Florida Senate - 2019                                    SJR 422
       
       
        
       By Senator Cruz
       
       
       
       
       
       18-00498-19                                            2019422__
    1                       Senate Joint Resolution                     
    2         A joint resolution proposing amendments to Sections 3
    3         and 4 of Article IV and Section 2 of Article IX and
    4         the creation of a new section in Article XII of the
    5         State Constitution to provide for the election of the
    6         Commissioner of Education and his or her inclusion as
    7         a member of the Cabinet and the State Board of
    8         Education.
    9          
   10  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         That the following amendments to Sections 3 and 4 of
   13  Article IV and Section 2 of Article IX and the creation of a new
   14  section in Article XII of the State Constitution are agreed to
   15  and shall be submitted to the electors of this state for
   16  approval or rejection at the next general election or at an
   17  earlier special election specifically authorized by law for that
   18  purpose:
   19                             ARTICLE IV                            
   20                              EXECUTIVE                            
   21         SECTION 3. Succession to office of governor; acting
   22  governor.—
   23         (a) Upon vacancy in the office of governor, the lieutenant
   24  governor shall become governor. Further succession to the office
   25  of governor shall be prescribed by law. A successor shall serve
   26  for the remainder of the term.
   27         (b) Upon impeachment of the governor and until completion
   28  of trial thereof, or during the governor’s physical or mental
   29  incapacity, the lieutenant governor shall act as governor.
   30  Further succession as acting governor shall be prescribed by
   31  law. Incapacity to serve as governor may be determined by the
   32  supreme court upon due notice after docketing of a written
   33  suggestion thereof by four three cabinet members, and in such
   34  case restoration of capacity shall be similarly determined after
   35  docketing of written suggestion thereof by the governor, the
   36  legislature, or four three cabinet members. Incapacity to serve
   37  as governor may also be established by certificate filed with
   38  the custodian of state records by the governor declaring
   39  incapacity for physical reasons to serve as governor, and in
   40  such case restoration of capacity shall be similarly
   41  established.
   42         SECTION 4. Cabinet.—
   43         (a) There shall be a cabinet composed of an attorney
   44  general, a chief financial officer, and a commissioner of
   45  agriculture, and a commissioner of education. In addition to the
   46  powers and duties specified herein, they shall exercise such
   47  powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed by law. In
   48  the event of a tie vote of the governor and cabinet, the side on
   49  which the governor voted shall be deemed to prevail.
   50         (b) The attorney general shall be the chief state legal
   51  officer. There is created in the office of the attorney general
   52  the position of statewide prosecutor. The statewide prosecutor
   53  shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the state attorneys to
   54  prosecute violations of criminal laws occurring or having
   55  occurred, in two or more judicial circuits as part of a related
   56  transaction, or when any such offense is affecting or has
   57  affected two or more judicial circuits as provided by general
   58  law. The statewide prosecutor shall be appointed by the attorney
   59  general from not less than three persons nominated by the
   60  judicial nominating commission for the supreme court, or as
   61  otherwise provided by general law.
   62         (c) The chief financial officer shall serve as the chief
   63  fiscal officer of the state, and shall settle and approve
   64  accounts against the state, and shall keep all state funds and
   65  securities.
   66         (d) The commissioner of agriculture shall have supervision
   67  of matters pertaining to agriculture except as otherwise
   68  provided by law.
   69         (e) The commissioner of education shall be the chief
   70  educational officer of the state and the sole custodian of the
   71  K-20 data warehouse, and shall be responsible for giving full
   72  assistance to the state board of education in enforcing
   73  compliance with the mission and goals of the K-20 education
   74  system, except for the state university system.
   75         (f) The governor as chair, the chief financial officer, and
   76  the attorney general shall constitute the state board of
   77  administration, which shall succeed to all the power, control,
   78  and authority of the state board of administration established
   79  pursuant to Article IX, Section 16 of the Constitution of 1885,
   80  and which shall continue as a body at least for the life of
   81  Article XII, Section 9(c).
   82         (g)(f) The governor as chair, the chief financial officer,
   83  the attorney general, and the commissioner of agriculture, and
   84  the commissioner of education shall constitute the trustees of
   85  the internal improvement trust fund and the land acquisition
   86  trust fund as provided by law.
   87         (h)(g) The governor as chair, the chief financial officer,
   88  the attorney general, and the commissioner of agriculture, and
   89  the commissioner of education shall constitute the agency head
   90  of the Department of Law Enforcement. The Office of Domestic
   91  Security and Counterterrorism is created within the Department
   92  of Law Enforcement. The Office of Domestic Security and
   93  Counterterrorism shall provide support for prosecutors and
   94  federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies that
   95  investigate or analyze information relating to attempts or acts
   96  of terrorism or that prosecute terrorism, and shall perform any
   97  other duties that are provided by law.
   98                             ARTICLE IX                            
   99                              EDUCATION                            
  100         SECTION 2. State board of education.—The state board of
  101  education shall be a body corporate and have such supervision of
  102  the system of free public education as is provided by law. The
  103  state board of education shall consist of the commissioner of
  104  education, who shall serve as chair, and seven members appointed
  105  by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate, to
  106  staggered 4-year terms. In the event of a tie vote of the state
  107  board of education, the side on which the commissioner of
  108  education voted shall be deemed to prevail, subject to
  109  confirmation by the senate. The state board of education shall
  110  appoint the commissioner of education.
  111                             ARTICLE XII                           
  112                              SCHEDULE                             
  113         Reorganization of the cabinet and the state board of
  114  education.—
  115         (a)The amendments to Sections 3 and 4 of Article IV and
  116  Section 2 of Article IX relating to the inclusion of the
  117  commissioner of education as a member of the cabinet and the
  118  state board of education shall take effect June 1, 2021. For the
  119  term beginning June 1, 2021, and continuing through January 3,
  120  2023, the commissioner of education shall be appointed by the
  121  governor, subject to confirmation by the senate. The
  122  commissioner of education must be an elector of at least 30
  123  years of age who has resided in the state for the preceding
  124  seven years at the time of the governor’s appointment. Beginning
  125  with the 2022 statewide general election and every four years
  126  thereafter, the office of the commissioner of education shall be
  127  filled by election in conformance with Article IV, Section 5(a).
  128         (b)By June 1, 2021, the legislature shall enact
  129  implementing legislation that includes any conforming changes to
  130  the Florida Statutes necessitated by the reorganization of the
  131  cabinet and the state board of education.
  132         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
  133  placed on the ballot:
  134                      CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT                     
  135                    ARTICLE IV, SECTIONS 3 AND 4                   
  136                        ARTICLE IX, SECTION 2                      
  137                      ARTICLE XII, NEW SECTION                     
  138         ELECTION OF COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION; MEMBERSHIP OF
  139  CABINET AND STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.—Revising membership of the
  140  Cabinet and the State Board of Education, effective June 1,
  141  2021, to include the Commissioner of Education, whom the
  142  Governor shall appoint, subject to Senate confirmation, for a
  143  term ending January 3, 2023; and thereafter providing for
  144  statewide election of the commissioner beginning in 2022.
  145  Currently, the commissioner is appointed by, and serves at the
  146  pleasure of, the State Board of Education and is not a Cabinet
  147  or state board member.