House Bill hb0065Ee1

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                                          HB 65-E, First Engrossed



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to constitutional amendments;

  3         amending s. 15.21, F.S.; requiring the

  4         Secretary of State to submit certain initiative

  5         petitions to the Revenue Estimating Conference;

  6         amending s. 16.061, F.S.; requiring that the

  7         Attorney General petition the Supreme Court to

  8         review the estimated-fiscal-impact statement;

  9         requiring the court to remand defective

10         fiscal-impact statements to the Revenue

11         Estimating Conference; amending ss. 100.371,

12         101.161, F.S., and creating s. 100.381, F.S.;

13         requiring that the Revenue Estimating

14         Conference provide an analysis of the fiscal

15         impact resulting to state or local governments

16         from any constitutional amendment; authorizing

17         the Revenue Estimating Conference to solicit

18         information regarding a proposed amendment;

19         providing procedures for drafting and voting on

20         a fiscal-impact statement by the Revenue

21         Estimating Conference; requiring that a

22         fiscal-impact statement be included on the

23         ballot after the ballot summary of the

24         amendment; requiring a court to remand

25         defective fiscal-impact statements to the

26         Revenue Estimating Conference; amending s.

27         216.136, F.S.; prescribing additional duties of

28         the Revenue Estimating Conference, to conform;

29         providing for construction of the act in pari

30         materia with laws enacted during the Regular

31         Session of the Legislature; providing


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                                          HB 65-E, First Engrossed



  1         exemptions from the fiscal-impact-statement

  2         requirement for certain proposed amendments;

  3         providing effective dates.

  4

  5  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

  6

  7         Section 1.  Section 15.21, Florida Statutes, is amended

  8  to read:

  9         15.21  Initiative petitions; s. 3, Art. XI, State

10  Constitution.--The Secretary of State shall immediately submit

11  an initiative petition to the Attorney General and to the

12  Revenue Estimating Conference if the sponsor has:

13         (1)  Registered as a political committee pursuant to s.

14  106.03;

15         (2)  Submitted the ballot title, substance, and text of

16  the proposed revision or amendment to the Secretary of State

17  pursuant to ss. 100.371 and 101.161; and

18         (3)  Obtained a letter from the Division of Elections

19  confirming that the sponsor has submitted to the appropriate

20  supervisors for verification, and the supervisors have

21  verified, forms signed and dated equal to 10 percent of the

22  number of electors statewide and in at least one-fourth of the

23  congressional districts required by s. 3, Art. XI of the State

24  Constitution.

25         Section 2.  Effective July 1, 2003, section 16.061,

26  Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

27         16.061  Proposed constitutional revisions or amendments

28  Initiative petitions.--

29         (1)  The Attorney General shall, within 30 days after

30  receipt of a proposed revision or amendment to the State

31  Constitution by initiative petition from the Secretary of


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                                          HB 65-E, First Engrossed



  1  State, petition the Supreme Court, requesting an advisory

  2  opinion regarding the compliance of the text of the proposed

  3  amendment or revision with s. 3, Art. XI of the State

  4  Constitution and the compliance of the proposed ballot title

  5  and substance with s. 101.161 and the compliance of the

  6  fiscal-impact statement with ss. 100.371 and 101.161. For all

  7  other proposed revisions or amendments to the State

  8  Constitution, the Attorney General shall, upon the Revenue

  9  Estimating Conference finalizing the fiscal-impact statement,

10  petition the Supreme Court requesting an advisory opinion

11  regarding compliance of the text of the fiscal-impact

12  statement with ss. 100.371, 100.381, and 101.161. The petition

13  may enumerate any specific factual issues which the Attorney

14  General believes would require a judicial determination.

15         (2)  A copy of the petition shall be provided to the

16  Secretary of State and the principal officer of the sponsor.

17         (3)  Any fiscal-impact statement that the court finds

18  not to be in accordance with s. 100.371, s. 100.381, or s.

19  101.161 shall be remanded solely to the Revenue Estimating

20  Conference for redrafting.

21         Section 3.  Present subsection (6) of section 100.371,

22  Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (7) and

23  amended, and a new subsection (6) is added to that section, to

24  read:

25         100.371  Initiatives; procedure for placement on

26  ballot.--

27         (6)(a)  Within 45 days after receipt of a proposed

28  revision or amendment to the State Constitution by initiative

29  petition from the Secretary of State or, for any initiative

30  approved by the Florida Supreme Court for the general election

31  ballot for 2002, within 45 days after the effective date of


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                                          HB 65-E, First Engrossed



  1  this subsection, whichever occurs later, the Revenue

  2  Estimating Conference shall complete an analysis and fiscal

  3  impact statement to be placed on the ballot of the estimated

  4  increase or decrease in any revenues or costs to state or

  5  local governments resulting from the proposed initiative. The

  6  Revenue Estimating Conference shall provide an opportunity for

  7  any proponents or opponents of the initiative to submit

  8  information and may solicit information or analysis from any

  9  other entities or agencies, including the Office of Economic

10  and Demographic Research.

