HJR 7129

1	House Joint Resolution
2	A joint resolution proposing the amendment of Section 11
3	of Article III, Sections 4 and 9 of Article IV, and
4	Section 23 of Article XII and the creation of Section 26
5	of Article XII of the State Constitution to create the
6	Cabinet office of Commissioner of the Interior, create a
7	Department of the Interior, and remove the constitutional
8	mandate for a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
9
10	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12	That the following amendment of Section 11 of Article III,
13	Sections 4 and 9 of Article IV, and Section 23 of Article XII
14	and the creation of Section 26 of Article XII of the State
15	Constitution are agreed to and shall be submitted to the
16	electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next
17	general election or at an earlier special election specifically
18	authorized by law for that purpose:
19	ARTICLE III
20	LEGISLATURE
21	SECTION 11.  Prohibited special laws.--
22	(a)  There shall be no special law or general law of local
23	application pertaining to:
24	(1)  election, jurisdiction or duties of officers, except
25	officers of municipalities, chartered counties, special
26	districts or local governmental agencies;
27	(2)  assessment or collection of taxes for state or county
28	purposes, including extension of time therefor, relief of tax
29	officers from due performance of their duties, and relief of
30	their sureties from liability;
31	(3)  rules of evidence in any court;
32	(4)  punishment for crime;
33	(5)  petit juries, including compensation of jurors, except
34	establishment of jury commissions;
35	(6)  change of civil or criminal venue;
36	(7)  conditions precedent to bringing any civil or criminal
37	proceedings, or limitations of time therefor;
38	(8)  refund of money legally paid or remission of fines,
39	penalties or forfeitures;
40	(9)  creation, enforcement, extension or impairment of
41	liens based on private contracts, or fixing of interest rates on
42	private contracts;
43	(10)  disposal of public property, including any interest
44	therein, for private purposes;
45	(11)  vacation of roads;
46	(12)  private incorporation or grant of privilege to a
47	private corporation;
48	(13)  effectuation of invalid deeds, wills or other
49	instruments, or change in the law of descent;
50	(14)  change of name of any person;
51	(15)  divorce;
52	(16)  legitimation or adoption of persons;
53	(17)  relief of minors from legal disabilities;
54	(18)  transfer of any property interest of persons under
55	legal disabilities or of estates of decedents;
56	(19)  hunting or fresh water fishing;
57	(20)  regulation of occupations which are regulated by a
58	state agency; or
59	(21)  any subject when prohibited by general law passed by
60	a three-fifths vote of the membership of each house. Such law
61	may be amended or repealed by like vote.
62	(b)  In the enactment of general laws on other subjects,
63	political subdivisions or other governmental entities may be
64	classified only on a basis reasonably related to the subject of
65	the law.
66	ARTICLE IV
67	EXECUTIVE
68	SECTION 4.  Cabinet.--
69	(a)  There shall be a cabinet composed of an attorney
70	general, a chief financial officer, a commissioner of the
71	interior, and a commissioner of agriculture. In addition to the
72	powers and duties specified herein, they shall exercise such
73	powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed by law. In
74	the event of a tie vote of the governor and cabinet, the side on
75	which the governor voted shall be deemed to prevail.
76	(b)  The attorney general shall be the chief state legal
77	officer. There is created in the office of the attorney general
78	the position of statewide prosecutor. The statewide prosecutor
79	shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the state attorneys to
80	prosecute violations of criminal laws occurring or having
81	occurred, in two or more judicial circuits as part of a related
82	transaction, or when any such offense is affecting or has
83	affected two or more judicial circuits as provided by general
84	law. The statewide prosecutor shall be appointed by the attorney
85	general from not less than three persons nominated by the
86	judicial nominating commission for the supreme court, or as
87	otherwise provided by general law.
88	(c)  The chief financial officer shall serve as the chief
89	fiscal officer of the state, and shall settle and approve
90	accounts against the state, and shall keep all state funds and
91	securities.
92	(d)  The commissioner of agriculture shall have supervision
93	of matters pertaining to agriculture except as otherwise
94	provided by law.
95	(e)  The commissioner of the interior shall have
96	supervision of matters pertaining to the state's natural
97	resources and scenic beauty, including fish and wildlife, except
98	as otherwise provided by law.
99	(f)(e)  The governor as chair, the chief financial officer,
100	and the attorney general shall constitute the state board of
101	administration, which shall succeed to all the power, control,
102	and authority of the state board of administration established
103	pursuant to Article IX, Section 16 of the Constitution of 1885,
104	and which shall continue as a body at least for the life of
105	Article XII, Section 9(c).
106	(g)(f)  The governor as chair, the chief financial officer,
107	the attorney general, the commissioner of the interior, and the
108	commissioner of agriculture shall constitute the trustees of the
109	internal improvement trust fund and the land acquisition trust
110	fund as provided by law.
111	(h)(g)  The governor as chair, the chief financial officer,
112	the attorney general, the commissioner of the interior, and the
113	commissioner of agriculture shall constitute the agency head of
114	the Department of Law Enforcement.
