Senate Bill sb0488
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Florida Senate - 2001 SJR 488
By Senator Rossin
35-16B-01
1 Senate Joint Resolution No. ____
2 A joint resolution proposing amendments to
3 Section 15 of Article III, Section 5 of Article
4 IV, and Sections 4 and 7 of Article VI of the
5 State Constitution; revising the terms of
6 office for certain elected constitutional
7 officers; providing for staggered terms of
8 office; revising limitations on the number of
9 consecutive years during which certain elected
10 constitutional officers may hold office;
11 limiting the amount that a person or other
12 entity may contribute to a candidate for local
13 or statewide public office or to a political
14 party.
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16 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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18 That the following amendments to Section 15 of Article
19 III, Section 5 of Article IV, and Sections 4 and 7 of Article
20 VI of the State Constitution are agreed to and shall be
21 submitted to the electors of this state for approval or
22 rejection at the next general election or an earlier special
23 election specifically authorized by law for that purpose:
24 ARTICLE III
25 LEGISLATURE
26 SECTION 15. Terms and qualifications of legislators.--
27 (a) SENATORS. Senators shall be elected for terms of
28 six four years, those from odd-numbered districts in the years
29 the numbers of which are multiples of four and those from
30 even-numbered districts in even-numbered years the numbers of
31 which are not multiples of four; except, at the election next
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Florida Senate - 2001 SJR 488
35-16B-01
1 following a reapportionment, some senators shall be elected
2 for terms of two years or four years when necessary to
3 maintain staggered terms. Senators from districts the number
4 of which is a multiple of three shall be elected in each
5 even-numbered year that is a multiple of three, senators from
6 all other even-numbered districts shall be elected in the
7 second year following each even-numbered year that is a
8 multiple of three, and senators from all other odd-numbered
9 districts shall be elected in the fourth year following each
10 even-numbered year that is a multiple of three.
11 (b) REPRESENTATIVES. Members of the house of
12 representatives shall be elected for terms of four two years,
13 those from odd-numbered districts in the years the numbers of
14 which are multiples of four and those from even-numbered
15 districts in even-numbered years the numbers of which are not
16 multiples of four; except, at the election next following a
17 reapportionment, some representatives shall be elected for
18 terms of two years when necessary to maintain staggered terms
19 in each even-numbered year.
20 (c) QUALIFICATIONS. Each legislator shall be at least
21 twenty-one years of age, an elector and resident of the
22 district from which elected and shall have resided in the
23 state for a period of two years prior to election.
24 (d) ASSUMING OFFICE; VACANCIES. Members of the
25 legislature shall take office upon election. Vacancies in
26 legislative office shall be filled only by election as
27 provided by law.
28 ARTICLE IV
29 EXECUTIVE
30 SECTION 5. Election of governor, lieutenant governor
31 and cabinet members; qualifications; terms.--
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Florida Senate - 2001 SJR 488
35-16B-01
1 (a) At a state-wide general election in each calendar
2 year the number of which is even but not a multiple of four,
3 the electors shall choose a governor and a lieutenant governor
4 and members of the cabinet each for a term of four years
5 beginning on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
6 January of the succeeding year. In primary elections,
7 candidates for the office of governor may choose to run
8 without a lieutenant governor candidate. In the general
9 election, all candidates for the offices of governor and
10 lieutenant governor shall form joint candidacies in a manner
11 prescribed by law so that each voter shall cast a single vote
12 for a candidate for governor and a candidate for lieutenant
13 governor running together.
14 (b) When elected, the governor, lieutenant governor
15 and each cabinet member must be an elector not less than
16 thirty years of age who has resided in the state for the
17 preceding seven years. The attorney general must have been a
18 member of the bar of Florida for the preceding five years. No
19 person who has, or but for resignation would have, served as
20 governor or acting governor for more than twelve six years in
21 three two consecutive terms shall be elected governor for the
22 succeeding term.
23 ARTICLE VI
24 SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS
25 SECTION 4. Disqualifications.--
26 (a) No person convicted of a felony, or adjudicated in
27 this or any other state to be mentally incompetent, shall be
28 qualified to vote or hold office until restoration of civil
29 rights or removal of disability.
30 (b) No person may appear on the ballot for re-election
31 to any of the following offices:
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Florida Senate - 2001 SJR 488
35-16B-01
1 (1) Florida representative,
2 (2) Florida senator,
3 (3) Florida Lieutenant governor,
4 (4) any office of the Florida cabinet,
5 (5) U.S. Representative from Florida, or
6 (6) U.S. Senator from Florida
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8 if, by the end of the current term of office, the person will
9 have served (or, but for resignation, would have served) in
10 that office for twelve eight consecutive years.
11 SECTION 7. Campaign contribution spending limits; and
12 funding of campaigns for elective state-wide office.--
13 (a) A person or any other entity may not, directly or
14 indirectly, contribute to or expend on behalf of any one
15 candidate more than $5,000 during the course of an election,
16 which includes the first primary, any second primary, and the
17 general election. This limitation applies to any contribution
18 or expenditure made for the purpose of promoting a person's
19 nomination or election to, or retention in, a local or
20 statewide office that is filled by a vote of the electors. The
21 legislature may provide by law additional restrictions on
22 contributions or expenditures made to or on behalf of a
23 candidate for public office.
24 (b) A person or any other entity may not, directly or
25 indirectly, contribute to or expend on behalf of a political
26 party more than $5,000 during the course of an election, which
27 includes the first primary, any second primary, and the
28 general election.
29 (c) It is the policy of this state to provide for
30 state-wide elections in which all qualified candidates may
31 compete effectively. A method of public financing for
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Florida Senate - 2001 SJR 488
35-16B-01
1 campaigns for state-wide office shall be established by law.
2 Spending limits shall be established for such campaigns for
3 candidates who use public funds in their campaigns. The
4 legislature shall provide funding for this provision. General
5 law implementing this paragraph shall be at least as
6 protective of effective competition by a candidate who uses
7 public funds as the general law in effect on January 1, 1998.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
9 placed on the ballot:
10 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
11 ARTICLE III, SECTION 15
12 ARTICLE IV, SECTION 5
13 ARTICLE VI, SECTION 4
14 TERMS OF OFFICE AND TERM LIMITS.--Proposing amendments
15 to the State Constitution to prohibit a person or other entity
16 from contributing more than $5,000 to a candidate for local or
17 statewide public office or to a political party; increase the
18 terms of office for Florida Senators from 4 years to 6 years
19 and for Florida Representatives from 2 years to 4 years; and
20 increase, from 8 years to 12 years, the number of consecutive
21 years during which a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Florida
22 Representative, Florida Senator, member of the Florida
23 Cabinet, United States Representative from Florida, or United
24 States Senator from Florida may hold office.
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