Bill Text: FL S1630 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Recall of Statewide Executive Branch Officers

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2022-03-14 - Died in Ethics and Elections [S1630 Detail]

Download: Florida-2022-S1630-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2022                                   SJR 1630
       
       
        
       By Senator Farmer
       
       
       
       
       
       34-00318-22                                           20221630__
    1                       Senate Joint Resolution                     
    2         A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 5
    3         of Article IV of the State Constitution to provide a
    4         process for the recall of the governor, the lieutenant
    5         governor, and members of the cabinet.
    6          
    7  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    8  
    9         That the following amendment to Section 5 of Article IV of
   10  the State Constitution is agreed to and shall be submitted to
   11  the electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next
   12  general election or at an earlier special election specifically
   13  authorized by law for that purpose:
   14                             ARTICLE IV                            
   15                              EXECUTIVE                            
   16         SECTION 5. Election of governor, lieutenant governor and
   17  cabinet members; qualifications; terms; recall.—
   18         (a) At a state-wide general election in each calendar year
   19  the number of which is even but not a multiple of four, the
   20  electors shall choose a governor and a lieutenant governor and
   21  members of the cabinet each for a term of four years beginning
   22  on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of the
   23  succeeding year. In primary elections, candidates for the office
   24  of governor may choose to run without a lieutenant governor
   25  candidate. In the general election, all candidates for the
   26  offices of governor and lieutenant governor shall form joint
   27  candidacies in a manner prescribed by law so that each voter
   28  shall cast a single vote for a candidate for governor and a
   29  candidate for lieutenant governor running together.
   30         (b) When elected, the governor, lieutenant governor and
   31  each cabinet member must be an elector not less than thirty
   32  years of age who has resided in the state for the preceding
   33  seven years. The attorney general must have been a member of the
   34  bar of Florida for the preceding five years. No person who has,
   35  or but for resignation would have, served as governor or acting
   36  governor for more than six years in two consecutive terms shall
   37  be elected governor for the succeeding term.
   38         (c) The governor, lieutenant governor, and each cabinet
   39  member is subject to recall from office by electors who are
   40  registered and qualified to vote in the recall election.
   41         (d) The power to recall the governor, the lieutenant
   42  governor, or a cabinet member may be invoked by filing with the
   43  custodian of state records a petition signed by a number of
   44  electors equal to 25 percent of the votes cast in the last
   45  preceding gubernatorial election. A separate petition must be
   46  circulated for each officer sought to be recalled; however, if
   47  the governor is recalled, the lieutenant governor is also
   48  recalled.
   49         (1) A proposed recall must be submitted to the electors at
   50  a general election held more than sixty days, but not later than
   51  one hundred twenty days, after the petition for recall is filed
   52  with the custodian of state records. The recall must be the only
   53  question on the ballot.
   54         (2) Upon certification that the proposed recall was
   55  approved by vote of a majority of the electors voting on the
   56  measure, the recalled officer is removed from office.
   57         (3) After a successful recall, vacancies of any office must
   58  be filled by a process provided by law until a special election
   59  can be held to fill the office.
   60         (4) A special election to fill the vacated office must be
   61  held no more than sixty days after a successful recall election
   62  is certified. Candidates elected to fill offices vacated as a
   63  result of a successful recall election shall serve for the
   64  remainder of the term of the recalled officer.
   65  
   66         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
   67  placed on the ballot:
   68                      CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT                     
   69                        ARTICLE IV, SECTION 5                      
   70         RECALL OF STATEWIDE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OFFICERS.-Proposing an
   71  amendment to the State Constitution to provide a process for the
   72  recall of the governor, the lieutenant governor, and members of
   73  the cabinet. This amendment does not recall any officer, but
   74  instead creates a process that would allow for the future recall
   75  of specified executive branch officers.