Bill Text: FL S7096 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Constitutional Amendments
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Failed) 2019-05-03 - Died in Appropriations, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 5 (Ch. 2019-64) [S7096 Detail]
Download: Florida-2019-S7096-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2019 SB 7096 By the Committee on Judiciary 590-03710-19 20197096__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to constitutional amendments; amending 3 s. 100.371, F.S.; requiring a compensated petition 4 gatherer to register with the Secretary of State and 5 to attest that he or she is a Florida resident for a 6 specified period before obtaining signatures on 7 petition forms; requiring the Secretary of State to 8 maintain a searchable database of such forms; revising 9 requirements regarding the supervisor of elections’ 10 determination of a petition form’s validity; 11 authorizing interested persons to submit position 12 statements on initiatives for publication on the 13 Department of State’s website; extending the timeframe 14 for the Financial Impact Estimating Conference to 15 complete its analysis of an initiative; requiring the 16 analysis to summarize the impact to the state and 17 local economies; requiring each supervisor to include 18 a copy of the summary in the publication or mailing of 19 a sample ballot; amending s. 101.161, F.S.; requiring 20 the name of the sponsor of an initiative to appear on 21 the ballot with the percentage of donations received 22 from certain in-state donors; defining the term 23 “person”; requiring a statement to appear on the 24 ballot if the amendment is estimated to increase 25 costs, decrease revenues, or have an indeterminate 26 economic impact; amending s. 101.171, F.S.; requiring 27 a copy of proposed amendments be provided in each 28 voting booth; creating s. 104.186, F.S.; prohibiting 29 compensation for initiative petition gatherers or 30 entities based on the number of petitions gathered; 31 providing a penalty; invalidating petitions that are 32 unlawfully gathered; providing for application; 33 providing effective dates. 34 35 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 36 37 Section 1. Present subsection (3) of section 100.371, 38 Florida Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (4), present 39 subsections (4) through (7) of that section are renumbered as 40 subsections (6) through (9), respectively, new subsections (3) 41 and (5) are added to that section, and present subsection (3), 42 paragraphs (a) and (e) of present subsection (5), and present 43 subsection (6) of that section are amended, to read: 44 100.371 Initiatives; procedure for placement on ballot.— 45 (3) Before obtaining signatures for compensation, a 46 petition gatherer must register with the Secretary of State on a 47 form prepared by the secretary. The registrant must provide his 48 or her name, date of birth, residential address, and attestation 49 that he or she has been a Florida resident for at least 29 days 50 before submitting the registration form. The secretary shall 51 maintain a searchable database of registered petition 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 not 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 (7)(a)(5)(a)Within 6045days after receipt of a proposed 95 revision or amendment to the State Constitution by initiative 96 petition from the Secretary of State, the Financial Impact 97 Estimating Conference shall complete an analysis and financial 98 impact statement to be placed on the ballot of the estimated 99 increase or decrease in any revenues or costs to state or local 100 governments and the estimated economic impact on both the state 101 and local economies resulting from the proposed initiative. The 102 Financial Impact Estimating Conference shall submit the 103 financial impact statement to the Attorney General and Secretary 104 of State. 105 (e)1. Any financial impact statement that the Supreme Court 106 finds not to be in accordance with this subsection shall be 107 remanded solely to the Financial Impact Estimating Conference 108 for redrafting, provided the court’s advisory opinion is 109 rendered at least 75 days before the election at which the 110 question of ratifying the amendment will be presented. The 111 Financial Impact Estimating Conference shall prepare and adopt a 112 revised financial impact statement no later than 5 p.m. on the 113 15th day after the date of the court’s opinion. 114 2. If, by 5 p.m. on the 75th day before the election, the 115 Supreme Court has not issued an advisory opinion on the initial 116 financial impact statement prepared by the Financial Impact 117 Estimating Conference for an initiative amendment that otherwise 118 meets the legal requirements for ballot placement, the financial 119 impact statement shall be deemed approved for placement on the 120 ballot. 121 3. In addition to the financial impact statement required 122 by this subsection, the Financial Impact Estimating Conference 123 shall draft an initiative financial information statement. The 124 initiative financial information statement should describe in 125 greater detail than the financial impact statement any projected 126 increase or decrease in revenues or costs that the state or 127 local governments would likely experience and the estimated 128 economic impact on both the state and local economies if the 129 ballot measure were approved. If appropriate, the initiative 130 financial information statement may include both estimated 131 dollar amounts and a description placing the estimated dollar 132 amounts into context. The initiative financial information 133 statement must include both a summary of not more than 500 words 134 and additional detailed information that includes the 135 assumptions that were made to develop the financial impacts, 136 workpapers, and any other information deemed relevant by the 137 Financial Impact Estimating Conference. 