Anyone with ideas for how to change Florida’s Constitution is invited to speak up Thursday. The state Constitutional Revision Commission is stopping in Jacksonville on its listening tour, and the ideas it hears could appear on a ballot next year.
Florida voters must approve any changes to the state Constitution, and those proposed changes typically come from one of four sources, including the Constitutional Revision Commission that meets every 20 years.
The 37-member panel is mostly appointed by the governor, legislative leaders and the Supreme Court Chief Justice. This time around, its members are not terribly geographically diverse, notes Florida Nonprofit Alliance Executive Director Sabeen Perwaiz.
“There’s only one representative from Northeast Florida, and that’s [former Florida Bar President] Hank Coxe,” she said.
She said that makes it all the more important for people to attend the meeting if there are issues specific to the First Coast that need attention.
The Nonprofit Alliance is part of a diverse partnership of organizations called the Partnership for Revising Florida's Constitution, which is trying to rally the public to attend the commission’s meetings.
“For 2018, I think it’s really important for people to know that whatever constitutional amendments are proposed by this commission, they will then be on the ballot,” Perwaiz said.
The Jacksonville meeting will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Florida State College at Jacksonville Kent Campus Auditorium.
People who cannot attend are encouraged to submit their suggestions to Constitutional Revision Commission through its web site instead.
Photo used under Creative Commons license.
Contact Jessica Palombo at 904-358-6315, jpalombo@wjct.org or on Twitter at @JessicaPubRadio.
