold public hearings as it deems
   61  necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this section.
   62  The commission shall issue a report of the results of the review
   63  carried out, and propose to the legislature any recommended
   64  statutory changes related to the taxation or budgetary laws of
   65  the state. Not later than one hundred eighty days prior to the
   66  general election in the second year following the year in which
   67  the commission is established, the commission shall file with
   68  the custodian of state records its proposal, if any, of a
   69  revision of this constitution or any part of it dealing with
   70  taxation or the state budgetary process. Any proposal of a
   71  revision of this constitution, or any part thereof, filed by the
   72  commission with the custodian of state records must embrace but
   73  one subject and matter directly connected therewith.
   74         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
   75  placed on the ballot:
   76                      CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT                     
   77                        ARTICLE XI, SECTION 6                      
   78         ESTABLISHING SINGLE-SUBJECT LIMITATION FOR TAXATION AND
   79  BUDGET REFORM COMMISSION PROPOSALS.—Proposing an amendment to
   80  the State Constitution to require that any proposal of a
   81  revision to the State Constitution, or any part thereof, filed
   82  by the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission with the custodian
   83  of state records for placement on the ballot be limited to a
   84  single subject and matter directly connected to such subject.