11         (b)1.  Members of the Revenue Estimating Conference

12  shall reach a consensus or majority concurrence on a clear and

13  unambiguous fiscal-impact statement, no more than 50 words in

14  length. Nothing in this subsection prohibits the Revenue

15  Estimating Conference from setting forth a range of potential

16  impacts in the fiscal-impact statement. Any fiscal-impact

17  statement that a court finds not to be in accordance with this

18  section, s. 100.381, or s. 101.161 shall be remanded solely to

19  the Revenue Estimating Conference for redrafting. The Revenue

20  Estimating Conference shall redraft the fiscal-impact

21  statement within 15 days.

22         2.  If the members of the Revenue Estimating Conference

23  are unable to agree on the statement required by this

24  subsection, the following statement shall appear on the ballot

25  pursuant to 101.161(1): "The fiscal impact of this measure, if

26  any, cannot be reasonably determined at this time."

27         (c)  The fiscal-impact statement must be separately

28  contained and be set forth after the ballot summary as

29  required in s. 101.161(1).

30         (7)(6)  The Department of State may adopt shall have

31  the authority to promulgate rules in accordance with s. 120.54


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                                          HB 65-E, First Engrossed



  1  to carry out the provisions of subsections (1)-(5) of this

  2  section.

  3         Section 4.  Section 100.381, Florida Statutes, is

  4  created to read:

  5         100.381  Constitutional amendments or revisions other

  6  than initiatives; fiscal-impact statement.--For any amendment

  7  or revision proposed pursuant to Art. XI of the State

  8  Constitution other than an initiative, the Revenue Estimating

  9  Conference shall prepare a fiscal-impact statement as provided

10  in s. 100.371(6) no later than 80 days before the election on

11  the proposed amendment or revision. The fiscal-impact

12  statement must be separately contained and be set forth after

13  the ballot summary as required in s. 101.161(1).

14         Section 5.  Subsection (1) of section 101.161, Florida

15  Statutes, is amended to read:

16         101.161  Referenda; ballots.--

17         (1)  Whenever a constitutional amendment or other

18  public measure is submitted to the vote of the people, the

19  substance of such amendment or other public measure shall be

20  printed in clear and unambiguous language on the ballot after

21  the list of candidates, followed by the word "yes" and also by

22  the word "no," and shall be styled in such a manner that a

23  "yes" vote will indicate approval of the proposal and a "no"

24  vote will indicate rejection.  The wording of the substance of

25  the amendment or other public measure and the ballot title to

26  appear on the ballot shall be embodied in the joint

27  resolution, constitutional revision commission proposal,

28  constitutional convention proposal, taxation and budget reform

29  commission proposal, or enabling resolution or ordinance.

30  Except for amendments and ballot language proposed by joint

31  resolution, the substance of the amendment or other public


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                                          HB 65-E, First Engrossed



  1  measure shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75

  2  words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure. In

  3  addition, the ballot shall include a separate fiscal-impact

  4  statement concerning the measure prepared by the Revenue

  5  Estimating Conference in accordance with s. 100.371(6) or s.

  6  100.381. The ballot title shall consist of a caption, not

  7  exceeding 15 words in length, by which the measure is commonly

  8  referred to or spoken of.

  9         Section 6.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section

10  216.136, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

11         216.136  Consensus estimating conferences; duties and

12  principals.--

13         (3)  REVENUE ESTIMATING CONFERENCE.--

14         (a)  Duties.--The Revenue Estimating Conference shall

15  develop such official information with respect to anticipated

16  state and local government revenues as the conference

17  determines is needed for the state planning and budgeting

18  system.  Any principal may request the conference to review

19  and estimate revenues for any trust fund. Also, the conference

20  shall prepare fiscal-impact statements for constitutional

21  amendments pursuant to s. 100.371(6).

22         Section 7.  If any law that is amended by this act was

23  also amended by a law enacted at the 2002 Regular Session of

24  the Legislature, such laws shall be construed as if they had

25  been enacted at the same session of the Legislature, and full

26  effect should be given to each if that is possible.

27         Section 8.  This act does not apply to any

28  constitutional amendment proposed by initiative which has been

29  certified for ballot position by the Secretary of State or to

30  any joint resolution filed with the Secretary of State prior

31  to the effective date of this act.


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                                          HB 65-E, First Engrossed



  1         Section 9.  Except as otherwise expressly provided in

  2  this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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