Florida's Constitution Revision Commission Meets Every 20 Years. Here's What It Does
Florida has a tool almost no other state has: a citizen commission that meets once a generation and can send constitutional changes straight to voters, bypassing the Legislature.
The 1968 Constitution
Florida has had six constitutions, dated 1812, 1838, 1861, 1868, 1885 and 1968, according to Ballotpedia. The current document was adopted by lawmakers in a June-July 1968 special session and ratified by voters on Nov. 5, 1968, according to the Legislature's annotated Constitution. Ballotpedia notes that Florida is the only state with commissions empowered to refer amendments to the ballot. A second panel, the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, handles tax and budget matters.
How the commission works
Under Article XI, Section 2, the Constitution Revision Commission was set to form within 30 days before the Legislature's 2017 regular session and every 20 years after that. It has 37 members. The attorney general serves automatically, the governor appoints 15, the House speaker and Senate president appoint nine each, and the chief justice appoints three, according to Ballotpedia. The governor names the chair. Any proposals must be filed with the state's custodian of records at least 180 days before the next general election.
The commission has met three times: 1977-78, 1997-98 and 2017-18.
The 2017-18 commission and bundling
The most recent commission sent eight amendments to the 2018 ballot, combining several proposals into some of them. A court removed Amendment 8, and voters approved the other seven, Ballotpedia reports. Because of a 2006 change, each needed 60% approval rather than a simple majority.
The bundling drew lawsuits. Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers ruled that three of the measures improperly combined unrelated issues, but the Florida Supreme Court reversed her, finding that neither the Constitution nor state law barred the commission from bundling, WUSF reported. Justice Barbara Pariente agreed with the outcome but warned of "the obvious dangers of logrolling."
The best-known example was Amendment 9, which paired a ban on offshore oil drilling in state waters with a ban on vaping in indoor workplaces. Challengers said the two had nothing in common; supporters said both concerned health and the environment. The measure passed, WUSF's Health News Florida reported.
When it returns
On the 20-year cycle, the next Constitution Revision Commission is due in 2037, per Ballotpedia.
How we reported this: This explainer was drafted with AI assistance from the sources linked above, and every fact was checked against those sources. See an error? Contact us and we'll correct it.
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