TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Senate next week is expected to consider a proposal that would lead to voters electing the secretary of state and making the position part of the Florida Cabinet.
The proposal (SJR 882), filed by Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, is slated to come up on the Senate floor Tuesday, according to a "special order calendar" released Thursday.
If approved by the Legislature, the proposal would go before voters in November 2018.
The proposal has drawn only one negative vote in two Senate committees, and a House version (HJR 811) was unanimously approved by one subcommittee.
If the proposed constitutional amendment is ultimately approved, the governor would appoint a secretary of state to serve on the Cabinet from June 1, 2019, through Jan. 3, 2023.
Voters would begin to elect a secretary of state in November 2022, with the first elected secretary of state taking office in January 2023.
Florida in the past had an elected secretary of state, but the position became appointed in 2003 after voters approved a Cabinet reorganization.