Florida Amendment 8, Garnishment of Wages for Debt Obligations Amendment (1942)

Florida Amendment 8
Election date November 3, 1942
Topic Banking policy and State judicial authority
Status Defeated
Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Florida Amendment 8 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Florida on November 3, 1942. It was defeated.

A “yes” vote supported limiting the amount of money that can be taken from a person's income by the courts to pay for debt obligations.

A “no” vote opposed limiting the amount of money that can be taken from a person's income by the courts to pay for debt obligations.

Election results

Florida Amendment 8
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		25,713	38.46%
No		41,152	61.54%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Amendment 8 was as follows:

“

Question 8 Constitutional Amendment Article X Section 1     To amend Section 1 of Article X of the Florida Constitution relating to homestead exemptions, providing that incomes of the head of the family shall be subject to garnishment to the extent of not more than 25% thereof and providing exemptions in case of income of less than $25.00 per week except to the necessities of life as may be defined by the Legislature.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Constitutional changes

Section 1-A. That the salary, wages and income from any source whatsoever due and owing, or to become due and owing to any person who is the head of a family residing in this State, shall be the subject of garnishment in the courts of this State as may be provided by law, to the extent of not more than 25% of such salary, wages and income, for the payment of any obligations arising by express or implied contract subsequent to the adoption of this amendment, provided, however, that the Legislature shall not extend the right of garnishment as herein provided where the salary is $25.00 or less per week, except to necessities of life as may from time to time be defined by the Legislature.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Florida Constitution

A 60% vote was required during one legislative session for the Florida State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounted to a minimum of 51 votes in the Florida House of Representatives and 18 votes in the Florida State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments did not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot. Amendments on the ballot required a simple majority vote in this year.

See also

1942 Measures

• 1942 Measures
• State judicial authority on the ballot
• Banking policy on the ballot
• 1942 legislative sessions

Florida

• Florida ballot measures
• Florida ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Florida Constitution Revision Commission, "Florida's Constitutions: The Documentary History"
• The Miami Herald, "These Are the Nine Amendments Upon Which Voters Will Act In General Election On Tuesday," November 1, 1942