115	SECTION 9.  Department of the Interior Fish and wildlife
116	conservation commission.--There shall be a Department of the
117	Interior to be responsible for conserving and protecting the
118	state's natural resources and scenic beauty, including fish and
119	wildlife, except as otherwise provided by law fish and wildlife
120	conservation commission, composed of seven members appointed by
121	the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate for
122	staggered terms of five years. The commission shall exercise the
123	regulatory and executive powers of the state with respect to
124	wild animal life and fresh water aquatic life, and shall also
125	exercise regulatory and executive powers of the state with
126	respect to marine life, except that all license fees for taking
127	wild animal life, fresh water aquatic life, and marine life and
128	penalties for violating regulations of the commission shall be
129	prescribed by general law. The commission shall establish
130	procedures to ensure adequate due process in the exercise of its
131	regulatory and executive functions. The legislature may enact
132	laws in aid of the commission, not inconsistent with this
133	section, except that there shall be no special law or general
134	law of local application pertaining to hunting or fishing. The
135	commission's exercise of executive powers in the area of
136	planning, budgeting, personnel management, and purchasing shall
137	be as provided by law. Revenue derived from license fees for the
138	taking of wild animal life and fresh water aquatic life shall be
139	appropriated to the commission by the legislature for the
140	purposes of management, protection, and conservation of wild
141	animal life and fresh water aquatic life. Revenue derived from
142	license fees relating to marine life shall be appropriated by
143	the legislature for the purposes of management, protection, and
144	conservation of marine life as provided by law. The commission
145	shall not be a unit of any other state agency and shall have its
146	own staff, which includes management, research, and enforcement.
147	Unless provided by general law, the commission shall have no
148	authority to regulate matters relating to air and water
149	pollution.
150	ARTICLE XII
151	SCHEDULE
152	SECTION 23.  Department of the Interior Fish and wildlife
153	conservation commission.--
154	(a)  The initial members of the commission shall be the
155	members of the game and fresh water fish commission and the
156	marine fisheries commission who are serving on those commissions
157	on the effective date of this amendment, who may serve the
158	remainder of their respective terms. New appointments to the
159	commission shall not be made until the retirement, resignation,
160	removal, or expiration of the terms of the initial members
161	results in fewer than seven members remaining.
162	(b)  The jurisdiction of the marine fisheries commission as
163	set forth in statutes in effect on March 1, 1998, shall be
164	transferred to the fish and wildlife conservation commission.
165	The jurisdiction of the marine fisheries commission transferred
166	to the commission shall not be expanded except as provided by
167	general law. All rules of the marine fisheries commission and
168	game and fresh water fish commission in effect on the effective
169	date of this amendment shall become rules of the fish and
170	wildlife conservation commission until superseded or amended by
171	the commission.
172	(c)  The creation of the Department of the Interior
173	pursuant to the amendment to Section 9 of Article IV shall take
174	effect July 1, 2009, and on that the effective date of this
175	amendment, the constitutional mandate for a fish and wildlife
176	conservation marine fisheries commission and game and fresh
177	water fish commission shall be removed abolished.
178	(d)  This amendment shall take effect July 1, 1999.
179	SECTION 26.  Commissioner of the Interior.--The amendment
180	to Section 4 of Article IV to create the Cabinet office of
181	commissioner of the interior shall take effect January 6, 2009,
182	with the office to be initially filled for a 2-year term at the
183	2008 general election.
184	CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
185	ARTICLE III, SECTION 11
186	ARTICLE IV, SECTIONS 4 AND 9
187	ARTICLE XII, SECTIONS 23 AND 26
188	CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND SCENIC
189	BEAUTY, INCLUDING FISH AND WILDLIFE.--Proposing amendment of the
190	State Constitution to create a Department of the Interior to be
191	responsible for conserving and protecting the state's natural
192	resources and scenic beauty, including fish and wildlife, except
193	as otherwise provided by law; to create the office of
194	Commissioner of the Interior, a Cabinet office filled by
195	statewide election, to have supervision of matters pertaining to
196	the state's natural resources and scenic beauty, including fish
197	and wildlife, except as otherwise provided by law, and to serve
198	with the Governor and other Cabinet officers as the State Board
199	of Administration, as Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust
200	Fund and the Land Acquisition Trust Fund, and as the agency head
201	of the Department of Law Enforcement; to remove the
202	constitutional mandate for a Fish and Wildlife Conservation
203	Commission charged with overseeing matters relating to fish and
204	wildlife; to preserve the prohibition against any special law or
205	general law of local application relating to hunting or fishing;
206	and to provide an effective date of July 1, 2009, for the
207	creation of the Department of the Interior and an effective date
208	of January 6, 2009, for the creation of the Cabinet office of
209	Commissioner of the Interior, with the office to be filled at
210	the 2008 general election to an initial term of 2 years, with
211	subsequent 4-year terms.

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