SIX AMENDMENTS FLORIDIANS CAN VOTE ON IN NOVEMBER
In November, Floridians can vote on six proposed constitutional amendments. Each proposal would require support from at least 60% of voters for passage.
The six issues and brief descriptions include:
Amendment 1: Partisan election of
members of district school boards
Supporters are seeking to do away with a requirement that candidates run without party labels, voters will decide
whether to hold partisan school board elections. Historically, Florida had partisan school board elections. However, in 1998, voters passed a constitutional amendment which made the races non-partisan. This year, lawmakers placed a measure on the ballot that would return to partisan races starting in 2026. In recent years, school board races in some areas have become battlegrounds.
Amendment 2: Right to fish and hunt
For generations of Floridians, fishing and hunting have been traditions. In November, voters will decide whether to
enshrine a right to fish and hunt in the state Constitution. Backed by outdoors groups, lawmakers voted almost unanimously last year to place the measure on the ballot. The proposal states that hunting and fishing “shall be preserved forever as a public right and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife.”
Amendment 3: Adult personal use of marijuana
This year, voters can choose to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Safe & Smart Florida, a political committee backed heavily by the Trulieve medical
marijuana company, led the drive to put the measure on the ballot. It would allow people ages 21 and older to “possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption.”It's been eight years since voters approved a constitutional amendment that allowed medical marijuana.
Amendment 4: Amendment to limit government interference with
abortion
In what could be 2024′s biggest political issue in Florida, voters will decide whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution.
The vote will come after Gov. Ron DeSantis and lawmakers approved preventing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The proposed constitutional amendment, in part, says: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
Amendment 5: Annual adjustments to the value of certain
homestead exemptions
Larger property-tax breaks could be coming for homeowners if voters approve a proposal would lead to adjusting part of the
homestead property-tax exemption for inflation. Homeowners receive tax exemptions on the assessed values of their property up to $25,000 and on the values between $50,000 and $75,000. The proposal would require adjusting for inflation the exempt portion currently between $50,000 and $75,000.
Amendment 6: Campaign money
In an effort to try to repeal a program that offers state matching funds to gubernatorial and state Cabinet candidates, lawmakers approved placing a measure on the ballot. A matching funds program was approved by voters in 1998, and a repeal attempt failed in 2010. When the program was created, supporters said it could help reduce the influence of big-money contributors in statewide elections, but critics have long derided the program as welfare for politicians.
Learn More: https://thefernandezlawgroup.com/
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