Jacob Ogles
A plan to repeal the Constitution Revision Commission appears dead in the House.
Rep. Brad Drake, the bill’s sponsor there, confirmed to Florida Politics the joint resolution (HJR 249) will not be heard.
He expressed dismay the commission will likely meet again in another couple decades: “18 years from now, the headlines will say: ‘Clandestine Committee to Meet.’ “
That’s despite the Florida Senate voting last week in favor of the measure.
The Florida Constitution calls for the CRC to meet every 20 years and propose amendments. The CRC in place in 2017-18 proposed a number of amendments that were heavily criticized for bundling unrelated issues together.
Drake predicts that’ll be a problem again.
He suggested just what the 2037-38 CRC may do: “On tap is Proposal No. 13, which consists of a bundled proposal that will include: 1) Regulation and the use of magic carpets as TNCs. 2) Prohibition of carbonated beverages to children under the age of 16. 3) Palmetto Bug eradication limited to summer season only. 4) $30/hr minimum wage.”
In the Senate, only four senators voted against the measure. That including Thonotosassa Republican Tom Lee and St. Petersburg Democrat Darryl Rouson, who both served on the 2017-18 CRC.
“I just think we’re throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” Lee argued on the Senate floor.
Other powerful figures in the legislative process also may have sentimentality for the board: future House Speaker Chris Sprowls and now-Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez.
The House version has largely sailed through committee.
Advocates of repeal say the CRC holds too much power and no accountability. Other avenues to amend the constitution remain, including joint resolutions passed by the House and Senate and a citizen initiative process.
5 comments
Don Goldstein
April 30, 2019 at 10:42 am
If the bundling of amendments is the issue, then why not support SJR 74, passed unanimously by the Senate, and HJ 744, still on the House calendar. These resolutions would require the CRC to follow the “single issue” principal, thus eliminating the bundling problem. I agree with Senators Lee and Rouson, eliminating the CRC is throwing the baby out with the bath water and appears to be another attempt by the legislature to limit the power of the people.
steve grabarczyk
April 30, 2019 at 6:48 pm
Thats not it Don and you know it. But, the fun is about to begin. The CRC will be shredded in Federal Court, all your back door political deals to get unconstitutional 13 on the ballot are about to be exposed, and 13 will be gone and your “friends” will have to tell the truth ot go to jail for perjury. The lawyers are ready, can’t wait.
steve grabarczyk
April 30, 2019 at 6:48 pm
Thats not it Don and you know it. But, the fun is about to begin. The CRC will be shredded in Federal Court, all your back door political deals to get unconstitutional 13 on the ballot are about to be exposed, and 13 will be gone and your “friends” will have to tell the truth or go to jail for perjury. The lawyers are ready, can’t wait.
Larry Gillis, Executive Committee, Libertarian Party of Florida
April 30, 2019 at 12:43 pm
The central problem here is the “appointment-by-politicos” method of populating the CRC.
FYI, the State of New Hampshire — a truly be-knighted jurisdiction — ELECTS the members of the Constitutional Convention. If you look at the membership of the most recent FCRC, it is wall-to-wall members of the Establishment. That, my friends, is a problem, a big one.
steve grabarczyk
April 30, 2019 at 6:49 pm
Right Larry, and the lawsuit coming to reverse Amendment 13 will expose ALL the chicanery that took place. http://www.overtutn13.org
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