Florida Senate - 2019 PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
Bill No. SB 7096
Ì318826@Î318826
576-04108-19
Proposed Committee Substitute by the Committee on Appropriations
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to constitutional amendments; amending
3 s. 100.371, F.S.; requiring a compensated petition
4 gatherer to register with the Secretary of State and
5 to attest that he or she has been a Florida resident
6 for a specified period and that he or she has not been
7 convicted or found guilty of a crime involving fraud,
8 dishonesty, or deceit; requiring the Secretary of
9 State to maintain a searchable database of such forms;
10 revising requirements regarding the supervisor of
11 elections’ determination of a petition form’s
12 validity; authorizing interested persons to submit
13 position statements on initiatives for publication on
14 the Department of State’s website; extending the
15 timeframe for the Financial Impact Estimating
16 Conference to complete its analysis of an initiative;
17 requiring the analysis to summarize the impact to the
18 state and local economies; requiring each supervisor
19 to include a copy of the summary in the publication or
20 mailing of a sample ballot; amending s. 101.161, F.S.;
21 requiring the name of the sponsor of an initiative to
22 appear on the ballot with the percentage of donations
23 received from certain in-state donors; defining the
24 term “person”; requiring a statement to appear on the
25 ballot if the amendment is estimated to increase
26 costs, decrease revenues, or have an indeterminate
27 economic impact; amending s. 101.171, F.S.; requiring
28 a copy of proposed amendments be provided in each
29 voting booth; creating s. 104.186, F.S.; prohibiting
30 compensation for initiative petition gatherers or
31 entities based on the number of petitions gathered;
32 providing a penalty; invalidating petitions that are
33 unlawfully gathered; providing for application;
34 providing effective dates.
35
36 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
37
38 Section 1. Present subsection (3) of section 100.371,
39 Florida Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (4), present
40 subsections (4) through (7) of that section are renumbered as
41 subsections (6) through (9), respectively, new subsections (3)
42 and (5) are added to that section, and present subsection (3),
43 paragraphs (a) and (e) of present subsection (5), and present
44 subsection (6) of that section are amended, to read:
45 100.371 Initiatives; procedure for placement on ballot.—
46 (3)(a) Before obtaining signatures for compensation, a
47 petition gatherer must register with the Secretary of State on a
48 form prepared by the secretary. To register, the registrant must
49 provide:
50 1. His or her name, date of birth, and residential address.
51 2. An attestation that he or she has been a Florida
52 resident for at least the preceding 29 days.
53 3. An attestation that he or she has not been convicted or
54 found guilty of, regardless of adjudication to, a felony in this
55 state or any other state or of the United States of a crime
56 involving fraud, dishonesty, or deceit.
57 (b) The secretary shall maintain a searchable database of
58 registered petition gatherers.
59 (4) An initiative petition form circulated for signature
60 may not be bundled with or attached to any other petition. Each
61 signature shall be dated when made and shall be valid for a
62 period of 2 years following such date, provided all other
63 requirements of law are met. The sponsor shall submit signed and
64 dated forms to the supervisor of elections for the county of
65 residence listed by the person signing the form for verification
66 of the number of valid signatures obtained. If a signature on a
67 petition is from a registered voter in another county, the
68 supervisor shall notify the petition sponsor of the misfiled
69 petition. The supervisor shall promptly verify the signatures
70 within 30 days after receipt of the petition forms and payment
71 of the fee required by s. 99.097. The supervisor shall promptly
72 record, in the manner prescribed by the Secretary of State, the
73 date each form is received by the supervisor, and the date the
74 signature on the form is verified as valid. The supervisor may
75 verify that the signature on a form is valid only if:
76 (a) The form contains the original signature of the
77 purported elector.
78 (b) The purported elector has accurately recorded on the
79 form the date on which he or she signed the form.
80 (c) The form sets forth the purported elector’s name,
81 address, city, county, and voter registration number or date of
82 birth.
83 (d) The purported elector is, at the time he or she signs
84 the form and at the time the form is verified, a duly qualified
85 and registered elector in the state.
86 (e) The petition gatherer who collected the petition is
87 registered with the Secretary of State under subsection (3).
88
89 The supervisor shall retain the signature forms for at least 1
90 year following the election in which the issue appeared on the
91 ballot or until the Division of Elections notifies the
92 supervisors of elections that the committee that circulated the
93 petition is no longer seeking to obtain ballot position.
94 (5) Upon determining that a constitutional amendment
95 proposed by initiative has met the requirements to be placed on
96 the ballot, the Secretary of State shall allow any interested
97 person to file a position statement of not more than 50 words
98 outlining why the person supports or opposes the amendment. The
99 secretary shall publish each position statement on the webpage
100 for constitutional amendments on the department’s website.
101 (7)(a)(5)(a) Within 60 45 days after receipt of a proposed
102 revision or amendment to the State Constitution by initiative
103 petition from the Secretary of State, the Financial Impact
104 Estimating Conference shall complete an analysis and financial
105 impact statement to be placed on the ballot of the estimated
106 increase or decrease in any revenues or costs to state or local
107 governments and the estimated economic impact on both the state
108 and local economies resulting from the proposed initiative. The
109 Financial Impact Estimating Conference shall submit the
110 financial impact statement to the Attorney General and Secretary
111 of State.
