JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As the General Election draws nearer, First Coast News is on your side with a closer look at the amendments that are on the ballot in Florida this year. Each one of these would change the state constitution if passed.
Amendment 1 would change the face of future school board elections and would overturn a law that was passed via a referendum by the voters more than 20 years ago.
In 1998, a ballot measure made school board races in the state of Florida nonpartisan, so for the past 25 elections no school board candidate has been listed as democrat or republican.
Recently, politics has entered education. Strict restrictions on topics like diversity equality and inclusion as well as gender identity discussions are now outlawed for certain grade levels in public schools. Under current Florida law, when prospective school board members appeared on ballots they did not appear with a political affiliation. If Amendment 1 is passed, that would change.
In January 2023, a substitute teacher at Mandarin Middle School tweeted a video of empty shelves within the school library. Books from school districts across the state have been pulled from shelves to be reviewed based on various criteria, including race relations.
In 2022 a book about Hank Aaron playing baseball in Jacksonville was pulled from Duval Public Schools because it depicted white fans being mean to Aaron because he was black. Following a review the book was placed back on school shelves, but only for 4th grade and higher.
Amendment 1 will not change current Department of Education policy. However, it will allow candidates to identify themselves to voters based on their party affiliation, but only if 60% of the voters choose to allow that to happen.
Amendment 2 deals with hunting and fishing, one of the most common outdoor activities in the Sunshine State.
"It's very peaceful, it's my getaway," said John Arbour, who like countless other people, enjoys casting a line into the St. Johns River.
"It's nice to catch something but I don't have to, I'm pretty satisfied with the peace and quiet," Arbour said.
Amendment 2 calls to preserve that peace and quiet by changing the Florida Constitution. The text of Amendment 2 reads, "Fishing, hunting, and the taking of fish and wildlife, including by the use of traditional methods, shall be preserved forever as a public right."
But hunting and fishing are already legal in Florida.
"They have a good system in place for that," said Arbour. "I think Florida is on top of it even more than other states."
Hunting and fishing are managed by Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which sets seasons and licensing requirements for people to be able to hunt and fish in Florida. Furthermore, the text of the amendment goes on to say that if Amendment 2 becomes law that it would not limit the authority of FWC.
The term "traditional methods" in the text of the amendment drew concern from conservationists as well as those in the fishing community as to whether large nets would be allowed to be used to gather excessive amounts of fish.
Part of a statement from FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto that was released in September reads, "Amendment 2 does not change or alter the existing net ban or the ability for it to be enforced. 'Traditional methods' does not undo regulation, nor reset FWC's regulatory authority. Moreover, the net ban is protected by the constitution already."
FWC states that it will continue regulatory authority over all fish and wildlife in Florida, including setting seasons, bag limits and licensing, whether or not Amendment 2 receives the 60% of the vote it would need to pass.
In the meantime, Arbour enjoys an afternoon on the water and the occasional bite on the line.
"I've been pretty lucky lately, it's a hobby for me," Arbour said. "I think it's fine, everyone I talk to seem to enjoy it, nothing said about anything strange or out of the ordinary or unseasonal."
The push to make marijuana legal for recreational purposes has been an expensive one. It's estimated that the lobbying group Smart & Safe Florida has spent more than $40 million to convince voters to vote "Yes" on Amendment 3.
But what exactly does the amendment state?
The summary of the amendment calls for adults 21 years or older to be allowed to possess, purchase or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non medical personal consumption.
This expands a law that's been on the books since 2016 when more than 70% of voters in Florida chose to legalize medical marijuana.
Currently, 22 companies are licensed to grow and distribute medical marijuana, but industry leaders like Trulieve CEO and founder Kim Rivers believe that the number of licensed companies will double after the first year of legalization to meet demand.
But there are limits.
According to the paragraph of the bill labeled "personal use," people will be restricted to three ounces of marijuana or 5g of concentrate.
Furthermore, sentence two under section C labeled "limitations," grants the state legislature the ability to enact laws related to the amendment, like prohibitions on smoking in public.
According to a July 2023 report by the Florida Financial Impact Estimating Conference, sales tax revenue for recreational marijuana are estimated to be anywhere between $195 million and $430 million per year.
That money would then be able to be distributed by the legislature in any way they see fit, like extra funding to law enforcement or public schools.
Like all the other amendments, Amendment 3 needs to receive at least 60% of the vote in order to pass.
Abortion is on the ballot in Florida this election cycle.
The text of Amendment 4, titled, "Amendment to limit government interference with abortion," reads, "No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health as determined by the patient's health care provider."
Currently, abortion is legal in Florida up to six weeks into the pregnancy. That dropped from 15 weeks when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed what's known as the "heartbeat bill" in April of 2023. Until 2022, abortion was legal in Florida up until 24 weeks into the pregnancy.
One of the criticisms of the amendment is that it would allow minors to have abortions up until the 24th week of pregnancy without a parent being notified. However, that is not true. The amendment text states that the amendment would not change Article 10, Section 22 of the Florida Constitution, which states a parent or guardian must be notified before a minor's pregnancy is terminated.
Gov. Ron DeSantis' expressed his issue with the amendment at a press conference in South Florida on Oct. 21, where he called the amendment "radical," and a "pandora's box of bad policies."
DeSantis said the amendment goes against the Florida statute known as the "Parental Notice of and Consent for Abortion Act." This statute requires not only parental notification, but also parental consent of abortions for minors.
The governor said the omission of "consent" in the amendment is a "bait and switch."
"They know that's bad, they know parents don't like that, so what they're doing in the amendment is substituting 'notification,' but that is not consent," he said.
Amendment 4 is supported by the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood affiliates who said, "The opportunity for Floridians to end this government manufactured public health crisis and get politicians out of our personal private decisions once and for all by passing Amendment 4 couldn't come at a more pressing time."
Amendment 4 has even reached the presidential campaign trail. Before she was the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke in Jacksonville on the day the six week abortion ban took effect.
"We trust women," she said. "We trust women to know what is in their own best interest."
Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump told NBC in August that he feels abortion should be decided on a state by state basis.
"Well I think the six weeks is too short," he said. "There has to be more time and so that's, and I've told them that I want more weeks."
Amendment 4 will pass if it receives at least 60% of the vote.
The text of Florida Amendment 5 states that it would "require an annual adjustment for inflation to the value of current or future homestead exemptions."
This would create an addition to Section 6 of Article 7 of the Florida Constitution that deals with homestead exemptions. Currently, homeowners in the state of Florida are allowed to exclude $25,000 of their home's assessed value for tax purposes.
If passed, this amendment would adjust that $25,000 based on inflation according to the consumer price index.
However, that would not apply to school taxes. The state's Revenue Estimating Conference predicts that if Amendment 5 passes, it would slightly reduce local government property taxes.
Amendment 6 also deals with public money, but public money for people hoping to become elected officials.
The text of Amendment 6 proposes to repeal the provision in the state constitution which requires public financing for campaigns of candidates for elective statewide office who agree to campaign spending limits. Current public campaign financing is available for candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and agricultural commission who have already raised at least $100,000 themselves.
Amendment 6 would repeal a campaign finance law that was approved by voters in 1998. A similar amendment to repeal that law was proposed in 2010 but failed to receive the required number of votes.
Both amendments, 5 and 6 require 60% of the vote to be approved.