Demise of amendments disappoints bishops
Posted: 09.04.08
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ORLANDO | The Florida Supreme Court stripped from the Nov. 4 ballot two proposed constitutional amendments that the state’s Catholic bishops say would have enhanced religious freedom and education and protected vital human services.
In a unanimous decision Wednesday, Sept. 3, the justices rejected Amendments 7 and 9. Amendment 7 would have removed existing language in the Florida Constitution that bars religious entities from participating in government programs or receiving public money directly or indirectly. Amendment 9 would have allowed for public funding of school–choice alternatives, including religious schools.
“We are very disappointed in the court’s ruling,’’ said Mike McCarron, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops on public policy matters. “Faith–based organizations provide a broad range of services for the benefit of all Floridians and in particular our state’s most vulnerable and in need. It is regrettable that Floridians, as recipients of these services, will not have the opportunity to vote on these two amendments which would have safeguarded vital health, education and social service programs.”
Opposition to the amendments was directly mostly toward programs that allow students to attend private and parochial schools at the state’s expense. But faith–based providers of health and social services argued the language Amendment 7 sought to remove from the constitution could also apply to them.
The Florida Education Association, the Florida Association of School Administrators and the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, sued to block the amendments on the grounds that the state’s Taxation and Budget Reform Commission exceeded its constitutional authority by placing them on the ballot. The commission, created by a 1988 amendment to Florida’s Constitution, meets every 20 years to review Florida’s methods of raising and spending money. It is empowered to place proposed constitutional amendments directly on the ballot without the approval of the Legislature or automatic review by the Supreme Court.
Florida’s bishops and other Catholic and non–Catholic religious interests intervened in the suit, defending the proposed amendments. Among them were Mercy Hospital and Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami, Friends of Lubavitch of Florida and Association of Christian Schools International.
Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision reversed an early–August ruling by a circuit judge that the state commission had not exceeded its authority.
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