Florida Amendments on the ballot

In Florida, constitutional amendments require 60% of the vote to pass.

By Tami Stevenson

AMENDMENT 1 - PARTISAN ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARDS

Vote “yes” if you want school board members to be transparent about their political party affiliations. Vote “no” if you are satisfied with non-partisan candidates.

     Florida historically held partisan school-board elections until 1998.

AMENDMENT 2 - RIGHT TO FISH AND HUNT

An Amendment to “preserve forever fishing and hunting, including by the use of traditional methods, as a public right and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife.”

AMENDMENT 3 - MARIJUANA

Medical marijuana was adopted by Florida voters in 2016 by a vote of 71% to 29%.

     If Amendment 3 passes, private citizens in Florida, 21 years and older, would be allowed to possess up to three ounces of marijuana (about 85 grams), with up to five grams in the form of concentrate for recreational use.

     If passed, this amendment would become effective six months after approval by the voters.

AMENDMENT 4 - Abortion

This Amendment is probably the most controversial among the 2024 Amendments. The bill states, in part, “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.”

     Pro-life opposers are saying even full-term pregnancies could be aborted for any reason. Amendment 4 pretends to ‘just bring things back to how they were with Roe vs. Wade– but it actually goes much further – allowing for abortion throughout all 9 months of pregnancy with no protections for the unborn baby.

AMENDMENT 5 - ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS TO HOMESTEAD EXEMPTIONS

For homeowners, if passed, annual adjustment for inflation would lead to adjusting part of the homestead property- tax exemption for inflation, which could lead to a slightly larger tax break.

AMENDMENT 6 - REPEAL OF PUBLIC CAMPAIGN FINANCING

Vote “yes” to repeal and “no” to continue taxpayer funding for political candidates.

     The public campaign financing program is funded by the General Revenue Fund. In 2022, the expenditure limit for gubernatorial candidates receiving public campaign financing was $30.29 million and the limit for cabinet candidates was $15.14 million, according to BALLOTPEDIA.

   “I think it’s absurd that anybody would be able to use taxpayer dollars for the purposes of campaigning. So those are dollars we could spend on things like education, things like healthcare, water projects, beach restoration, all of that,” said State Sen. Travis Hutson (R), amendment sponsor. 

     State Sen. Tina Polsky (D) opposed the amendment and commented that, “…it seems this would be a negative for Democratic candidates.” She claimed the Democratic Party does not have enough outside groups or special interest groups to help pay for campaigns.