CS/HJR 1471

1	House Joint Resolution
2	A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 3 of
3	Article I of the State Constitution to eradicate remnants
4	of anti-religious bigotry from the State Constitution and
5	to end exclusionary funding practices that discriminate on
6	the basis of religious belief or identity.
7
8	WHEREAS, Floridians highly value tolerance and liberty in
9	all forms, and
10	WHEREAS, Floridians strongly support the right of each
11	person to practice religion according to the dictates of his or
12	her own conscience, and
13	WHEREAS, Florida is a religiously diverse state with over a
14	quarter of its population identifying as Roman Catholic and with
15	the largest Jewish population in the Southern United States, and
16	WHEREAS, the public policy of the State of Florida is to
17	support the protection and advancement of religious liberty, and
18	WHEREAS, Florida's Blaine Amendment language, the last
19	sentence of Article I, Section 3, of the current State
20	Constitution, was originally adopted in 1885 following a failed
21	attempt to adopt similar language in the United States
22	Constitution, and
23	WHEREAS, Florida's Blaine Amendment language was borne in
24	an atmosphere of, and exists as a result of, anti-Catholic
25	bigotry and animus, and
26	WHEREAS, the genesis of Florida's Blaine Amendment language
27	reflects an attempt to stifle and disrupt the constitutional
28	rights and development of the emerging Catholic minority
29	community in America, and
30	WHEREAS, the Constitutional Convention that adopted the
31	Constitution of 1885 created a more religiously and racially
32	discriminatory document than its predecessor, with the first
33	inclusion of the Blaine Amendment language alongside the racist
34	separate-but-equal doctrine, and
35	WHEREAS, the racist separate-but-equal doctrine has been
36	duly abolished and all vestiges thereof rightfully removed from
37	the State Constitution, and the people of Florida should now be
38	given the opportunity to remove the discriminatory Blaine
39	Amendment language, a lasting stain upon the state's history
40	that stands in opposition to the people's will and counter to
41	our time-honored traditions of religious liberty and freedom,
42	and
43	WHEREAS, religiously affiliated hospitals, schools,
44	adoption agencies, and other benevolent institutions have been
45	of longstanding service to the people of Florida and have
46	provided numerous services to those in need, and
47	WHEREAS, until 2004, no Florida court had ever applied the
48	State Constitution in a reported case in a manner more
49	restrictive of the use of state funds than have federal courts
50	applying the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the
51	United States Constitution, and
52	WHEREAS, Florida's Blaine Amendment is currently being
53	enforced against religious groups and organizations of all
54	denominations, stifling their development and inhibiting the
55	free exercise of religious liberty, and
56	WHEREAS, courts have prohibited religiously affiliated
57	schools from participating in state-funded education programs
58	and religious organizations from participating in state-funded
59	services to incarcerated persons, and
60	WHEREAS, such application of the Blaine Amendment language
61	jeopardizes the participation of religiously affiliated
62	hospitals and other benevolent institutions in Medicaid and
63	other public programs, and
64	WHEREAS, those institutionalized in hospitals and prisons
65	are among those most in need of spiritual nurture and
66	encouragement as well as being often dependent on state-
67	subsidized human services, and
68	WHEREAS, the enforcement of the Blaine Amendment language,
69	barring religious organizations access to state funding and
70	state-funded business on an equal basis with nonreligious
71	organizations, violates the founding principles of the United
72	States and this state as contained in the Declaration of
73	Independence and the Preamble to the State Constitution, and
74	WHEREAS, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to
75	the United States Constitution does not require any such
76	absolute restrictions on the use of public funds, and
77	WHEREAS, the Establishment Clause permits the use of public
78	funds in religious hospitals, schools, and other benevolent
79	institutions, and
80	WHEREAS, the Establishment Clause and the religion clauses
81	of the State Constitution, other than the Blaine Amendment, are
82	intended to protect the religious liberties and sentiments of
83	Floridians without inhibiting the free exercise of religion, and
84	WHEREAS, their religious convictions motivate some
85	Floridians to establish religiously affiliated schools,
86	hospitals, adoption agencies, and other benevolent institutions
87	that provide valuable services to society and to receive or
88	utilize such valuable services from these benevolent providers,
89	which could be subsidized by the state through public programs,
90	and
91	WHEREAS, it is not necessary to prohibit all economic
92	relations with religious organizations and providers in order to
93	prevent an establishment of religion that would infringe on the
94	religious liberties of Floridians, and
95	WHEREAS, in 2000, a plurality of the United States Supreme
96	Court acknowledged that this "doctrine, born of bigotry, should
97	be buried now," and
98	WHEREAS, it is necessary to amend the State Constitution to
99	correct the aforementioned disconnect between the true
100	sentiments and principles of Floridians and the discriminatory
101	origins, intentions, and present application of the Blaine
102	Amendment, in furtherance of a deeply rooted commitment to
103	freedom and liberty, where rights and restrictions ought to be
104	based on the merits of one's words and actions rather than on
105	religious affiliation or identity, NOW, THEREFORE,
106
107	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
108
109	That the following amendment to Section 3 of Article I of
110	the State Constitution is agreed to and shall be submitted to
111	the electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next
112	general election or at an earlier special election specifically
113	authorized by law for that purpose:
114	ARTICLE I
115	DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
116	SECTION 3.  Religious freedom.-There shall be no law
117	respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting or
118	penalizing the free exercise thereof. Religious freedom shall
119	not justify practices inconsistent with public morals, peace, or
120	safety. Except to the extent required by the First Amendment to
121	the United States Constitution, neither the government nor any
122	agent of the government may deny to any individual or entity the
123	benefits of any program, funding, or other support on the basis
124	of religious identity or belief. No revenue of the state or any
125	political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from
126	the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church,
127	sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian
128	institution.
129	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
130	placed on the ballot:
131	CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
132	ARTICLE I, SECTION 3
133	RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.-Proposing an amendment to the State
134	Constitution to provide, consistent with the United States
135	Constitution, that no individual or entity may be denied, on the
136	basis of religious identity or belief, governmental benefits,
137	funding, or other support and to delete the prohibition against
138	using revenues from the public treasury directly or indirectly
139	in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid
140	of any sectarian institution.

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