Florida Amendment 7 (2008)

From Ballotpedia

1 Florida Supreme Court pulls Amendment 7 from the ballot
2 Supporters
3 Opponents and lawsuit
- 3.1 Hearing on August 4
4 See also
5 External Links
6 References

Florida Amendment 7 will not appear on the November 4, 2008 ballot in Florida.

The measure was placed on the ballot on April 28, 2008, by the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission (TBRC), along with six other tax-and-budget ballot measures.

The measure would eliminate the constitutional ban in Florida against sending state tax money to religious institutions. It is a commission-referred constitutional amendment. It was approved for the ballot by the TBRC on March 26, 2008.

Florida Supreme Court pulls Amendment 7 from the ballot

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On September 3, 2008, just hours after hearing oral arguments and questioning whether Amendment 7 was misleading to voters, the Florida Supreme Court ruled to have Amendment 7 removed from the ballot. Justices had also raised questions of whether the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission had overstepped its authority. Though the court gave only a one-page ruling stating that Amendment 5, Amendment 7, and Amendment 9 were stricken from the ballot, the court promised further explanation later.^[1]

Supporters

Amendment 7 was written by Patricia Levesque (Bush's top education aide); it received the minimum of votes needed from the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission (18) in order to be placed on the ballot. Levesque says that the issue was put in the constitution in 1885 deliberately to discriminate against religion, specifically Roman Catholic schools. She compares the current constitutional prohibition of state aid for religious groups to the separate-but-equal laws which promoted segregation. The main argument is that faith-based social service programs are at risk of lawsuits.

Other supporters of Amendment 7 are the Florida Catholic Conference, the James Madison Institute, and the Institute for Justice.^[2]

Opponents and lawsuit

Seven members of the TBRC voted against putting Amendment 7 on the ballot, including Senate President John Mckay. Opponents say there is no need for a constitutional amendment in a preemptive strike against lawsuits, and that Florida courts have long been protecting faith-based programs that do good work. Other opponents include the Florida Education Association, The American Civil Liberties Union, and the Anti-Defamation League.^[2]

The Florida Education Association filed a lawsuit against Amendment 7 in early June 2008. The lawsuit, filed in Leon County, Florida, names the Florida Secretary of State as the defendant, and seeks to prevent that office from placing the measure on the November ballot.

The suit claims that when the TBRC put the measure on the ballot, they went beyond its constitutional mandate to recommend taxation and budgetary changes by:

Attempting in Amendment 7 to repeal the constitutional ban on state aid to religious institutions, and

According to Ron Meyer, lead attorney in the lawsuit, "The commission has run amok."

TBRC Chairman Allan Bense said he was confident the amendments will withstand the legal challenge.^[3]

Hearing on August 4

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Leon County Judge John C. Cooper heard two hours of arguments in the lawsuit on Monday, August 4. The Orlando Sentinel reported that he "seemed unimpressed" with parts of the claims brought by the state and pro-school voucher groups. Judge Cooper said he would wait to issue his order late Monday or on Tuesday, August 5.^[4]