A Republican in the Florida Legislature seeks to make it more difficult to amend the state constitution

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Three precincts vote at Feather Sound Community Church near Ulmerton Road in Pinellas County. By Ashley Whitney/WMNF News (2015 file).

A proposal to make it harder to change the Florida Constitution is back for the 2024 legislative session.

Rep. Rick Roth, R-West Palm Beach, on Friday filed a proposal (HJR 335) that would require the approval of 66.67 percent of voters to amend the Constitution, up from the current 60 percent.

The House during the 2023 session passed a similar measure in a 74-35 vote, but the issue died in the Senate.

Backers of making it harder to change the Constitution have pointed to what they consider a proliferation of ballot proposals in recent years.

Critics have countered that amending the Constitution is the only way to pass issues that the Legislature will not take up.

Voters approved increasing the threshold from a majority to 60 percent in 2006.

The 2024 session will start in January.

If Roth’s proposal is approved by the Legislature, it would then have to go before voters in November 2024.

That is because raising the threshold itself requires changing the Constitution.

©2023 The News Service of Florida

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