HJR 7025

1	House Joint Resolution
2	A joint resolution proposing amendments to Section 4 of
3	Article IV and Sections 2 and 7 of Article IX, the
4	creation of Section 8 of Article IX, and the creation of a
5	new section in Article XII of the State Constitution to
6	create the position of Commissioner of Education as an
7	elected member of the Cabinet, to revise the membership of
8	the State Board of Education, which shall consist of the
9	Governor and the Cabinet, to revise the membership, terms,
10	and duties of the local boards of trustees and the Board
11	of Governors of the State University System, to establish
12	the Florida College System, to provide for a local board
13	of trustees to govern each institution in the Florida
14	College System, to provide for the Florida College Board,
15	and to provide an effective date.
16
17	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19	That the following amendments to Section 4 of Article IV
20	and Sections 2 and 7 of Article IX, the creation of Section 8 of
21	Article IX, and the creation of a new section in Article XII of
22	the State Constitution are agreed to and shall be submitted to
23	the electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next
24	general election:
25	ARTICLE IV
26	EXECUTIVE
27	SECTION 4.  Cabinet.--
28	(a)  There shall be a cabinet composed of an attorney
29	general, a chief financial officer, and a commissioner of
30	agriculture, and a commissioner of education. In addition to the
31	powers and duties specified herein, they shall exercise such
32	powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed by law. In
33	the event of a tie vote of the governor and cabinet, the side on
34	which the governor voted shall be deemed to prevail.
35	(b)  The attorney general shall be the chief state legal
36	officer. There is created in the office of the attorney general
37	the position of statewide prosecutor. The statewide prosecutor
38	shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the state attorneys to
39	prosecute violations of criminal laws occurring or having
40	occurred, in two or more judicial circuits as part of a related
41	transaction, or when any such offense is affecting or has
42	affected two or more judicial circuits as provided by general
43	law. The statewide prosecutor shall be appointed by the attorney
44	general from not less than three persons nominated by the
45	judicial nominating commission for the supreme court, or as
46	otherwise provided by general law.
47	(c)  The chief financial officer shall serve as the chief
48	fiscal officer of the state, and shall settle and approve
49	accounts against the state, and shall keep all state funds and
50	securities.
51	(d)  The commissioner of agriculture shall have supervision
52	of matters pertaining to agriculture except as otherwise
53	provided by law.
54	(e)  The commissioner of education shall supervise the
55	public education system in a manner prescribed by law, except as
56	otherwise provided in this constitution.
57	(f)(e)  The governor as chair, the chief financial officer,
58	and the attorney general shall constitute the state board of
59	administration, which shall succeed to all the power, control,
60	and authority of the state board of administration established
61	pursuant to Article IX, Section 16 of the Constitution of 1885,
62	and which shall continue as a body at least for the life of
63	Article XII, Section 9(c).
64	(g)(f)  The governor as chair, the chief financial officer,
65	the attorney general, and the commissioner of agriculture, and
66	the commissioner of education shall constitute the trustees of
67	the internal improvement trust fund and the land acquisition
68	trust fund as provided by law.
69	(h)(g)  The governor as chair, the chief financial officer,
70	the attorney general, and the commissioner of agriculture, and
71	the commissioner of education shall constitute the agency head
72	of the Department of Law Enforcement.
73	ARTICLE IX
74	EDUCATION
75	SECTION 2.  State board of education.--The governor and the
76	members of the cabinet shall constitute the state board of
77	education, which shall be a body corporate and have such
78	supervision of the public education system as is provided by
79	law. The state board of education shall be a body corporate and
80	have such supervision of the system of free public education as
81	is provided by law. The state board of education shall consist
82	of seven members appointed by the governor to staggered 4-year
83	terms, subject to confirmation by the senate. The state board of
84	education shall appoint the commissioner of education.
85	SECTION 7.  State university system.--
86	(a)  PURPOSES.  In order to achieve excellence through
87	teaching students, advancing research and providing public
88	service for the benefit of Florida's citizens, their communities
89	and economies, the people hereby establish a system of
90	governance for the state university system of Florida.
91	(b)  STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.  There shall be a single
92	state university system comprised of all public universities. A
93	board of trustees shall administer each public university and a
94	board of governors shall govern the state university system.
95	(c)  LOCAL BOARDS OF TRUSTEES.  Each public local
96	constituent university shall be administered by a board of
97	trustees as provided by law consisting of thirteen members
98	dedicated to the purposes of the state university system. The
99	board of governors shall establish the powers and duties of the
100	boards of trustees. Each board of trustees shall consist of
101	eleven six citizen members appointed by the governor and five
102	citizen members appointed by the board of governors. The
103	appointed members shall be confirmed by the senate and serve
104	staggered terms of five years as provided by law. The chair of
105	the faculty senate, or the equivalent, and the president of the
106	student body of the university shall also be members.
107	(d)  STATEWIDE BOARD OF GOVERNORS.  The board of governors
108	shall administer the state be a body corporate consisting of
109	seventeen members. The board shall operate, regulate, control,
110	and be fully responsible for the management of the whole
111	university system as provided by law. These responsibilities
112	shall include, but not be limited to, defining the distinctive
113	mission of each constituent university and its articulation with
114	free public schools and community colleges, ensuring the well-
115	planned coordination and operation of the system, and avoiding
116	wasteful duplication of facilities or programs. The board's
117	management shall be subject to the powers of the legislature to
118	appropriate for the expenditure of funds, and the board shall
119	account for such expenditures as provided by law. The governor
120	shall appoint to the board six fourteen citizens dedicated to
121	the purposes of the state university system. The appointed
122	members shall be confirmed by the senate and serve staggered
123	terms of four seven years as provided by law. The commissioner
124	of education, the chair of the advisory council of faculty
125	senates, or the equivalent, and the president of the Florida
126	student association, or the equivalent, shall also be members of
127	the board.
