Florida 2012 ballot measures

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Eleven ballot measures were on the 2012 ballot in the state of Florida.

• All eleven measures are legislatively-referred constitutional amendments.

• Of these measures, three were approved and eight were defeated.

• The 2011 legislative session began March 8 and ended on May 6. An estimated 15 proposals were made by the state legislature; eleven were referred to the statewide ballot.
• The 2012 state legislative session began on January 10, 2012 and ended on March 9, 2012.

De-certifications:

• Florida Religious Freedom, Amendment 7 (2012), which was scheduled to appear on the general ballot, was removed by court order on December 14. However, in light of a law approved in 2011, the Florida Attorney General had the authority to rewrite the proposal. This was done within the allotted 10 days to do so. On December 20, 2011, Attorney General Pam Bondi rewrote the proposal, and therefore the measure was placed on the ballot again as "Amendment 8."

On the ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Amendment 1	Health care	Prevents penalties for not purchasing health care coverage in order to comply with federal health care reforms	d
LRCA	Amendment 2	Taxes	Allows for property tax discounts for disabled veterans	a
LRCA	Amendment 3	State budgets	Replaces existing revenue limits with a new limitation based on inflation and population changes	d
LRCA	Amendment 4	Taxes	Amends commercial and non-homestead property taxes	d
LRCA	Amendment 5	Judicial reform	Gives the Legislature increased control over the judicial branch.	d
LRCA	Amendment 6	Abortion	Prohibits public funds for abortions	d
LRCA	Amendment 8	Religion	Repeals ban of public dollars for religious funding	d
LRCA	Amendment 9	Taxes	Authorizes the legislature to totally or partially exempt surviving spouses of military veterans or first responders who died in the line of duty from paying property taxes	a
LRCA	Amendment 10	Taxes	Provides an exemption from ad valorem taxes levied by local governments on tangible personal property that's value is greater than $25,000 but less than $50,000	d
LRCA	Amendment 11	Taxes	Authorizes counties and municipalities to offer additional tax exemptions on homes of low-income seniors.	a
LRCA	Amendment 12	Government Administration	Revises selection process for student member of Board of Governors of State University System	d

