Florida Senate - 2019 (PROPOSED BILL) SPB 7096
FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Judiciary
590-03536A-19 20197096pb
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to constitutional amendments; amending
3 s. 100.371, F.S.; requiring a petition gatherer to
4 register with the Secretary of State and attest that
5 he or she is a Florida resident before obtaining
6 signatures on petition forms; revising requirements
7 regarding the supervisor of elections’ determination
8 of a petition form’s validity; authorizing interested
9 persons to submit position statements on initiatives
10 for publication on the Department of State’s website;
11 extending the timeframe for the Financial Impact
12 Estimating Conference to complete its analysis of an
13 initiative; requiring the analysis to summarize the
14 impact to the state and local economy; requiring each
15 supervisor to include a copy of the summary in the
16 publication or mailing of a sample ballot; amending s.
17 101.161, F.S.; requiring the name of the sponsor of an
18 initiative to appear on the ballot with the percentage
19 of donations received from certain in-state donors;
20 defining the term “person”; requiring a statement to
21 appear on the ballot if the amendment is estimated to
22 increase costs, decrease revenues, or have an
23 indeterminate economic impact; requiring a statement
24 to appear on the ballot indicating whether the policy
25 proposed by the initiative can be implemented by the
26 Legislature; requiring the Attorney General to make
27 specified requests of the Supreme Court relating to
28 proposed amendments by initiative; amending s.
29 101.171, F.S.; requiring a copy of proposed amendments
30 be provided in each voting booth; creating s. 104.186,
31 F.S.; prohibiting compensation for initiative petition
32 gatherers based on the number of petitions gathered;
33 providing a penalty; providing for application;
34 providing an effective date.
35
36 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
37
38 Section 1. Present subsections (3) of section 100.371,
39 Florida Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (4), present
40 subsections (4) through (7) of that section are renumbered as
41 subsections (6) through (9), respectively, present subsections
42 (3) and (6) and paragraphs (a) and (e) of present subsection (5)
43 of that section are amended, and new subsections (3) and (5) are
44 added to that section, to read:
45 100.371 Initiatives; procedure for placement on ballot.—
46 (3) Before obtaining signatures, a petition gatherer must
47 register with the Secretary of State. The registrant must
48 provide his or her name, date of birth, residential address, and
49 attestation that he or she is a Florida resident. The secretary
50 shall maintain a searchable database of registered petition
51 gatherers.
52 (4) An initiative petition form circulated for signature
53 may not be bundled with or attached to any other petition. Each
54 signature shall be dated when made and shall be valid for a
55 period of 2 years following such date, provided all other
56 requirements of law are met. The sponsor shall submit signed and
57 dated forms to the supervisor of elections for the county of
58 residence listed by the person signing the form for verification
59 of the number of valid signatures obtained. If a signature on a
60 petition is from a registered voter in another county, the
61 supervisor shall notify the petition sponsor of the misfiled
62 petition. The supervisor shall promptly verify the signatures
63 within 30 days after receipt of the petition forms and payment
64 of the fee required by s. 99.097. The supervisor shall promptly
65 record, in the manner prescribed by the Secretary of State, the
66 date each form is received by the supervisor, and the date the
67 signature on the form is verified as valid. The supervisor may
68 verify that the signature on a form is valid only if:
69 (a) The form contains the original signature of the
70 purported elector.
71 (b) The purported elector has accurately recorded on the
72 form the date on which he or she signed the form.
73 (c) The form sets forth the purported elector’s name,
74 address, city, county, and voter registration number or date of
75 birth.
76 (d) The purported elector is, at the time he or she signs
77 the form and at the time the form is verified, a duly qualified
78 and registered elector in the state.
79 (e) The petition gatherer who collected the petition is
80 registered with the Secretary of State under subsection (3).
81
82 The supervisor shall retain the signature forms for at least 1
83 year following the election in which the issue appeared on the
84 ballot or until the Division of Elections notifies the
85 supervisors of elections that the committee that circulated the
86 petition is no longer seeking to obtain ballot position.
