What does Florida Amendment 1 Mean? (General Election 2020)

Florida Amendment 1 General Election 2020 - blog post 2
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Florida Amendment 1 for the 2020 General Election is a confusing one despite it’s simplicity and apparent straightforwardness.

Florida Amendment 1 – Citizenship Requirement to Vote in Florida Elections – on 2020 General Election ballots reads:

“This amendment provides that only United States Citizens who are at least eighteen years of age, a permanent resident of Florida, and registered to vote, as provided by law, shall be qualified to vote in a Florida election. Because the proposed amendment is not expected to result in any changes to the voter registration process in Florida, it will have no impact on state or local government costs or revenue. Further, it will have no effect on the state’s economy.”

A laymen’s breakdown of Florida Amendment 1 on the 2020 General Election Ballot

Amendment 1 seeks to replace one word in the Florida Constitution. The Florida Constitution currently states that “every” citizen of the U.S. who is 18 years old or older, a permanent resident of Florida, and registered to vote can vote in Florida. This amendment proposes changing “every” to “only a.”

The change would have no functional or financial effect on the state.

Amendment 1 sponsors say they want to ensure that elections “are preserved for committed citizens of the United States” and that non-citizens are prevented from voting now and in the future.

This amendment doesn’t change anything. At first glance, one might be concerned that this change is needed because there had been an problem with non-U.S. residents being able to vote in Florida elections, and, therefore, a clarification in the Florida constitution was necessary to stop this from happening in the future.

However, this is not the case. In 2012, then Florida Governor Rick Scott wanted to purge Florida’s voter lists of noncitizens, something he deemed to be an issue plaguing the state. Out of 12 million registered, active voters in Florida, officials who conducted the report claimed to have found 180,000 potential noncitizens. After additional reviews which uncovered significant errors, only 85 names were removed from the rolls as alleged noncitizens (that’s 85 out of 12 million registered, active voters), and only one person was convicted of fraud.

RELATED ARTICLE: Non-citizens can’t vote in Florida. So why is this group trying to ban it…again? | Tampa Bay Times

Florida Amendment 1 General Election 2020 - blog post

Who is behind the efforts to pass Florida Amendment 1 in the 2020 General Election?

Florida Citizen Voters (a political action committee) sponsored this initiative. The committee is supported by Citizen Voters, Inc., a Florida-based nonprofit organization founded by John Loudon, a former state lawmaker from Missouri and former policy advisor for America First Policies.

As of September 2020, Citizen Voters, Inc. had contributed $8.3 million to support efforts to promote and encourage the passage of Amendment 1. Citizen Voters hasn’t reported where it got its money, raising even more red flags about the motivations behind such a seemingly useless Amendment to the Florida constitution.

The League of Women Voters of Florida oppose the amendment and encourage voters to vote “NO” on Amendment 1, as it would make no substantive change to the Florida constitution.

RELATED ARTICLE: Vote no on Amendment No. 1, which has no clear purpose but lots of dark money backing | Orlando Sentinel

In summary, here’s a breakdown of what it means if you vote “yes” or “no” on Florida Amendment 1 in the 2020 General Election:

  • YES vote = You support amending the Florida Constitution to state that “only a citizen” of the U.S. who is 18 years old or older can vote in Florida
  • NO vote = You oppose amending the Florida Constitution, and are in favor of keeping the existing language that says “every citizen” of the U.S. who is 18 years old or older can vote in Florida.

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Florida Amendment 1 - Citizen Requirement for Voting Initiative

Amendment Sponsor: Florida Citizen Voters

Wording on the Ballot:

This amendment provides that only United States Citizens who are at least eighteen years of age, a permanent resident of Florida, and registered to vote, as provided by law, shall be qualified to vote in a Florida election.

Because the proposed amendment is not expected to result in any changes to the voter registration process in Florida, it will have no impact on state or local government costs or revenue. Further, it will have no effect on the state’s economy.

Summary (in laymen's terms):

Amendment 1 seeks to replace one word in the Florida Constitution. The Florida Constitution currently states that “every” citizen of the U.S. who is 18 years old or older, a permanent resident of Florida, and registered to vote can vote in Florida. This amendment proposes changing “every” to “only a.”

The change would have no functional or financial effect on the state.

  • YES vote = You support amending the Florida Constitution to state that “only a citizen” of the U.S. who is 18 years old or older can vote in Florida
  • NO vote = You oppose amending the Florida Constitution, and are in favor of keeping the existing language that says “every citizen” of the U.S. who is 18 years old or older can vote in Florida.

Florida Amendment 2 - Abolishing the Constitution Revision Commission

Amendment Sponsor: Florida Legislature

Wording on the Ballot:

Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to abolish the Constitution Revision Commission, which meets at 20-year intervals and is scheduled to next convene in 2037, as a method of submitting proposed amendments or revisions to the State Constitution to electors of the state for approval. This amendment does not affect the ability to revise or amend the State Constitution through citizen initiative, constitutional convention, the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, or legislative joint resolution.

Summary (from the League of Women Voters FL):

An amendment to Florida’s Constitution can get on the ballot several ways, including through a vote by the Legislature, a citizen-led petition drive, constitutional convention, the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission and the Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC), which convenes every 20 years and whose 37 members are appointed by the governor, legislative leaders and the chief justice of the Florida Supreme court. This amendment would abolish the CRC, which last convened in 2017-18 and placed eight amendments on the 2018 ballot, several of which bundled different amendments into one question.

A YES vote would:

Eliminate the Constitution Revision Commission, which was created in 1968 and meets every 20 years to consider changes to the state Constitution.

Leaves four ways for a constitutional amendment to get on the ballot: through the Legislature, a citizen-led initiative, constitutional convention, or the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission.