112 (e)1. Any financial impact statement that the Supreme Court
113 finds not to be in accordance with this subsection shall be
114 remanded solely to the Financial Impact Estimating Conference
115 for redrafting, provided the court’s advisory opinion is
116 rendered at least 75 days before the election at which the
117 question of ratifying the amendment will be presented. The
118 Financial Impact Estimating Conference shall prepare and adopt a
119 revised financial impact statement no later than 5 p.m. on the
120 15th day after the date of the court’s opinion.
121 2. If, by 5 p.m. on the 75th day before the election, the
122 Supreme Court has not issued an advisory opinion on the initial
123 financial impact statement prepared by the Financial Impact
124 Estimating Conference for an initiative amendment that otherwise
125 meets the legal requirements for ballot placement, the financial
126 impact statement shall be deemed approved for placement on the
127 ballot.
128 3. In addition to the financial impact statement required
129 by this subsection, the Financial Impact Estimating Conference
130 shall draft an initiative financial information statement. The
131 initiative financial information statement should describe in
132 greater detail than the financial impact statement any projected
133 increase or decrease in revenues or costs that the state or
134 local governments would likely experience and the estimated
135 economic impact on both the state and local economies if the
136 ballot measure were approved. If appropriate, the initiative
137 financial information statement may include both estimated
138 dollar amounts and a description placing the estimated dollar
139 amounts into context. The initiative financial information
140 statement must include both a summary of not more than 500 words
141 and additional detailed information that includes the
142 assumptions that were made to develop the financial impacts,
143 workpapers, and any other information deemed relevant by the
144 Financial Impact Estimating Conference.
145 4. The Department of State shall have printed, and shall
146 furnish to each supervisor of elections, a copy of the summary
147 from the initiative financial information statements. The
148 supervisors shall have the summary from the initiative financial
149 information statements available at each polling place and at
150 the main office of the supervisor of elections upon request.
151 5. The Secretary of State and the Office of Economic and
152 Demographic Research shall make available on the Internet each
153 initiative financial information statement in its entirety. In
154 addition, each supervisor of elections whose office has a
155 website shall post the summary from each initiative financial
156 information statement on the website. Each supervisor shall
157 include a copy of each summary from the initiative financial
158 information statements and the Internet addresses for the
159 information statements on the Secretary of State’s and the
160 Office of Economic and Demographic Research’s websites in the
161 publication or mailing required by s. 101.20.
162 (8)(6) The Department of State may adopt rules in
163 accordance with s. 120.54 to carry out the provisions of
164 subsections (1)-(7) (1)-(5).
165 Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 101.161, Florida
166 Statutes, is amended to read:
167 101.161 Referenda; ballots.—
168 (1) Whenever a constitutional amendment or other public
169 measure is submitted to the vote of the people, a ballot summary
170 of such amendment or other public measure shall be printed in
171 clear and unambiguous language on the ballot after the list of
172 candidates, followed by the word “yes” and also by the word
173 “no,” and shall be styled in such a manner that a “yes” vote
174 will indicate approval of the proposal and a “no” vote will
175 indicate rejection. The ballot summary of the amendment or other
176 public measure and the ballot title to appear on the ballot
177 shall be embodied in the constitutional revision commission
178 proposal, constitutional convention proposal, taxation and
179 budget reform commission proposal, or enabling resolution or
180 ordinance. The ballot summary of the amendment or other public
181 measure shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75
182 words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure. In
183 addition, for every amendment proposed by initiative, the ballot
184 shall include, following the ballot summary, in the following
185 order:,
186 (a) The name of the initiative’s sponsor and the percentage
187 of total contributions obtained by the sponsor from in-state
188 persons. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “person”
189 has the same meaning as provided in s. 106.011(14), except that
190 the term does not include a political party, an affiliated party
191 committee, or a political committee.
192 (b) A separate financial impact statement concerning the
193 measure prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference
194 in accordance with s. 100.371(7) s. 100.371(5).
195 (c) If the financial impact statement estimates increased
196 costs or decreased revenues, a range that includes increased
197 costs or decreased revenues, or an indeterminate economic impact
198 a statement in bold print describing the impact of the
199 initiative on both the state and local economies.
200
201 The ballot title shall consist of a caption, not exceeding 15
202 words in length, by which the measure is commonly referred to or
203 spoken of. This subsection does not apply to constitutional
204 amendments or revisions proposed by joint resolution.
205 Section 3. Section 101.171, Florida Statutes, is amended to
206 read:
207 101.171 Copy of constitutional amendment to be available at
208 voting locations.—Whenever any amendment to the State
209 Constitution is to be voted upon at any election, the Department
210 of State shall have printed and shall furnish to each supervisor
211 of elections a sufficient number of copies of the amendment
212 either in poster or booklet form, and the supervisor shall have
213 a copy thereof conspicuously posted or available at each voting
214 booth polling room or early voting area upon the day of
215 election.
216 Section 4. Effective 41 days after the effective date of
217 this act, section 104.186, Florida Statutes, is created to read:
218 104.186 Initiative petitions; prohibition on compensation
219 based on the number of petitions gathered.—A person who
220 compensates an initiative petition gatherer or entity based on
221 the number of petitions gathered commits a misdemeanor of the
222 first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
223 775.083. A petition gathered in violation of this section is
224 void.
225 Section 5. The provisions of this act apply to all
226 revisions or amendments to the State Constitution by initiative
227 which are proposed for the 2020 election ballot; however, this
228 act does not affect the validity of any petition gathered before
229 or within 40 days after this act’s effective date.
230 Section 6. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
231 act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law.