87 (5) Upon determining that a constitutional amendment
88 proposed by initiative has met the requirements to be placed on
89 the ballot, the Secretary of State shall allow any interested
90 person to file a position statement of no more than 50 words
91 outlining why the person supports or opposes the amendment. The
92 secretary shall publish each position statement on the webpage
93 for constitutional amendments on the department’s website.
94 (6)(4) The Secretary of State shall determine from the
95 signatures verified by the supervisors of elections the total
96 number of verified valid signatures and the distribution of such
97 signatures by congressional districts. Upon a determination that
98 the requisite number and distribution of valid signatures have
99 been obtained, the secretary shall issue a certificate of ballot
100 position for that proposed amendment and shall assign a
101 designating number pursuant to s. 101.161.
102 (7)(a)(5)(a) Within 60 45 days after receipt of a proposed
103 revision or amendment to the State Constitution by initiative
104 petition from the Secretary of State, the Financial Impact
105 Estimating Conference shall complete an analysis and financial
106 impact statement to be placed on the ballot of the estimated
107 increase or decrease in any revenues or costs to state or local
108 governments and the estimated economic impact on the state and
109 local economy resulting from the proposed initiative. The
110 Financial Impact Estimating Conference shall submit the
111 financial impact statement to the Attorney General and Secretary
112 of State.
113 (e)1. Any financial impact statement that the Supreme Court
114 finds not to be in accordance with this subsection shall be
115 remanded solely to the Financial Impact Estimating Conference
116 for redrafting, provided the court’s advisory opinion is
117 rendered at least 75 days before the election at which the
118 question of ratifying the amendment will be presented. The
119 Financial Impact Estimating Conference shall prepare and adopt a
120 revised financial impact statement no later than 5 p.m. on the
121 15th day after the date of the court’s opinion.
122 2. If, by 5 p.m. on the 75th day before the election, the
123 Supreme Court has not issued an advisory opinion on the initial
124 financial impact statement prepared by the Financial Impact
125 Estimating Conference for an initiative amendment that otherwise
126 meets the legal requirements for ballot placement, the financial
127 impact statement shall be deemed approved for placement on the
128 ballot.
129 3. In addition to the financial impact statement required
130 by this subsection, the Financial Impact Estimating Conference
131 shall draft an initiative financial information statement. The
132 initiative financial information statement should describe in
133 greater detail than the financial impact statement any projected
134 increase or decrease in revenues or costs that the state or
135 local governments would likely experience and the estimated
136 economic impact on the state and local economy if the ballot
137 measure were approved. If appropriate, the initiative financial
138 information statement may include both estimated dollar amounts
139 and a description placing the estimated dollar amounts into
140 context. The initiative financial information statement must
141 include both a summary of not more than 500 words and additional
142 detailed information that includes the assumptions that were
143 made to develop the financial impacts, workpapers, and any other
144 information deemed relevant by the Financial Impact Estimating
145 Conference.
146 4. The Department of State shall have printed, and shall
147 furnish to each supervisor of elections, a copy of the summary
148 from the initiative financial information statements. The
149 supervisors shall have the summary from the initiative financial
150 information statements available at each polling place and at
151 the main office of the supervisor of elections upon request.
152 5. The Secretary of State and the Office of Economic and
153 Demographic Research shall make available on the Internet each
154 initiative financial information statement in its entirety. In
155 addition, each supervisor of elections whose office has a
156 website shall post the summary from each initiative financial
157 information statement on the website. Each supervisor shall
158 include a copy of each summary from the initiative financial
159 information statements and the Internet addresses for the
160 information statements on the Secretary of State’s and the
161 Office of Economic and Demographic Research’s websites in the
162 publication or mailing required by s. 101.20.
163 (8)(6) The Department of State may adopt rules in
164 accordance with s. 120.54 to carry out the provisions of
165 subsections (1)-(7) (1)-(5).
166 (9)(7) No provision of this code shall be deemed to
167 prohibit a private person exercising lawful control over
168 privately owned property, including property held open to the
169 public for the purposes of a commercial enterprise, from
170 excluding from such property persons seeking to engage in
171 activity supporting or opposing initiative amendments.
