{"id":332884,"date":"2026-07-08T10:13:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T10:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/332884\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T10:13:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T10:13:15","slug":"bipartisan-former-lawmakers-sue-over-florida-property-tax-overhaul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/332884\/","title":{"rendered":"Bipartisan former lawmakers sue over Florida property tax overhaul"},"content":{"rendered":"

A bipartisan pair of former Florida lawmakers is challenging a proposed constitutional amendment on property taxes<\/a>, arguing voters are being presented with a politically charged and misleading description of a measure that could gut local government finances<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Former U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, who also served as Senate Democratic leader during his tenure in the Florida Legislature, and former state Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, filed a lawsuit July 7 in Leon County Circuit Court seeking to prevent Amendment 3<\/a> from appearing on the November 2026 ballot unless its title and summary are rewritten.<\/p>\n

The suit, which names Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Attorney General James Uthmeier as defendants, is the third legal challenge to the property tax proposal<\/a> approved during a June special session of the Republican-controlled Legislature.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former U.S. Rep. Al Lawson Jr.<\/p>\n

Lawson and Brandes argue the ballot language is written to persuade voters rather than inform them and\u00a0fails\u00a0to explain the amendment’s potential impact on local governments and public services.<\/p>\n

Lawson: ‘We have a dishonest amendment’<\/p>\n

“The reason for this lawsuit is because the Legislature did not do their job,” Lawson told the USA TODAY Network – Florida. “This is totally, really dishonest to pass this on and put it out there for the voters without letting these people know what’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n

Lawson spent 28 years in the Florida Legislature and said he has never seen a constitutional amendment presented this way.<\/p>\n

“It’s totally misleading. We have a dishonest amendment on the ballot in November,” Lawson said.<\/p>\n

Lawson said the ballot language\u00a0fails to\u00a0tell voters how the proposal could affect local government services such as fire and police protection.<\/p>\n

Brandes: ‘Legislature rushed proposal without analysis’<\/p>\n

Brandes, who served 12 years in the Florida Senate, echoed Lawson’s criticism in an interview, arguing that lawmakers rushed the proposal through the Legislature without sufficient analysis.<\/p>\n

\"Senate<\/p>\n

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Jeff Brandes leads a meeting of the body in the Knott Building Monday, Jan. 25, 2021.<\/p>\n

“I definitely don’t think the Legislature did its job,” Brandes said. “Roundabouts get more due diligence than this constitutional amendment.”<\/p>\n

The amendment originated from a property tax proposal championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a> in a bid to cement his conservative legacy in Florida. While the governor initially promoted broader property tax reforms, lawmakers approved\u00a0a somewhat narrower version\u00a0in June\u00a0that would increase homestead exemptions and create a pathway toward\u00a0eliminating\u00a0certain non-school property taxes on homesteaded properties.<\/p>\n

Despite dialing back DeSantis’ original plan, Brandes said lawmakers moved forward without sufficient fiscal data.<\/p>\n

“Here we are a month later, and we’re still crowdsourcing its impacts,” he said. “These are the types of things that\u00a0just have\u00a0not been thought through. The Legislature never looked at the data.”<\/p>\n

Legislators convene for special session on property taxes<\/p>\n

1 of 24<\/p>\n

Rep. Omar Blanco, right, speaks with another man during a special session called to discuss property taxes Tuesday, June 2, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Alicia Devine\/Tallahassee Democrat)Six alleged problems with Amendment 3<\/p>\n

Brandes cites several problems with the amendment and its ballot language:<\/p>\n

The title,\u00a0“Save Our Homes\u00a0from\u00a0Excessive Property Taxes,”\u00a0uses advocacy language rather than neutral language.<\/p>\n

The claim that the amendment\u00a0“benefits Florida taxpayers”\u00a0ignores taxpayers who could be negatively affected.<\/p>\n

The promise of\u00a0“ensuring funding for core services”\u00a0is undefined and lacks specifics.<\/p>\n

