TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – There are vastly different and competing views on the impact of Amendment 3 that Florida voters will see on November's ballot.
The amendment would limit what state lawmakers can spend based on a formula of consumer prices and population. Lawmakers who placed the amendment on the ballot say it will force them to make wise choices.
Recommended Videos
Pastor Kevin Thorpe traveled from Gainesville to the state Capital on Monday to join the voices protesting Amendment 3.
"Make certain that the citizens of Florida are aware of how dangerous Amendment 3 is," Thorpe said.
His church was one of more than a half dozen that joined police, firefighters, teachers, retirees and others who say Amendment 3 will be bad for Florida.
"It will not be good for our children," Miami Pastor Richard Dunn said. It will not be good for our seniors."
Colorado is the only other state to adopt the spending cap, and opponents say it failed miserably. That state suspended the cap in 2009.
"It was really the business community that began to come forward and say we are not recovering from our recession like all the states around us," said Jeannette Baust, a college professor from Colorado. "Our hands are tied in terms of offering corporations breaks."
Business groups in Florida support the cap, but they're not actively campaigning for it. They say the Legislature already has the power to control their spending, so the amendment is "like saying save us from ourselves."
One estimate suggests, Amendment 3 would have no impact on revenue until 2020. Another prediction suggests, it would force cuts of $11 billion over the next decade.
Like all amendments, it requires a 60 percent margin of victory to become a part of the state's constitution.
Amendment 3, like the other 10 amendments up for a vote, was placed on the ballot by state lawmakers.