Florida Senate - 2019                                    SB 7096
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Judiciary
       
       
       
       
       
       590-03710-19                                          20197096__
    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 is a Florida resident for a
    6         specified period before obtaining signatures on
    7         petition forms; requiring the Secretary of State to
    8         maintain a searchable database of such forms; revising
    9         requirements regarding the supervisor of elections’
   10         determination of a petition form’s validity;
   11         authorizing interested persons to submit position
   12         statements on initiatives for publication on the
   13         Department of State’s website; extending the timeframe
   14         for the Financial Impact Estimating Conference to
   15         complete its analysis of an initiative; requiring the
   16         analysis to summarize the impact to the state and
   17         local economies; requiring each supervisor to include
   18         a copy of the summary in the publication or mailing of
   19         a sample ballot; amending s. 101.161, F.S.; requiring
   20         the name of the sponsor of an initiative to appear on
   21         the ballot with the percentage of donations received
   22         from certain in-state donors; defining the term
   23         “person”; requiring a statement to appear on the
   24         ballot if the amendment is estimated to increase
   25         costs, decrease revenues, or have an indeterminate
   26         economic impact; amending s. 101.171, F.S.; requiring
   27         a copy of proposed amendments be provided in each
   28         voting booth; creating s. 104.186, F.S.; prohibiting
   29         compensation for initiative petition gatherers or
   30         entities based on the number of petitions gathered;
   31         providing a penalty; invalidating petitions that are
   32         unlawfully gathered; providing for application;
   33         providing effective dates.
   34          
   35  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   36  
   37         Section 1. Present subsection (3) of section 100.371,
   38  Florida Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (4), present
   39  subsections (4) through (7) of that section are renumbered as
   40  subsections (6) through (9), respectively, new subsections (3)
   41  and (5) are added to that section, and present subsection (3),
   42  paragraphs (a) and (e) of present subsection (5), and present
   43  subsection (6) of that section are amended, to read:
   44         100.371 Initiatives; procedure for placement on ballot.—
   45         (3) Before obtaining signatures for compensation, a
   46  petition gatherer must register with the Secretary of State on a
   47  form prepared by the secretary. The registrant must provide his
   48  or her name, date of birth, residential address, and attestation
   49  that he or she has been a Florida resident for at least 29 days
   50  before submitting the registration form. The secretary shall
   51  maintain a searchable database of registered petition gatherers.
   52         (4) An initiative petition form circulated for signature
   53  may not be bundled with or attached to any other petition. Each
   54  signature shall be dated when made and shall be valid for a
   55  period of 2 years following such date, provided all other
   56  requirements of law are met. The sponsor shall submit signed and
   57  dated forms to the supervisor of elections for the county of
   58  residence listed by the person signing the form for verification
   59  of the number of valid signatures obtained. If a signature on a
   60  petition is from a registered voter in another county, the
   61  supervisor shall notify the petition sponsor of the misfiled
   62  petition. The supervisor shall promptly verify the signatures
   63  within 30 days after receipt of the petition forms and payment
   64  of the fee required by s. 99.097. The supervisor shall promptly
   65  record, in the manner prescribed by the Secretary of State, the
   66  date each form is received by the supervisor, and the date the
   67  signature on the form is verified as valid. The supervisor may
   68  verify that the signature on a form is valid only if:
   69         (a) The form contains the original signature of the
   70  purported elector.
   71         (b) The purported elector has accurately recorded on the
   72  form the date on which he or she signed the form.
   73         (c) The form sets forth the purported elector’s name,
   74  address, city, county, and voter registration number or date of
   75  birth.
   76         (d) The purported elector is, at the time he or she signs
   77  the form and at the time the form is verified, a duly qualified
   78  and registered elector in the state.
   79         (e) The petition gatherer who collected the petition is
   80  registered with the Secretary of State under subsection (3).
   81  
   82  The supervisor shall retain the signature forms for at least 1
   83  year following the election in which the issue appeared on the
   84  ballot or until the Division of Elections notifies the
   85  supervisors of elections that the committee that circulated the
   86  petition is no longer seeking to obtain ballot position.
   87         (5) Upon determining that a constitutional amendment
   88  proposed by initiative has met the requirements to be placed on
   89  the ballot, the Secretary of State shall allow any interested
   90  person to file a position statement of not more than 50 words
   91  outlining why the person supports or opposes the amendment. The
   92  secretary shall publish each position statement on the webpage
   93  for constitutional amendments on the department’s website.
   94         (7)(a)(5)(a) Within 60 45 days after receipt of a proposed
   95  revision or amendment to the State Constitution by initiative
   96  petition from the Secretary of State, the Financial Impact
   97  Estimating Conference shall complete an analysis and financial
   98  impact statement to be placed on the ballot of the estimated
   99  increase or decrease in any revenues or costs to state or local
  100  governments and the estimated economic impact on both the state
  101  and local economies resulting from the proposed initiative. The
  102  Financial Impact Estimating Conference shall submit the
  103  financial impact statement to the Attorney General and Secretary
  104  of State.
  105         (e)1. Any financial impact statement that the Supreme Court
  106  finds not to be in accordance with this subsection shall be
  107  remanded solely to the Financial Impact Estimating Conference
  108  for redrafting, provided the court’s advisory opinion is
  109  rendered at least 75 days before the election at which the
  110  question of ratifying the amendment will be presented. The
  111  Financial Impact Estimating Conference shall prepare and adopt a
  112  revised financial impact statement no later than 5 p.m. on the