172 Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 101.161, Florida
173 Statutes, is amended to read:
174 101.161 Referenda; ballots.—
175 (1)(a) Whenever a constitutional amendment or other public
176 measure is submitted to the vote of the people, a ballot summary
177 of such amendment or other public measure shall be printed in
178 clear and unambiguous language on the ballot after the list of
179 candidates, followed by the word “yes” and also by the word
180 “no,” and shall be styled in such a manner that a “yes” vote
181 will indicate approval of the proposal and a “no” vote will
182 indicate rejection. The ballot summary of the amendment or other
183 public measure and the ballot title to appear on the ballot
184 shall be embodied in the constitutional revision commission
185 proposal, constitutional convention proposal, taxation and
186 budget reform commission proposal, or enabling resolution or
187 ordinance. The ballot summary of the amendment or other public
188 measure shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75
189 words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure. In
190 addition, for every amendment proposed by initiative, the ballot
191 shall include, following the ballot summary, in the following
192 order:,
193 1. The name of the initiative’s sponsor and the percentage
194 of total contributions obtained by the sponsor from in-state
195 persons. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “person”
196 has the same meaning as provided in s. 106.011(14), except that
197 the term does not include a political party, an affiliated party
198 committee, or a political committee.
199 2. A separate financial impact statement concerning the
200 measure prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference
201 in accordance with s. 100.371(7). s. 100.371(5)
202 3. If the financial impact statement estimates increased
203 costs or decreased revenues, a range that includes increased
204 costs or decreased revenues, or an indeterminate economic
205 impact, the following statement in bold print:
206
207 THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION REQUIRES A BALANCED BUDGET.
208 THIS PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IS ESTIMATED TO
209 RESULT IN INDETERMINATE OR INCREASED COSTS OR
210 INDETERMINATE OR DECREASED REVENUES, WHICH MAY REQUIRE
211 INCREASED TAXES OR A REDUCTION IN GOVERNMENT SERVICES
212 THAT ARE CURRENTLY FUNDED.
213
214 4. The following question, with an accompanying yes or no
215 answer provided by the Supreme Court pursuant to subparagraph
216 (b)1.:
217
218 CAN THE PROPOSED POLICY BE IMPLEMENTED BY THE
219 LEGISLATURE WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A CONSTITUTIONAL
220 AMENDMENT?
221
222 The ballot title shall consist of a caption, not exceeding 15
223 words in length, by which the measure is commonly referred to or
224 spoken of. This paragraph subsection does not apply to
225 constitutional amendments or revisions proposed by joint
226 resolution.
227 (b) When the Attorney General requests an advisory opinion
228 of the Supreme Court to review a proposed constitutional
229 amendment, the Attorney General shall include a request for the
230 Court to:
231 1. Address whether the proposed policy can be implemented
232 by the Legislature without the need for a constitutional
233 amendment and indicate a yes or no answer, which must be printed
234 on the ballot summary.
235 2. Identify any undefined terms within the proposed
236 amendment which will have a substantive impact.
237 Section 3. Section 101.171, Florida Statutes, is amended to
238 read:
239 101.171 Copy of constitutional amendment to be available at
240 voting locations.—Whenever any amendment to the State
241 Constitution is to be voted upon at any election, the Department
242 of State shall have printed and shall furnish to each supervisor
243 of elections a sufficient number of copies of the amendment
244 either in poster or booklet form, and the supervisor shall have
245 a copy thereof conspicuously posted or available at each voting
246 booth polling room or early voting area upon the day of
247 election.
248 Section 4. Section 104.186, Florida Statutes, is created to
249 read:
250 104.186 Initiative petitions; prohibition on compensation
251 based on the number of petitions gathered.—A person who
252 compensates an initiative petition gatherer based on the number
253 of petitions gathered commits a misdemeanor of the first degree,
254 punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
255 Section 5. The provisions of this act apply to all
256 revisions or amendments to the State Constitution by initiative
257 which are proposed for the 2020 election ballot; however, this
258 act does not affect the validity of any petition gathered before
259 this act’s effective date.
260 Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.