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Currents
November 2018
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amendment would eliminate an existing provision
that ensures victims’ rights do not interfere with the
constitutional rights of the accused.
AMENDMENT 7: VOTE NO
First Responder and Military Member Survivor
Benefits; Public Colleges and Universities: This is
one of the three amendments being challenged in
the state Supreme Court, likely for its confusing
nature. It would do several things: Surviving spouses
of military members and first responders killed in the
line of duty would receive a pay-
ment of death benefits from the
state and would have some edu-
cational costs at public institutions
waived.
Then the amendment turns to
public colleges and universities,
another bundling issue, requiring
that to raise any fee — tuition not
included — a university board of
trustees would need nine votes
out of its 13 members. For a fee
to be raised systemwide, the
State University System’s Board
of Governors would need 12 out
of 17 members to approve. This
also means the costs of college
could be kept down by requiring a
higher threshold to increase fees.
Good. But it also means trustees
can prevent any fee increases,
potentially handicapping a univer-
sity’s ability to pay for services.
Possibly problematic. There’s too
much here. Each should be vet-
ted on the merits individually.
AMENDMENT 8
The state Supreme Court
removed this amendment, related
to charter schools, from the ballot.
AMENDMENT 9: VOTE YES
Prohibits Offshore Oil and Gas
Drilling; Prohibits Vaping in
Enclosed Indoor Workplaces:
This is an easy one for most
Floridians, especially those in
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