Florida Bill to Make it Extremely Hard to Amend State Constitution

Florida State Senator Dennis Baxley (R-Lady Lake) has introduced SJR 978. Currently Florida permits initiatives to amend the Constitution, but they must pass with a 60% popular vote. Senator Baxley’s bill would raise that to 66.67% of the popular vote.


Comments

Florida Bill to Make it Extremely Hard to Amend State Constitution — 9 Comments

  1. The gerrymander hacks attempt to strike back.

    See Star WARS movies — Empire Strikes Back.

  2. This is insane, and unnecessary. Florida already has a really difficult requirement for placing statewide initiatives on the ballot via petition. The signature requirement in Florida is something like 686 valid signatures (maybe a bit higher, I’d have to check, but I know it is something like that), and that is higher than the current signature requirement for a statewide constitutional amendment petition in California, which has double the population of Florida.

    Florida petitions are one signature per page, which means proponents have to pay for a lot more paper than necessary. They also have a signature distribution requirement, which requires proponents to get a certain number of signatures by something like 2/3 of the congressional districts in Florida.

    Also, keep in mind that most states that have a statewide initiative process via petition, have statutory initiatives and constitutional amendment initiatives, and most of them also have referendums. Florida only has constitutional amendment petitions.

    The Florida initiative petition requirements are already too difficult if anything. This bill should be voted down.

  3. Supermajority requirements for referendums are a bad idea. If it goes to referendum, it should be pass/fail with a simple majority. Additional hurdles for constitutional amendments, are best handled by requiring them to also pass the legislature, perhaps two successive legislatures or with a legislative supermajority, or other hurdles prior to the final referendum.

  4. See also the minority rule stuff in the gerrymander USA Senate — 60 votes to stop debates, etc.

    — ie de facto control by 41 of 100.

    Result – paralysis and gridlock

    — with minority rule Electoral College extremists raving in the White House.

  5. Andy Craig said: “. Additional hurdles for constitutional amendments, are best handled by requiring them to also pass the legislature, perhaps two successive legislatures or with a legislative supermajority, or other hurdles prior to the final referendum.”

    Requiring it to go through the state legislature is a bad idea, and basically defeats the purpose of having it go to a citizen ballot initiative. The main reason that people do citizens ballot initiatives is because the legislature is not acting on something.

  6. ALL of the current State legislatures are ANTI-Democracy minority rule OLIGARCHIES —

    1/2 or less votes x 1/2 rigged gerrymander districts = 1/4 or less CONTROL

    — with much worse primary math — about 5-15 percent REAL minority rule.

    PR and AppV — major pressure on legislatures = less need for issue petitions.

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