Herald-Tribune Editorial

June 11, 2017

Florida’s Constitution Revision Commission last week adopted 14 pages of rules to govern its conduct and processes this year and next.

Although the commission was divided on several of the approved rules, as well as on the approach to approving them, there was strong consensus in favor of jettisoning a proposal that would have diminished the standard for transparency established by the last Revision Commission, which met in 1997 and 1998. That improvement could have used reinforcement, but it was encouraging nonetheless.

A Constitution Revision Commission is convened every 20 years and authorized to propose amendments to the state constitution for placement on the statewide election ballot — in this case, in November 2018. Fifteen commissioners, including Chairman Carlos Beruff, were appointed by Gov. Rick Scott, nine each by the House speaker and Senate president, and three by the Florida Supreme Court’s chief justice. The attorney general is also a member.

The meeting in Orlando last week revealed divisions between the commissioners appointed by the governor and the remainder of the appointees. Fortunately, however, improving the “public meetings and public records” section of the rules required little debate. [READ MORE]