{"id":431133,"date":"2026-10-18T10:16:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T10:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/431133\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T10:16:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T10:16:57","slug":"what-florida-voters-need-to-know-about-amendments-1-and-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/431133\/","title":{"rendered":"What Florida voters need to know about Amendments 1 and 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Besides Amendment 3 \u2014 the proposed constitutional amendment to lower property taxes<\/a> \u2014 the Nov. 3 ballot includes two other amendments.<\/p>\n

Amendments 1 and 2 involve the state\u2019s rainy day fund and property taxes on agricultural equipment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The amendments must get 60% of the vote to become law.\u00a0Here\u2019s what Floridians need to know about the proposals:<\/p>\n

Amendment 1<\/p>\n

Florida has a budget stabilization fund<\/a>, also called a rainy day fund, that helps the state in the event of budget shortfalls and other emergencies.<\/p>\n

The state constitution says the overall size of that fund can\u2019t be less than 5% or more than 10% of the previous year\u2019s general revenue collections. The maximum right now<\/a> is around $5 billion.<\/p>\n

Amendment 1<\/a> raises the cap to 25%.<\/p>\n

It also requires the Legislature to put $750 million into the fund every year \u2014 or a smaller amount if that\u2019s all that\u2019s required to bring the fund to that top threshold.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers could suspend an annual transfer if money is pulled that same year to address a shortfall or emergency.<\/p>\n

Additionally, if the Legislature determines there\u2019s a \u201ccritical need\u201d that costs more than $750 million, it can suspend a transfer by a two-thirds vote once every five years.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: What\u2019s Amendment 3?<\/a><\/p>\n

The Republican Party of Florida endorsed Amendment 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cFloridians work hard for what they have. Government should not spend it all and then come back for more,\u201d\u00a0 Florida GOP Chairman Evan Power said in a statement.<\/a> \u201cAmendment 1 keeps Florida prepared for storms, emergencies, and downturns without raising taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that puts the party at odds with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who went so far as<\/a> to call the amendment \u201cfoolish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already have a maxed-out rainy-day fund and have run the largest surpluses in state history,\u201d he wrote in a social media post.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny additional revenue should be used for lower taxes, including assisting local governments with grants so that homestead properties can be exempt from local property tax,\u201d he continued. \u201cSurplus revenue could also be used to remove tolls once the property tax issue is settled.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the GOP gubernatorial candidate to replace DeSantis, is also a no, according to a campaign spokesperson.<\/p>\n

Former congressman David Jolly, the Democratic nominee, says he supports it, according to Florida Politics<\/a>. But he emphasizes the need for guardrails on the money.<\/p>\n

That position isn\u2019t consistent among Democrats either. Some local Democratic groups \u2014 including the Miami-Dade Democratic Party<\/a> and the Palm Beach County Democratic Party<\/a> \u2014 recommend Floridians vote against it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would tie up about $16.4 billion over roughly 22 years that could fund schools, health care and housing now, and it writes budget policy into the Constitution, where it\u2019s hard to fix,\u201d the Palm Beach County Democratic Party wrote on its website.<\/p>\n

Amendment 2<\/p>\n

Amendment 2<\/a> would exempt agricultural equipment and other \u201ctangible personal property\u201d used for farming or agritourism from property taxes, if typically kept on land owned or leased by farmers.<\/p>\n

Examples of exempted equipment include tractors and harvesting machines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hits every farm in the state of Florida, big, small,\u201d said Sen. Keith Truenow of Tavares, a farmer himself and a sponsor of the measure. \u201cSo every one of them is going to get a break on the cost of doing business, which is monumental.\u201d<\/p>\n

Truenow said the measure would help farmers struggling with high prices and would help level the playing field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look at foreign produce or products coming from foreign places, and we\u2019re having to compete with whatever it is that they can bring,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Florida strawberry growers claim harm from unfairly low-priced imports<\/a><\/p>\n

But critics point to a legislative analysis<\/a> estimating the measure would reduce local property tax revenue by about $31 million annually starting in the 2027\u201328 fiscal year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat money would otherwise fund county and municipal budgets: fire and EMS, sheriff\u2019s offices, parks, roads and other local services,\u201d the Hillsborough County Democratic Party wrote on its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt delivers its largest dollar benefit to landowners with the most equipment,\u201d the party also wrote. \u201cA modest exemption cap could have targeted relief to small and mid-size farms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Businesses, including farms, can already receive<\/a> a property tax exemption on the first $25,000 of assessed tangible personal property.<\/p>\n

If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team\u00a0by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 WUSF 89.7<\/p>\n

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We publish their answers word for word.
We name the candidates who never respond.<\/p>\n

Make a donation to support this work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Besides Amendment 3 \u2014 the proposed constitutional amendment to lower property taxes \u2014 the Nov. 3 ballot includes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[8184,88005,116,118,117,115,8527,151182],"class_list":["post-431133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-election-2026","tag-government-politics","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-news","tag-taxes","tag-voter-guides"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431133","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=431133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}