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Proposed Measure Would Make It Harder To Amend Florida Constitution

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - With state lawmakers also considering the idea, a political committee has filed a proposed ballot measure that could make it harder to amend the Florida Constitution.

A committee known as Keep Our Constitution Clean PC filed the proposal last week at the state Division of Elections.

Under it, passage of proposed constitutional amendments would require support from two-thirds of voters, up from the current 60 percent.

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee is scheduled Wednesday to take up a proposal (SJR 232), filed by Chairman Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, that also seeks a two-thirds threshold for approval of proposed constitutional amendments.

The proposals come after voters in November passed 11 constitutional amendments on issues ranging from holding down property taxes to banning greyhound racing.

Changing the approval threshold from 60 percent to two-thirds would require taking the issue to voters in the 2020 election.

Keep Our Constitution Clean PC would need to submit 766,200 petition signatures to get on the 2020 ballot.

Lawmakers also have the power to place issues on the ballot.

(©2019 CBS Local Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The News Service of Florida's contributed to this report.)

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