138 4. The Department of State shall have printed, and shall 139 furnish to each supervisor of elections, a copy of the summary 140 from the initiative financial information statements. The 141 supervisors shall have the summary from the initiative financial 142 information statements available at each polling place and at 143 the main office of the supervisor of elections upon request. 144 5. The Secretary of State and the Office of Economic and 145 Demographic Research shall make available on the Internet each 146 initiative financial information statement in its entirety. In 147 addition, each supervisor of elections whose office has a 148 website shall post the summary from each initiative financial 149 information statement on the website. Each supervisor shall 150 include a copy of each summary from the initiative financial 151 information statements and the Internet addresses for the 152 information statements on the Secretary of State’s and the 153 Office of Economic and Demographic Research’s websites in the 154 publication or mailing required by s. 101.20. 155 (8)(6)The Department of State may adopt rules in 156 accordance with s. 120.54 to carry out the provisions of 157 subsections (1)-(7)(1)-(5). 158 Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 101.161, Florida 159 Statutes, is amended to read: 160 101.161 Referenda; ballots.— 161 (1) Whenever a constitutional amendment or other public 162 measure is submitted to the vote of the people, a ballot summary 163 of such amendment or other public measure shall be printed in 164 clear and unambiguous language on the ballot after the list of 165 candidates, followed by the word “yes” and also by the word 166 “no,” and shall be styled in such a manner that a “yes” vote 167 will indicate approval of the proposal and a “no” vote will 168 indicate rejection. The ballot summary of the amendment or other 169 public measure and the ballot title to appear on the ballot 170 shall be embodied in the constitutional revision commission 171 proposal, constitutional convention proposal, taxation and 172 budget reform commission proposal, or enabling resolution or 173 ordinance. The ballot summary of the amendment or other public 174 measure shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75 175 words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure. In 176 addition, for every amendment proposed by initiative, the ballot 177 shall include, following the ballot summary, in the following 178 order:,179 (a) The name of the initiative’s sponsor and the percentage 180 of total contributions obtained by the sponsor from in-state 181 persons. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “person” 182 has the same meaning as provided in s. 106.011(14), except that 183 the term does not include a political party, an affiliated party 184 committee, or a political committee. 185 (b) A separate financial impact statement concerning the 186 measure prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference 187 in accordance with s. 100.371(7)s. 100.371(5). 188 (c) If the financial impact statement estimates increased 189 costs or decreased revenues, a range that includes increased 190 costs or decreased revenues, or an indeterminate economic impact 191 a statement in bold print describing the impact of the 192 initiative on both the state and local economies. 193 194 The ballot title shall consist of a caption, not exceeding 15 195 words in length, by which the measure is commonly referred to or 196 spoken of. This subsection does not apply to constitutional 197 amendments or revisions proposed by joint resolution. 198 Section 3. Section 101.171, Florida Statutes, is amended to 199 read: 200 101.171 Copy of constitutional amendment to be available at 201 voting locations.—Whenever any amendment to the State 202 Constitution is to be voted upon at any election, the Department 203 of State shall have printed and shall furnish to each supervisor 204 of elections a sufficient number of copies of the amendment 205 either in poster or booklet form, and the supervisor shall have 206 a copy thereof conspicuously posted or available at each voting 207 boothpolling room or early voting area upon the day of208election. 209 Section 4. Effective 41 days after the effective date of 210 this act, section 104.186, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 211 104.186 Initiative petitions; prohibition on compensation 212 based on the number of petitions gathered.—A person who 213 compensates an initiative petition gatherer or entity based on 214 the number of petitions gathered commits a misdemeanor of the 215 first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 216 775.083. A petition gathered in violation of this section is 217 void. 218 Section 5. The provisions of this act apply to all 219 revisions or amendments to the State Constitution by initiative 220 which are proposed for the 2020 election ballot; however, this 221 act does not affect the validity of any petition gathered before 222 or within 40 days after this act’s effective date. 223 Section 6. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this 224 act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law.