Not on the ballot

See also: Proposed ballot measures that were not on a ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Term Limit Amendment	Term limits	Would increase terms of state senators and state representatives
LRCA	Medical Marijuana Amendment	Marijuana	Would legalize marijuana for medical purposes
LRCA	Judicial Qualification Amendment	Judicial reform	Would require 10 years of legal practice to qualify for county and circuit court judgeships
LRCA	Judicial Retention Amendment	Judicial reform	Increases percentage of votes necessary to retain justices & judges
LRCA	Senate Judicial Confirmation Amendment	Judicial reform	Requires Senate confirmation of justices & judges subject to merit-retention vote
LRCA	Court Rules Amendment	Judicial reform	No court would be allowed to adopt rules of practice & procedure
LRCA	Judicial Commission Amendment	Judicial reform	Records of the commission are to be made public following the filing of formal charges
-	Federal Constitutional Convention Question	Budgets	Would call for a federal constitutional convention to put a balanced budget amendment in the U.S. Constitution
CICA	Renewable Energy Amendment	Energy	Mandates that 20% of energy sold by an electric utility shall be derived from renewable sources by the end of 2020
CICA	Child Protection Amendment (3)	Law	Establishes terms of release for convicted child abusers, compiles list of suspected and convicted child sex offenders and requires background checks for all child care workers
CICA	Trust in Government Amendment	Government	Establishes a fourth branch of state government, the political branch, which will work to establish and ensure duty and accountability in state and local governments
CICA	Right to Direct Democracy Amendment	Direct democracy	Allows for the public to propose and vote on state statutes
CICA	Right to Health Care Amendment (3)	Health care	Mandates that the legislature shall establish a single-payer health care system that all citizen are entitled to.
CICA	Billboard Amendment	Environment	Increases restrictions on billboards and makes them easier to remove.
CICA	Corporate Welfare Amendment	Taxes	Prohibits tax reductions being granted to businesses, as well as, restricts situations in which tax revenue might be transferred to businesses.
CICA	Judicial Conference Amendment	Judiciary	Would create a "judicial conference" with the responsibility of creating rules of practice and procedure in the courts.
CICA	Government Accountability Amendment	Government	Would give the Legislative branch power over all other branches of government, but make it subject to the Florida Commission on Ethics.
CICA	Growth Management Initiative	Democracy	Allows the public to call for voter approval of changes to local growth management plans made by the Legislature.
CICA	Medicaid Care Equality Amendment	Health care	Mandates that Florida Health Care Providers accept and treat all patients with Medicaid, Medipass, and approved Medicaid Substitution Programs equally to all other forms of insured patients.
CICA	Marriage Amendment	Marriage	Overturns the 2008 Amendment to the State Constitution which defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
CICA	Genetically Engineered Food Label Amendment	Business	Mandates that all foods that are Genetically Engineered and sold or distributed in or from Florida be labelled as such.
CICA	Ad Valorem Tax Cap Amendment	Taxes	Limits the power of local government to raise revenue from the ad valorem taxes.
CICA	Stem Cell Research Amendment	Stem cells	Prohibits state tax revenue from being spent on experimentation that involves the destruction of a live human embryo.
CICA	Tax Approval Amendment	Taxes	Mandates that anticipated ad valorem tax revenue increases in excess of three per cent over the previous year require referendum approval.
CICA	School Governance Amendment (2)	Education	Replaces district school board with parental governing councils which have authority to organize schools and determine school tax rates.
CICA	Right to Intimacy Amendment (2)	Intimacy	Mandates that no sexually intimate act between consenting adults will be prohibited or discriminated against. Also, allows legal partnerships to take place between unmarried consenting adults.
CICA	Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative	Marijuana	Grants the right to use marijuana for the treatment of certain ailments when recommended by a physician.
CICA	Bill of Rights Amendment	Rights	Adds a set of general rights to the Florida Bill of Rights.
CICA	"Save Our Schools" Amendment	Education	Protects the Florida Lottery’s Educational Enhancement Trust Fund from being misused buy the state.
CICA	"Fair Wage and Benefits" Amendment	Minimum wage	Establishes many different gradients of prevailing minimum wages based of the federal General Schedule Standard for Each Category of Employment Field.
CICA	Personhood Amendment	Abortion	Applies the term 'person' to every human being from the beginning of biological development
CICA	Oil Drilling Initiative	Natural resources	Makes an offshore drilling ban part of the Florida Constitution
LRCA	Senior Homestead Assessment Amendment	Taxes	Would authorize counties and municipalities to limit assessed value of homesteads of low-income senior citizens.
LRCA	Offshore Drilling Amendment	Natural resources	Would ask whether or not to drill off the Florida coast.
LRCA	State Education Commissioner Amendment	Education	Would change the appointed position to an elected one.
LRCA	County Commissioner Term Limits Amendment	Term limits	Would specify that voters in a charter county do have the power to set term limits for constitutional officers and county commissioners.

Local ballot measures

See also: Local ballot measure elections in 2012

• January 31 • March 13 • April 3 • August 14 • November 6

See also

• 2012 ballot measures
• Procedures for qualifying an initiative in Florida
• Florida signature requirements
• Laws governing the initiative process in Florida
• Campaign finance requirements for Florida ballot measures
• History of Initiative & Referendum in Florida

Articles

• Florida officials refer seven amendments to the 2012 ballot

External links

• Initiatives in progress in Florida
• Florida Division of Elections
• Florida State Senate
• Florida House of Representatives

Additional reading

• The Palm Beach Post,"Florida judges ask to have mandatory retirement age raised," December 20, 2011
• The Miami Herald,"Lawmakers ask voters to weigh in on abortion, taxes and more issues in 2012," May 11, 2011
• Associated Press,"Measures that passed in Fla.'s legislative session," May 7, 2011
• Associated Press,"Fla. lawmakers plan quick start to 2011 session," March 7, 2011
• The Herald Tribune,"Legislature passes 7 ballot items for 2012," May 6, 2011
• Orlando Sentinel "11 state constitutional amendments struggle for voter attention," August 10, 2012</ref>