Guide to Florida's 2024 Constitutional Amendment provisions

Get the Point!

As Election Day draws near, cognizant that six proposed constitutional amendments appear on Florida ballots this Fall, the following Hobbservation Point guide is designed exclusively for those who share this blog’s political/ideological perspectives. Feel free to share with all of your family and friends who will vote in the Sunshine State this year!

So, let's get to it:

Florida's Capitol Complex in Downtown Tallahassee…

Amendment 1: Proposed amendment would require members of a district school board to be elected in a partisan election rather than a nonpartisan election and to specify that the amendment only applies to elections held on or after the November 2026 general election. However, partisan primary elections may occur before the 2026 general election for purposes of nominating political party candidates to that office for placement on the 2026 general election ballot.

Hobbservation: Vote "NO!" Until 1998, Florida School Board races were partisan, that was until Amendment 11 was passed changing it to its current non-partisan status (like 40 other states). While it doesn't take an expert political scientist to figure out the personal political preferences of most school board candidates, the possibility of an additional primary election, coupled with the party affiliated posturing that would place platitudes by proxy higher on the totem poll than what's in the best interests of students, administrators, faculty and staff in our districts, leads to the "NO" recommendation as noted above!

Amendment 2: Proposed amendment would preserve “forever fishing and hunting,” including by the use of traditional methods, as a public right and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife. Specifies that the amendment does not limit the authority granted to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission under Section of Article IV of the State Constitution.

Hobbservation: Vote "YES!" Growing up in the 1980's, I certainly spent my share of time hunting with my cousins and friends across North Florida and South Georgia and while I don't get as many opportunities in the woods these days, my hunter's spirit remains strong. Since 2002, Florida's Constitution has guaranteed a right to hunt and fish as a part of the state's "cultural legacy;" what this proposed amendment would add is a provision to guarantee hunting and fishing as ways to "responsibly manage" wildlife and fishing populations. To that end, every time I see wild boars running amok in my neighborhood/area, I think that the same could be best controlled by those of us who are confident with our rifles and scopes—thus, my support for this amendment. 

Amendment 3: Proposed amendment would allow adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise; allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other state licensed entities, to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute such products and accessories.

Hobbservation: Vote "YES!"  In my best Bob Marley voice, "Legalize it!" It's beyond time for Florida to move past the 20th Century faux temperance movement outrage on this low grade narcotic, and realize the billions upon billions of dollars that would fill Florida's coffers by taxing the cultivation and sales of cannabis. Dollars, mind you, that could go to raise the salaries of educators, police officers, fire fighters, and other public service providers whose salaries lag painfully behind other high population states!

Amendment 4: Proposed amendment would provide that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.

Hobbservation: Vote "YES!" It is a shame that we are here, but after former Republican President Donald Trump appointed three of the six conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court during his term, the federal common law right to an abortion as provided per Roe vs. Wade since 1974 was eliminated in the Court's 2022 Dobbs vs. Jackson decision, one that subsequently placed the issue of abortion regulation in the hands of the individual states. Right on cue, the Republican dominated Florida legislature moved to restrict abortion rights; this proposed amendment would take significant authority away from the Republican legislature by allowing women an exclusive right to terminate a pregnancy up to fetal viability (24 weeks per Florida law), and with respect to the health of the mother, leave decisions to terminate after 24 weeks exclusively in the hands of women and their medical providers—as it should be since such are private matters!

Amendment 5: Proposed amendment would require an annual adjustment for inflation to the value of current or future homestead exemptions that apply solely to levies other than school district levies and for which every person who has legal or equitable title to real estate and maintains thereon the permanent residence of the owner, or another person legally or naturally dependent upon the owner is eligible.

Hobbservation: Vote "NO!" Opponents of this measure, including the Florida State Conference of Branches of the NAACP, Florida For All, and the National Organization of Women, have lamented the loss in millions of dollars to cities, counties, and special districts for services that benefit all residents in those areas; the Hobbservation Point joins their opposition!

Amendment 6: Proposed amendment would repeal provisions in the State Constitution which require public financing for campaigns of candidates for elective statewide office who agree to campaign spending limits.

Hobbservation: Vote "NO!" Under current Florida law, in statewide campaigns for governor, attorney general, CFO, and Agriculture Commissioner, candidates receive public finance in proportion to small contributions from individual donors of $250 or less. If this amendment is passed, it would remove any incentives for such candidates to appeal to individual donors as provided in public campaign laws passed in 1986 and 1998, while increasing the likelihood of high end donors, including corporations, to "buy" political allegiance from the politician of their choosing. 

Be sure to stay tuned to the Hobbservation Point for more Election '24 endorsements and coverage in the days ahead!