TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The Florida Constitution Revision Commission has placed eight proposed constitutional amendments on the November 6th general election ballot.
They will join five others placed on the ballot by the Legislature or citizens' initiatives. Most of the CRC’s final proposals had several ideas grouped together into single amendments.
One such plan would ban offshore oil drilling as well as outlaw electronic vaping in public places. Another bundles term limits for school board members with civic literacy and charter school oversight.
Several CRC members, including former Democratic State Senator Arthenia Joyner, unsuccessfully tried to stop the grouping of proposals. Joyner feels many voters will not support everything put together in the same amendment.
“If they sincerely believe in something, and you put them together, the people are going to go negative and vote it down," said Joyner. "Then, the good goes down with the bad.”
One standalone proposal put forth by the commission would ban greyhound racing in Florida. It would allow pari-mutuel facilities that are currently required to race dogs, to keep their other more lucrative gambling options such as card rooms while getting rid of the less popular races.
Kate MacFall with the Humane Society of the United States is happy voters will get to decide the issue, since the legislature has not acted in the past.
“We do think this is the right place for it," said MacFall. "We’ve not been successful in the legislature, so this is a perfect example of why the CRC is here and how important it is.”
All proposed amendments must be approved by more than 60 percent of Florida voters to take effect.