128	SECTION 8.  Florida college system.--
129	(a)  PURPOSES.  In order to maximize open access for
130	students, respond to community needs for postsecondary academic
131	education and career degree education, and provide associate and
132	baccalaureate degrees that will best meet the state's employment
133	needs, the people hereby establish a system of governance for
134	the Florida college system.
135	(b)  FLORIDA COLLEGE SYSTEM.  There shall be a single
136	Florida college system comprised of two-year and four-year
137	public postsecondary educational institutions that grant
138	academic degrees at the undergraduate level as provided by law.
139	An institution within the Florida college system may not offer
140	graduate degree programs.
141	(c)  LOCAL BOARDS OF TRUSTEES.  Each institution within the
142	Florida college system shall be governed by a local board of
143	trustees as provided by law. The membership of each local board
144	of trustees shall be as provided by law.
145	(d)  FLORIDA COLLEGE BOARD.  The Florida college board
146	shall oversee and coordinate the Florida college system as
147	provided by law. The governor shall appoint to the board six
148	citizens dedicated to the purposes of the Florida college
149	system. The appointed members shall be confirmed by the senate
150	and serve staggered terms of four years as provided by law. The
151	commissioner of education shall also be a member of the board.
152	ARTICLE XII
153	SCHEDULE
154	Cabinet, state board of education, elected commissioner of
155	education, state university system, and Florida college
156	system.--
157	(a)  The amendments to Section 4 of Article IV and Sections
158	2 and 7 of Article IX and the creation of Section 8 of Article
159	IX, which create a cabinet position for an elected commissioner
160	of education to supervise the public education system as
161	provided by law, revise the membership of the state board of
162	education to consist of the governor and the cabinet, revise the
163	manner of appointment for members of the local boards of
164	trustees for the state university system, revise the membership,
165	terms, and duties of the statewide board of governors, and
166	establish the Florida college system, and this section, if
167	submitted to the electors of this state for approval or
168	rejection at the next general election and if approved, shall
169	take effect July 1 of the year following such general election.
170	(b)  On the effective date of these amendments, the terms
171	of the members serving on the state board of education and the
172	statewide board of governors and the term of the commissioner of
173	education shall expire. The term of a member of a local board of
174	trustees shall not expire on the effective date of these
175	amendments, but the term shall expire at the end of the term for
176	which the member was originally appointed.
177	(c)  On the effective date of these amendments, the
178	governor and cabinet shall appoint a commissioner of education
179	to serve until a commissioner of education is elected in the
180	next general election following the adoption of these
181	amendments.
182	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
183	placed on the ballot:
184	CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
185	ARTICLE IV, SECTION 4
186	ARTICLE IX, SECTIONS 2, 7, AND 8
187	ARTICLE XII
188	RESTRUCTURING THE STATE CABINET; ELECTED COMMISSIONER OF
189	EDUCATION; RESTRUCTURING THE LOCAL BOARDS OF TRUSTEES AND THE
190	STATEWIDE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM;
191	ESTABLISHING THE FLORIDA COLLEGE SYSTEM.--Proposing amendments
192	to the State Constitution which will create an elected
193	Commissioner of Education who will be a member of the Cabinet
194	and will be responsible for the supervision of public education
195	as provided by law; include the Commissioner of Education with
196	other Cabinet members as a trustee of the Internal Improvement
197	Trust Fund and the Land Acquisition Trust Fund and as agency
198	head of the Department of Law Enforcement; eliminate an
199	appointed State Board of Education and replace the board with
200	the Governor and the Cabinet; provide that the State Board of
201	Education will be responsible for the supervision of public
202	education as provided by law; revise the membership of the local
203	boards of trustees by eliminating the authority of the statewide
204	Board of Governors to appoint members; provide that the
205	authority and duties of the local boards of trustees shall be as
206	provided by law; revise the membership of the statewide Board of
207	Governors by reducing the number of appointed members and their
208	terms; provide that the authority of the statewide Board of
209	Governors to administer the State University System shall be as
210	provided by law; establish the Florida College System comprised
211	of 2-year and 4-year public postsecondary educational
212	institutions that grant academic degrees at the undergraduate
213	level as provided by law; provide for the governance of each
214	institution within the Florida College System by a local board
215	of trustees as provided by law; provide that the Florida College
216	Board, which shall be comprised of the Commissioner of Education
217	and six citizens appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the
218	Senate, shall oversee and coordinate the Florida College System
219	as provided by law; provide that the terms of the currently
220	appointed members of the State Board of Education and the
221	statewide Board of Governors and the term of the currently
222	appointed Commissioner of Education shall expire July 1 of the
223	year following the adoption of these amendments in the next
224	general election; provide that the term of a member of a local
225	board of trustees shall expire at the end of the term for which
226	the member was originally appointed; provide for the appointment
227	of a Commissioner of Education by the Governor and Cabinet until
228	a Commissioner of Education is elected in the next general
229	election following the adoption of these amendments; and provide
230	that these amendments shall take effect July 1 of the year
231	following the next general election.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.