BlogWood: MT Archives

Senate bill muzzles citizens

SPT:

Florida voters should consider a trio of ballot questions come August designed to make it harder for them to amend the state Constitution, the state Senate agreed Thursday.

Under the Senate plan, which still needs House approval, voters would be asked at the Aug. 31 primary election to:

Require a 60 percent vote to approve an amendment.

Force citizen initiatives to be filed by eight months before a general election, compared with 91 days now.

Give the Florida Supreme Court broader authority over citizen initiatives. The court could strike any measure that did not address current constitutional issues, government structure or basic rights.

The measures, which would be presented to voters in the form of proposed constitutional amendments, passed by wide margins, with just four or fewer negative votes in the 40-member chamber. The changes are one of Senate President Jim King's top priorities.

Petition drives seeking to change the state constitution should be limited to issues that deal with basic constitutional rights, the fundamental structure of government or existing provisions _ but those restrictions shouldn't be applied to lawmakers.

That was the position Wednesday in the state Senate, which advanced three measures designed to make it harder to change the Florida Constitution but rejected one that would make the same subject-matter limit also apply to lawmakers.