The Flagler County Commission Monday evening approved on a 4-0 vote placing a referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot to renew for the third time the school district’s half-penny sales surtax. The vote was not a surprise, though it reflects a shift from Commissioner Joe Mullins, who earlier this month was signaling opposition to the tax.
Amendments and Referendums
How Palm Coast City Council Skirted Charter Change on Its Own Salaries Even As It Was Claiming to Clarify It
Palm Coast City Council member Nick Klufas, like many residents, thought council members’ salaries could only be changed by charter–not, as Mayor Alfin is proposing, by mere council ordinance. His confusion reflects how the last time the council changed the charter had the effect of deceiving voters into thinking exactly what Klufas thought, even as the city was ostensibly trying to clarify the charter. It’s a revealing history of obfuscation by omission that now undermines the legitimacy of council salary increases.
GOP Lawmakers Back Prohibition on Innumerable Ballot Initiatives
Florida voters in recent years have approved high-profile initiatives about issues such as raising the minimum wage and broadly legalizing medical marijuana. Such initiatives would be barred in the future if the House proposal is ultimately approved.
Floridians for Solar Choice Renews Ballot Initiative
Floridians for Solar Choice is organizing a massive statewide effort to collect the required petitions to get the initiative on the ballot. The language has already passed the Florida Supreme Court’s review.
Florida Realtors’ Support for Ballot Initiative to Protect Affordable Housing Fund Rises to $13 Million
If approved by 60 percent of voters, the proposed ballot measure would establish in the Florida Constitution the State Housing Trust Fund and the Local Government Housing Trust Fund. It would require that the trust funds receive at least 25 percent of the revenue from documentary-stamp taxes — which are collected on real-estate transactions — and would detail how the money could be used to address affordable housing.
Dealing Florida Legislature 2nd Blow in 2 Days, Federal Judge Blocks Law Limiting Contributions for Ballot Initiatives
The law, passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature this spring and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, would impose a $3,000 limit on contributions to political committees collecting petition signatures to place proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot.
Florida Supreme Court Justices Again Reject Recreational Pot Amendment Despite Strict Regulatory Language
Justices, in a 5-2 decision, said a proposal by the political committee Sensible Florida included ballot wording that would mislead voters. By the same margin, the court in April rejected a recreational-pot proposal by the committee Make It Legal Florida.
Should School Board Members Be Paid $35,000 a Year? Voters May Decide in 2022.
After debating whether county school board members should be paid, and if ending salaries would threaten diversity on the boards, a House panel took a first step toward letting voters decide the issue in 2022.
It’s Not Trump’s Country — Even in ‘Trump Country’
Many of Trump’s rank-and-file voters aren’t such right-wingers at all: look at the multitude of overtly progressive ballot issues that won majority support on Election Day. Many were in blue states, but others came in purple states, and others deep in so-called “Trump Country.”
Flagler Falls 1% Short But Florida Voters Approve $15 Minimum Wage Phased in By End of 2026
The hike in the minimum wage will be phased in through Sept. 30, 2026, but it will represent a significant move in a state heavily dependent on tourism and the service industry for jobs. It was put on the ballot with the financial help of well-known Orando trial attorney John Morgan.