Amendment Positions by Pinellas Commissioner Ken Welch

Ken Welch is Chairman of the Pinellas Board of County Commissioners; he represents District 7.

My positions on the 12 amendments

• Amendment 1 – No: this amendment reduces local funding for public safety, housing, transportation; renters and two-thirds of homestead properties don’t benefit.
• Amendment 2 – No: this amendment reduces local government funding; it should be a local decision.
• Amendment 3 – No: this amendment limits means of placing amendments on the ballot.
• Amendment 4 – Yes: this amendment gives a second change for ex-offenders to become full citizens.
• Amendment 5 – No: this amendment limits ability for the Florida legislature to generate revenue, even in emergencies.
• Amendment 6 – No: this amendment combines unrelated issues, including the mandatory retirement age for judges, crime victims’ rights, and court preemption.
• Amendment 7 – No: this amendment combines unrelated issues, including the setting of university fees, death benefits for first responders, and the imbedding of decisions regarding the Florida College System into the state constitution.
• Amendment 9 – No: this amendment preempts local decision-making for the types of constitutional officers elected by the people.
• Amendment 10 – No: this amendment combines unrelated issues, including makes gun laws retroactive (including Stand Your Ground), immigrant property rights, and high-speed rail retraction.
• Amendment 11 – No: per the Tampa Bay Times, “Some gun-rights groups see this as a way to ensure that the revised Stand Your Ground law, which requires prosecutors, not defendants, to meet the burden of proof in pretrial hearings, could be applied retroactively.
• Amendment 12 – No: this amendment would impose a six-year ban on lobbying for former elected officials and government employees, an increase from the current two-year prohibition; I would support a shorter time period.
• Amendment 13 – No: Greyhound racing should not be addressed in the Florida Constitution.