| 2 | The Committee on Appropriations recommends the following: |
| 3 |
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| 4 | Committee Substitute |
| 5 | Remove the entire joint resolution and insert: |
| 6 | House Joint Resolution |
| 7 | A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 1 of |
| 8 | Article VII of the State Constitution relating to a |
| 9 | limitation on legislative power to impose a tax, expand a |
| 10 | tax base, increase a tax rate, or repeal a tax exemption |
| 11 | and relating to the limitation on state revenue |
| 12 | collections. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | That the amendment to Section 1 of Article VII of the State |
| 17 | Constitution set forth below is agreed to and shall be submitted |
| 18 | to the electors of Florida for approval or rejection at the |
| 19 | general election to be held in November 2004: |
| 20 | ARTICLE VII |
| 21 | FINANCE AND TAXATION |
| 22 | SECTION 1. Taxation; appropriations; state expenses; state |
| 23 | revenue limitation.-- |
| 24 | (a) No tax shall be levied except in pursuance of law. No |
| 25 | state ad valorem taxes shall be levied upon real estate or |
| 26 | tangible personal property. All other forms of taxation shall be |
| 27 | preempted to the state except as provided by general law. |
| 28 | (b) Motor vehicles, boats, airplanes, trailers, trailer |
| 29 | coaches and mobile homes, as defined by law, shall be subject to |
| 30 | a license tax for their operation in the amounts and for the |
| 31 | purposes prescribed by law, but shall not be subject to ad |
| 32 | valorem taxes. |
| 33 | (c) No money shall be drawn from the treasury except in |
| 34 | pursuance of appropriation made by law. |
| 35 | (d) Provision shall be made by law for raising sufficient |
| 36 | revenue to defray the expenses of the state for each fiscal |
| 37 | period. |
| 38 | (e) A law enacted after January 1, 2005, may not impose a |
| 39 | tax, expand a tax base, increase a tax rate, or repeal a tax |
| 40 | exemption, unless the law is enacted in a separate bill for that |
| 41 | purpose only by a two-thirds vote of the membership of each |
| 42 | house of the legislature. |
| 43 | (f)(e) Except as provided herein, state revenues collected |
| 44 | for any fiscal year shall be limited to state revenues allowed |
| 45 | under this subsection for the prior fiscal year plus an |
| 46 | adjustment for growth. As used in this subsection, "growth" |
| 47 | means an amount equal to the average annual rate of growth in |
| 48 | Florida personal income over the most recent twenty quarters |
| 49 | times the state revenues allowed under this subsection for the |
| 50 | prior fiscal year. For the 2005-2006 1995-1996 fiscal year and |
| 51 | thereafter, the state revenues allowed under this subsection for |
| 52 | the prior fiscal year shall equal the actual state revenues |
| 53 | collected for the prior 1994-1995 fiscal year less the amount by |
| 54 | which actual collections in that year exceed the state revenues |
| 55 | allowed in that year. Florida personal income shall be |
| 56 | determined by the legislature, from information available from |
| 57 | the United States Department of Commerce or its successor on the |
| 58 | first day of February prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. |
| 59 | State revenues collected for any fiscal year in excess of this |
| 60 | limitation shall be transferred to the budget stabilization fund |
| 61 | until the fund reaches the maximum balance specified in Section |
| 62 | 19(g) of Article III, and thereafter shall be refunded to |
| 63 | taxpayers as provided by general law. State revenues allowed |
| 64 | under this subsection for any fiscal year may be increased by a |
| 65 | two-thirds vote of the membership of each house of the |
| 66 | legislature in a separate bill that contains no other subject |
| 67 | and that sets forth the dollar amount by which the state |
| 68 | revenues allowed will be increased. The vote may not be taken |
| 69 | less than seventy-two hours after the third reading of the bill. |
| 70 | For purposes of this subsection, "state revenues" means taxes, |
| 71 | fees, licenses, and charges for goods and services imposed by |
| 72 | the legislature on individuals, businesses, or agencies outside |
| 73 | state government. However, "state revenues" does not include: |
| 74 | revenues that are necessary to meet the requirements set forth |
| 75 | in documents authorizing the issuance of bonds by the state; |
| 76 | revenues that are used to provide matching funds for the federal |
| 77 | Medicaid program with the exception of the revenues used to |
| 78 | support the Public Medical Assistance Trust Fund or its |
| 79 | successor program and with the exception of state matching funds |
| 80 | used to fund elective expansions made after July 1, 1994; |
| 81 | proceeds from the state lottery returned as prizes; receipts of |
| 82 | the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund; balances carried forward |
| 83 | from prior fiscal years; taxes, licenses, fees, and charges for |
| 84 | goods and services imposed by local, regional, or school |
| 85 | district governing bodies; or revenue from taxes, licenses, |
| 86 | fees, and charges for goods and services required to be imposed |
| 87 | by any amendment or revision to this constitution after July 1, |
| 88 | 1994. An adjustment to the revenue limitation shall be made by |
| 89 | general law to reflect the fiscal impact of transfers of |
| 90 | responsibility for the funding of governmental functions between |
| 91 | the state and other levels of government. The legislature shall, |
| 92 | by general law, prescribe procedures necessary to administer |
| 93 | this subsection. |
| 94 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the title and substance of the |
| 95 | amendment proposed herein shall appear on the ballot as follows: |
| 96 | LIMITATION ON STATE REVENUES AND LIMITATION ON |
| 97 | POWER OF LEGISLATURE TO IMPOSE OR INCREASE TAXES |
| 98 | Proposes an amendment to Section 1 of Article VII of the |
| 99 | State Constitution to: require limits on legislative imposition |
| 100 | of or increase in taxes, expansion of a tax base, or repeal of a |
| 101 | tax exemption by requiring a separate bill for that purpose only |
| 102 | and an extraordinary vote; change the existing limit on the |
| 103 | amount of revenues the state can receive each year; limit the |
| 104 | growth in actual revenues from one year to the next, as opposed |
| 105 | to the current provision which limits growth in revenues over |
| 106 | the allowable limit in the prior year; delete the exclusion from |
| 107 | "state revenues" of revenues that are used to provide matching |
| 108 | funds for the federal Medicaid program; include charges for |
| 109 | "goods" imposed by the Legislature within the definition of |
| 110 | "state revenues"; and exclude charges for "goods" imposed by |
| 111 | local, regional, or school district governing bodies or by any |
| 112 | subsequent amendment or revision to the State Constitution from |
| 113 | the definition of "state revenues." |