TALLAHASSEE, FL – January 2, 2020 – Litigation attorney George T. Levesque, shareholder in GrayRobinson’s Tallahassee law firm office was quoted in the Florida Politics article "Lawyers for ‘Keep Our Constitution Clean’ Seek Approval from Supreme Court." The article debriefs the actions the Keep Our Constitution Clean political committee, represented by Levesque, have been taking to make it harder to approve constitutional amendments.
A brief filed by the committee advocating for approval from the Supreme Court reads, "The Amendment easily satisfies the requirements of article XI, section 3 of the Florida Constitution, and section 101.161, Florida Statutes." It continues on to state, "The Sponsor, Keep Our Constitution Clean, PC, therefore requests this Court to render an advisory opinion approving the Amendment’s placement on the ballot during the 2020 general election." If ratified, the proposal would require Florida voters to approve potential amendments two separate times on two separate ballots in order to amend the state’s constitution. In November, the political committee added almost $2.5 million to advocate for the change.
Levesque said the group wants to make it more difficult to change the state’s governing document. "We certainly hope that’s one of the byproducts of this because the group that I represent believes that the constitution should not be changed so easily," he said.
In addition to receiving approval from the Supreme Court, the group also needs 766,200 petition signatures to earn a spot on the 2020 ballot. Analysts say the proposal would likely have a significant cost, though that number has not been nailed down. Read the full article in Florida Politics here.