HJR 0437 2003
1	CHAMBER ACTION
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6	The Committee on Procedures recommended the following:
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8	Committee Substitute
9	Remove the entire bill and insert:
10	House Joint Resolution
11	A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 3 of
12	Article II of the State Constitution to specify that the
13	appropriations power is exclusively a legislative power
14	and to prohibit other branches of government from
15	appropriating funds or directing the appropriation of
16	funds by the Legislature or requiring the Legislature to
17	increase any particular tax, fine, or fee and an amendment
18	to Section 3 of Article XI of the State Constitution to
19	require that amendments proposed by initiative must be
20	revenue neutral.
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22	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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24	That the amendments to Section 3 of Article II and Section
25	3 of Article XI of the State Constitution set forth below are
26	agreed to and shall be submitted to the electors of Florida for
27	approval or rejection at the general election to be held in
28	November 2004:
29	ARTICLE II
30	GENERAL PROVISIONS
31	SECTION 3. Branches of government.--The powers of the
32	state government shall be divided into legislative, executive
33	and judicial branches. No person belonging to one branch shall
34	exercise any powers appertaining to either of the other branches
35	unless expressly provided herein. The power to appropriate funds
36	and to raise revenues is exclusively a legislative power
37	reserved to the legislative branch of government. Neither of the
38	other two branches or any official thereof, except as provided
39	in Section 8 of Article III or Section 13 of Article IV, shall
40	exercise such power or require the legislature to exercise its
41	power in any particular manner. To this end, no provision of
42	this constitution may be interpreted as requiring the
43	reallocation, appropriation, or expenditure of funds in excess
44	of those determined by the legislature in the appropriations
45	process to be necessary to comply with such provision, or as
46	requiring the imposition of any particular form of taxation, or
47	the raising of aggregate revenues in excess of those determined
48	by the legislature to be necessary to meet the needs of the
49	state. Nothing herein shall be interpreted as prohibiting the
50	legislature from providing by general law the authority to any
51	branch of government or entity thereof to transfer funds
52	appropriated to that branch or entity for another purpose within
53	such branch or entity.
54	ARTICLE XI
55	AMENDMENTS
56	SECTION 3. Initiative.--The power to propose the revision
57	or amendment of any portion or portions of this constitution by
58	initiative is reserved to the people, provided that, any such
59	revision or amendment, except for those limiting the power of
60	government to raise revenue, shall embrace but one subject and
61	matter directly connected therewith. It may be invoked by filing
62	with the custodian of state records a petition containing a copy
63	of the proposed revision or amendment, signed by a number of
64	electors in each of one half of the congressional districts of
65	the state, and of the state as a whole, equal to eight percent
66	of the votes cast in each of such districts respectively and in
67	the state as a whole in the last preceding election in which
68	presidential electors were chosen. Each amendment proposed to
69	the state constitution, if it requires the expenditure of funds,
70	shall provide for the imposition of additional taxes, fines, or
71	fees sufficient to fund the implementation of the amendment,
72	including the cost of imposing such additional taxes, fines, or
73	fees. The inclusion of such provision shall not be deemed a
74	violation of the single-subject requirement of this section. If
75	a proposed amendment is passed, the legislature shall only be
76	required to implement the provision to the extent the additional
77	revenues provided by the amendment cover the cost of
78	implementation and shall, pursuant to the provisions of Section
79	3 of Article II, have the exclusive authority to determine which
80	provisions to implement. No amendment may be exempt by its own
81	terms from the force of this section.
82	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the title and substance of the
83	amendments proposed herein shall appear on the ballot as
84	follows:
85	PROTECTING THE FISCAL INTEGRITY OF THE STATE
86	Proposes amendments to Section 3 of Article II and Section
87	3 of Article XI of the State Constitution to:
88	Specify that the appropriations power is exclusively a
89	legislative power and to prohibit the courts and the executive
90	branch from appropriating funds or directing the appropriation
91	of funds by the Legislature or requiring the Legislature to
92	increase any particular tax, fine, or fee;
93	Preserve the power of the Governor to veto appropriations
94	and to reduce appropriations as the result of revenue
95	shortfalls;
96	Permit the Legislature to delegate limited authority to
97	another branch to transfer funds appropriated to such branch
98	within such branch;
99	Provide that amendments proposed by initiative that require
100	the expenditure of funds for implementation must provide for the
101	imposition of additional taxes, fines, or fees sufficient to pay
102	for the implementation of the proposed amendment;
103	Provide that the provision of such required revenues within
104	the same amendment shall not constitute a violation of the
105	single-subject requirement for initiatives; and
106	Limit the Legislature’s obligation to implement such
107	amendment to the extent the amendment provides new funds
108	sufficient to implement its provisions.
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