A NO vote would:

Preserve the state’s Constitution Revision Commission and its ability to present amendments to the voters every 20 years.

Florida Amendment 3 - Additional Homestead Property Tax Exemption for Specified Critical Public Service Workforce

Amendment Sponsor: Florida Legislature

Wording on the Ballot:

Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to authorize the Legislature, by general law, to grant an additional homestead tax exemption for nonschool levies of up to $50,000 of the assessed value of homestead property owned by classroom teachers, law enforcement officers, correctional officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, child welfare services professionals, active duty members of the United States Armed Forces, and Florida National Guard members. This amendment shall take effect January 1, 2023.

Summary (from the League of Women Voters FL):

This amendment would authorize the state Legislature to create a new homestead exemption of up to $50,000 for certain public service employees, including “classroom teachers, law enforcement officers, correctional officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, child welfare services professionals, active duty members of the United States Armed Forces, and members of the Florida National Guard.” The exemption means property owners in these professions can subtract $50,000 from the assessed value of their property, which will reduce their local property tax bills. The exemption would be in addition to the standard $50,000 homestead exemptions Floridians already receive on their primary residence. The new exemption would not apply to assessments for school taxes. The Legislature has already passed a companion bill that, if the constitutional amendment is passed by 60% of Florida’s voters, will create the new exemption and make it effective on Jan. 1, 2023.

A Yes vote would:

  • Allow the Legislature to create a new homestead exemption up to $50,000.
  • Exclude the exemption from assessments for school property taxes.
  • Cost local governments $85.9 million in lost revenue for fiscal year 2023-24, growing to $96 million in fiscal year 2026-27. The state would make up for the losses in Florida’s 29 “fiscally constrained” counties, primarily rural counties in the Panhandle and South Florida’s interior.
  • Trigger a companion bill that puts the new exemption into effect as of Jan. 1, 2023.


A No vote would:

  • Reject giving lawmakers the ability to create a new homestead exemption for certain public service occupations up to $50,000.
  • Have no effect on property tax revenue collected by local governments.
  • Render moot the bill that would have created the new homestead exemption if the amendment had passed.

Florida Amendment 4 - Voter Approval of Constitutional Amendments

Wording on the Ballot:

Requires all proposed amendments or revisions to the state constitution to be approved by the voters in two elections,
instead of one, in order to take effect. The proposal applies the current thresholds for passage to each of the two elections.

It is probable that the proposed amendment will result in additional state and local government costs to conduct elections in Florida. Overall, these costs will vary from election cycle to election cycle depending on the unique circumstances of each ballot and cannot be estimated at this time. The key factors determining cost include the number of amendments appearing for the second time on each ballot and the length of those amendments. Since the maximum state cost is likely less than $1 million per cycle but the impact cannot be discretely quantified, the change to the state’s budget is unknown. Similarly, the economic impact cannot be modelled, although the spending increase is expected to be below the threshold that would
produce a statewide economic impact. Because there are no revenues linked to voting in Florida, there will be no impact on
government taxes or fees.

THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THIS AMENDMENT CANNOT BE DETERMINED DUE TO AMBIGUITIES AND UNCERTAINTIES SURROUNDING THE AMENDMENT’S IMPACT.

News Coverage of the amendment:

Summary (in laymen's terms):

Requires voter-approved constitutional amendments to be approved by voters at a second general election

Summary: Amendment 4 seeks to require that all proposed amendments and revisions to the Florida constitution be voted on and approved by 60% of voters in two consecutive general elections in order to pass. The current process allows an amendment to become part of the constitution after reaching 60% approval in one general election.

  • YES vote = You support requiring voter-approved constitutional amendments to be approved by voters at a second consecutive general election to become effective.
  • NO vote = You oppose requiring voter-approved constitutional amendments to be approved by voters at a second consecutive general election to become effective.


If this passes…

  • Voters’ ability to amend our constitution and act as a check on the state legislature when it fails to act in the best interest of Floridians will be significantly limited
  • Corporations and special interest groups that are well-funded will have second chances to defeat amendments that initially pass (with 60% of the vote)
  • Citizen initiatives will require significantly more time and money investments in order to successfully pass voter-led initiatives


Supporters:
Keep Our Constitution Clean, Florida Chamber of Commerce

Opponents: Southern Poverty Law Center, Common Cause, The League of Women Voters of Florida, ACLU, AFL-CIO, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Service Employees International Union, New Florida Majority, Florida Civic Engagement Table, Organize Florida, Florida Immigrant Coalition

Orange County - Rent Stabilization Ordinance

Wording on the Ballot:

Shall the Orange County Rent Stabilization Ordinance, which limits rent increases for certain residential rental units in multifamily structures to the average annual increase in the Consumer Price Index, and requires the
County to create a process for landlords to request an exception to the limitation on the rent increase based on an opportunity to receive a fair and reasonable return on investment, be approved for a period of one
year?

Summary (in laymen's terms):

If passed, the rent stabilization measure would cap many rents in the county to the rise in the consumer price index for one year. 

Orange County - Transportation System Surtax

Wording on the Ballot:

Shall a Charter County and Regional Transportation System Surtax at the rate of one percent (1%) be levied in Orange County, Florida for a period of 20 years with
revenue deposited into a trust fund dedicated exclusively to transportation and transit improvement uses authorized by law, with oversight and accountability for the revenue provided by a citizen oversight board and the elected comptroller, as approved by the Board of County Commissioners?

Summary (in laymen's terms):

Orange County is proposing a one-cent sales tax dedicated to transportation projects, infrastructure, technology, transit, and safety. The proposed surtax is projected to generate $600 million annually in County revenues, representing $11.9 billion over 20 years.