Amendment
Bill No. CS/HJR 7111
Amendment No. 337039
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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1Representative Steinberg offered the following:
2
3     Amendment (with title amendment)
4     Remove everything after the resolving clause and insert:
5     That the following amendment to Section 14 of Article V of
6the State Constitution is agreed to and shall be submitted to
7the electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next
8general election:
9
ARTICLE V
10
JUDICIARY
11     SECTION 14.  Funding.-
12     (a)  All justices and judges shall be compensated only by
13state salaries fixed by general law. Funding for the state
14courts system, state attorneys' offices, public defenders'
15offices, and court-appointed counsel, except as otherwise
16provided in subsection (c), shall be provided from state
17revenues appropriated by general law.
18     (b)  All funding for the offices of the clerks of the
19circuit and county courts performing court-related functions,
20except as otherwise provided in this subsection and subsection
21(c), shall be provided by adequate and appropriate filing fees
22for judicial proceedings and service charges and costs for
23performing court-related functions as required by general law.
24Selected salaries, costs, and expenses of the state courts
25system may be funded from appropriate filing fees for judicial
26proceedings and service charges and costs for performing court-
27related functions, as provided by general law. Where the
28requirements of either the United States Constitution or the
29Constitution of the State of Florida preclude the imposition of
30filing fees for judicial proceedings and service charges and
31costs for performing court-related functions sufficient to fund
32the court-related functions of the offices of the clerks of the
33circuit and county courts, the state shall provide, as
34determined by the legislature, adequate and appropriate
35supplemental funding from state revenues appropriated by general
36law.
37     (c)  No county or municipality, except as provided in this
38subsection, shall be required to provide any funding for the
39state courts system, state attorneys' offices, public defenders'
40offices, court-appointed counsel or the offices of the clerks of
41the circuit and county courts performing court-related
42functions. Counties shall be required to fund the cost of
43communications services, existing radio systems, existing multi-
44agency criminal justice information systems, and the cost of
45construction or lease, maintenance, utilities, and security of
46facilities for the trial courts, public defenders' offices,
47state attorneys' offices, and the offices of the clerks of the
48circuit and county courts performing court-related functions.
49Counties shall also pay reasonable and necessary salaries,
50costs, and expenses of the state courts system to meet local
51requirements as determined by general law.
52     (d)  The judiciary shall have no power to fix
53appropriations.
54     (e)  Commencing with the 2013-2014 fiscal year, the total
55appropriation of general revenue and State Courts Revenue Trust
56Fund funds to the state courts system in a fiscal year shall
57equal no less than 2.25 percent of the total general revenue
58funds appropriated in the general appropriations act for that
59fiscal year. Federal funds, grants, and funds received for the
60benefit of agencies and subdivisions not included in the state
61courts system shall not be included in the calculation of the
622.25 percent. The funds allocated to the state courts system
63shall not be reduced in any special appropriations act by an
64amount greater than the percentage reduction taken to general
65revenue funds in the act as compared to the general
66appropriations act then in effect. The funding allocated to the
67state courts system shall not be automatically reduced due to
68declines in general revenue. For purposes of this subsection,
69state courts system shall include the courts included in Section
701 of this article, including their direct administrative and
71support entities and the Judicial Qualifications Commission.
72     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
73placed on the ballot:
74
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
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ARTICLE V, SECTION 14
76     STATE COURTS.-Proposing an amendment to the State
77Constitution regarding the courts. State appropriations are made
78annually by general law. Current law does not require any
79specific level of funding for any agency or department. This
80amendment requires that the courts, including their direct
81administrative and support entities and the Judicial
82Qualifications Commission, be appropriated a minimum of 2.25
83percent of general revenue and State Courts Revenue Trust Fund
84funding beginning with the 2013-2014 fiscal year.
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T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T
89     Remove the entire title and insert:
90
House Joint Resolution
91A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 14 of
92Article V of the State Constitution to require that a specified
93minimum percentage of general revenue and State Courts Revenue
94Trust Fund funds be appropriated to the state courts system.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.