Amendment 3
: State Government Revenue Limitation

Synopsis:

Since 1995, Florida has set a cap for the amount of revenue it can spend every year from taxes and fees imposed on everything from gasoline and tobacco sales to tax rates).

If passed, Amendment 3 would impose a stricter formula for calculating the revenue limit and, as a result, increase the likelihood it would affect government revenue (taxes, licenses, fees, fines, or charges for services) in good and poor economic times.

A vote NO on Amendment 3:

• Would maintain the existing state revenue limitation based on personal income growth.
• Would make it less likely that state growth and public services would be constrained by a revenue limitation.
• Would preserve the Legislature’s current flexibility in responding to budgetary concerns and changing economic conditions.

Amendment 6: Prohibition on Public Funding of Abortions; Construction of Abortion Rights

Synopsis:

Federal law prohibits the expenditure of federal funds for most abortions (exceptions include rape, incest and threats to a mother’s life). If passed, Amendment 6 would enshrine those prohibitions in the state constitution.

Because Florida law already prohibits public funds from being spent on abortion, this would not change current abortion funding practices. Rather, passage would show a majority of the state’s voters support existing federal restrictions.

There is another provision in the amendment, however, that would affect abortion law in Florida. That provision concerns a privacy right in the state Constitution that is sometimes used to thwart anti-abortion measures in Florida. In 1980, Florida voters passed an amendment that says, in part: “Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person’s private life…” This privacy clause has been cited when defending abortion rights in Florida.

If passed, Amendment 6 would prevent courts from concluding in abortion cases that the right to privacy in Florida is broader in scope than the right to privacy afforded in the U.S. Constitution. Supporters say this amendment puts the state on even footing with the federal government. Opponents say it is a preemptive strike on a woman’s right to choose.

Sponsor: The Florida Legislature

Background:

Attempts by lawmakers over the years to pass abortion restrictions, such as parental notification for pregnant minors and laws requiring doctors to counsel women about abortion alternatives, were rejected by courts that cited the state’s constitutional right to privacy. Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, and state Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, sponsored this measure in 2011. It passed the House and Senate largely along party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats against.

A vote YES on Amendment 6:

• Would mean that Florida’s constitutional right to privacy is not applicable to abortion-related issues.
• Could allow more restrictive abortion laws to be found constitutional by Florida courts.
• Would restate in the Florida Constitution federal and state law that prohibits public funds from being used for abortion or