  113  15th day after the date of the court’s opinion.
  114         2. If, by 5 p.m. on the 75th day before the election, the
  115  Supreme Court has not issued an advisory opinion on the initial
  116  financial impact statement prepared by the Financial Impact
  117  Estimating Conference for an initiative amendment that otherwise
  118  meets the legal requirements for ballot placement, the financial
  119  impact statement shall be deemed approved for placement on the
  120  ballot.
  121         3. In addition to the financial impact statement required
  122  by this subsection, the Financial Impact Estimating Conference
  123  shall draft an initiative financial information statement. The
  124  initiative financial information statement should describe in
  125  greater detail than the financial impact statement any projected
  126  increase or decrease in revenues or costs that the state or
  127  local governments would likely experience and the estimated
  128  economic impact on both the state and local economies if the
  129  ballot measure were approved. If appropriate, the initiative
  130  financial information statement may include both estimated
  131  dollar amounts and a description placing the estimated dollar
  132  amounts into context. The initiative financial information
  133  statement must include both a summary of not more than 500 words
  134  and additional detailed information that includes the
  135  assumptions that were made to develop the financial impacts,
  136  workpapers, and any other information deemed relevant by the
  137  Financial Impact Estimating Conference.
  138         4. The Department of State shall have printed, and shall
  139  furnish to each supervisor of elections, a copy of the summary
  140  from the initiative financial information statements. The
  141  supervisors shall have the summary from the initiative financial
  142  information statements available at each polling place and at
  143  the main office of the supervisor of elections upon request.
  144         5. The Secretary of State and the Office of Economic and
  145  Demographic Research shall make available on the Internet each
  146  initiative financial information statement in its entirety. In
  147  addition, each supervisor of elections whose office has a
  148  website shall post the summary from each initiative financial
  149  information statement on the website. Each supervisor shall
  150  include a copy of each summary from the initiative financial
  151  information statements and the Internet addresses for the
  152  information statements on the Secretary of State’s and the
  153  Office of Economic and Demographic Research’s websites in the
  154  publication or mailing required by s. 101.20.
  155         (8)(6) The Department of State may adopt rules in
  156  accordance with s. 120.54 to carry out the provisions of
  157  subsections (1)-(7) (1)-(5).
  158         Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 101.161, Florida
  159  Statutes, is amended to read:
  160         101.161 Referenda; ballots.—
  161         (1) Whenever a constitutional amendment or other public
  162  measure is submitted to the vote of the people, a ballot summary
  163  of such amendment or other public measure shall be printed in
  164  clear and unambiguous language on the ballot after the list of
  165  candidates, followed by the word “yes” and also by the word
  166  “no,” and shall be styled in such a manner that a “yes” vote
  167  will indicate approval of the proposal and a “no” vote will
  168  indicate rejection. The ballot summary of the amendment or other
  169  public measure and the ballot title to appear on the ballot
  170  shall be embodied in the constitutional revision commission
  171  proposal, constitutional convention proposal, taxation and
  172  budget reform commission proposal, or enabling resolution or
  173  ordinance. The ballot summary of the amendment or other public
  174  measure shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75
  175  words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure. In
  176  addition, for every amendment proposed by initiative, the ballot
  177  shall include, following the ballot summary, in the following
  178  order:,
  179         (a) The name of the initiative’s sponsor and the percentage
  180  of total contributions obtained by the sponsor from in-state
  181  persons. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “person”
  182  has the same meaning as provided in s. 106.011(14), except that
  183  the term does not include a political party, an affiliated party
  184  committee, or a political committee.
  185         (b) A separate financial impact statement concerning the
  186  measure prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference
  187  in accordance with s. 100.371(7) s. 100.371(5).
  188         (c) If the financial impact statement estimates increased
  189  costs or decreased revenues, a range that includes increased
  190  costs or decreased revenues, or an indeterminate economic impact
  191  a statement in bold print describing the impact of the
  192  initiative on both the state and local economies.
  193  
  194  The ballot title shall consist of a caption, not exceeding 15
  195  words in length, by which the measure is commonly referred to or
  196  spoken of. This subsection does not apply to constitutional
  197  amendments or revisions proposed by joint resolution.
  198         Section 3. Section 101.171, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  199  read:
  200         101.171 Copy of constitutional amendment to be available at
  201  voting locations.—Whenever any amendment to the State
  202  Constitution is to be voted upon at any election, the Department
  203  of State shall have printed and shall furnish to each supervisor
  204  of elections a sufficient number of copies of the amendment
  205  either in poster or booklet form, and the supervisor shall have
  206  a copy thereof conspicuously posted or available at each voting
  207  booth polling room or early voting area upon the day of
  208  election.
  209         Section 4. Effective 41 days after the effective date of
  210  this act, section 104.186, Florida Statutes, is created to read:
  211         104.186 Initiative petitions; prohibition on compensation
  212  based on the number of petitions gathered.—A person who
  213  compensates an initiative petition gatherer or entity based on
  214  the number of petitions gathered commits a misdemeanor of the
  215  first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
  216  775.083. A petition gathered in violation of this section is
  217  void.
  218         Section 5. The provisions of this act apply to all
  219  revisions or amendments to the State Constitution by initiative
  220  which are proposed for the 2020 election ballot; however, this
  221  act does not affect the validity of any petition gathered before
  222  or within 40 days after this act’s effective date.
  223         Section 6. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
  224  act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law.