The assertion that it\u00a0“protects small businesses”\u00a0may be inaccurate because some businesses could face higher tax burdens.<\/p>\n

The claim of\u00a0“ensuring fairness for Florida residents”\u00a0overlooks renters, who receive no direct benefit.<\/p>\n

The amendment\u00a0fails to\u00a0disclose\u00a0broader consequences for local governments, including fiscal and governance impacts.<\/p>\n

Concerns about home rule and local control<\/p>\n

Brandes also warned that the proposal could fundamentally alter the balance of power between Tallahassee and local governments.<\/p>\n

“Nothing says in this amendment that this restricts your home rule,” he said. “Nothing says that you will have to ask Tallahassee for permission going forward for certain decisions that your community makes.”<\/p>\n

\"Money<\/p>\n

Money Metals Exchange stands out for its broad product selection and company-operated depository.<\/p>\n

He argued that smaller governments could become dependent on state officials for funding decisions and lose autonomy.<\/p>\n

“The governor is about to be the mayor of dozens of small towns and counties around the state of Florida,” Brandes said. “Because he’s ultimately going to control what they can spend money on, how they’re spending money, how many police officers and firefighters they hire.”<\/p>\n

The lawsuit argues voters are not receiving an objective explanation of Amendment 3, which would increase Florida\u2019s homestead property tax exemption.<\/p>\n

Brandes and Lawson hired the Tallahassee-based Spellman Law firm for the suit. Their attorneys wrote that the proposal\u00a0represents\u00a0a \u201csea change\u201d in state tax policy and local government finance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe voters who must decide on the sea change proposed by the Legislature are not being given the full and accurate story they deserve,\u201d the complaint states.<\/p>\n

What happens next<\/p>\n

The lawsuit takes issues with the ballot title, \u201cSave Our Homes from\u00a0Excessive\u00a0Property Taxes\u201d as an attempt to elicit an emotional response from voters rather than neutrally describing the amendment.<\/p>\n

It also challenge portions of the ballot summary that say the measure would \u201cbenefit Florida taxpayers,\u201d \u201censure funding for core services,\u201d \u201cprotect small businesses,\u201d and \u201censure fairness for Florida residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those statements, the lawsuit argues, amount to political talking points rather than factual descriptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut equally passionate opponents will argue that the tax is regressive, harmful, unfair, and dangerous to the health and safety of Florida\u2019s citizens,\u201d the complaint states,<\/p>\n

If successful, the lawsuit would not prevent Floridians from voting on Amendment 3.\u00a0Instead, the court could require the attorney general’s office to revise the title and summary before the measure appears on the ballot.<\/p>\n

DeSantis has said previously that he hopes courts rule on the lawsuits \u201cpretty quickly,” noting that election officials have to print ballots likely in August for the general election.<\/p>\n

He also has warned critics and “big government advocates” to “be careful what you wish for” if judges strike the language and let the attorney general write the amendment.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the ballot measure passed by the Legislature differs from my proposal, it is the best opportunity Floridians have had in years to obtain meaningful relief,\u201d DeSantis wrote on X, amid criticism of the proposal. \u201cIt is not \u2018progressive\u2019; it applies to all FL homesteads, modest to extravagant.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Lawson and Brandes, the issue is less about the policy itself than ensuring voters understand its consequences before casting their ballots.<\/p>\n

“When you put something on the ballot, you have to be honest with your constituents,” Lawson said. “This is wrong.”<\/p>\n

James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on X: @CallTallahassee.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Bipartisan former lawmakers sue over Florida property tax overhaul<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A bipartisan pair of former Florida lawmakers is challenging a proposed constitutional amendment on property taxes, arguing voters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[23346,129194,36936,28,30,100,29,11341,16665,829,7074],"class_list":["post-332884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-al-lawson","tag-ballot-language","tag-constitutional-amendment","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-legislature","tag-florida-news","tag-jeff-brandes","tag-local-government","tag-local-governments","tag-property-taxes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}