Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re Funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research

959 So. 2d 195, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 285, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 960, 2007 WL 1556733
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMay 31, 2007
DocketNos. SC06-2183, SC06-2261
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 959 So. 2d 195 (Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re Funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re Funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research, 959 So. 2d 195, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 285, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 960, 2007 WL 1556733 (Fla. 2007).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

The Attorney General of Florida has requested this Court’s opinion as to the validity of an initiative petition circulated pursuant to article XI, section 3 of the Florida Constitution, including the corresponding financial impact statement. We have jurisdiction. See art. IV, § 10, art. V, § 3(b)(10), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed below, we approve the amendment, ballot title and summary, and the financial impact statement for placement on the ballot.

I. FACTS

On October 9, 2006, the Attorney General received a ballot initiative from the Secretary of State seeking to amend the Florida Constitution to provide for the funding [196]*196of embryonic stem cell research. This amendment is sponsored by Floridians for Stem Cell Research and Cures, Inc. The full text of the proposed amendment reads as follows:

Article X of the Florida Constitution is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following section:
Funding of embryonic stem cell research. (a) There is hereby appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Health the sum of $20 million in each of the ten fiscal years beginning with the year in which this amendment is adopted. With such funds the Department of Health shall make grants for embryonic stem cell research using, or using the derivatives of, human embryos that, before or after formation, have been donated to medicine under donor instructions forbidding intrauterine embryo transfer.
(b) For this purpose, an embryo is “donated to medicine” if and only, under conditions that satisfy applicable requirements for informed consent and do not involve financial inducement to any donor, the persons from whose cells the embryo originates give the embryo to another under written instructions that the recipient shall use the embryo in biomedical research or therapy. “Financial inducement” includes any valuable consideration but excludes (1) reimbursement for reasonable costs incurred in connection with a donation, and (2) reasonable compensation to a donor from whom an oocyte is recovered, and to the donor of any other cell recovered by an invasive procedure, for the preparation for and time, burden, and risk of such recovery.
(c) The funds appropriated hereby shall be granted to nonprofit academic and other research institutions situated within the state. Grantees shall be chosen on the basis of a recommended ordering of applications by scientific merit as reckoned in a peer review process by disinterested experts in the relevant fields.
(d)This provision shall be self-executing and effective immediately upon adoption. This appropriation shall be nonlapsing such that any portion of a yearly appropriation not distributed shall accumulate for distribution in subsequent years. The Department of Health is authorized to promulgate administrative rules for the implementation hereof.

The ballot title for the proposed amendment is “FUNDING OF EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH.” The summary for the proposed amendment states:

This amendment appropriates $20 million annually for ten fiscal years for grants by the Department of Health to Florida nonprofit institutions to conduct embryonic stem cell research using, or using derivatives of, human embryos that, before or after formation, have been donated to medicine under donor instructions forbidding intrauterine embryo transfer. An embryo is “donated to medicine” only if given without receipt of consideration other than cost reimbursement and compensation for recovery of donated cells.

The Financial Impact Statement for this proposed amendment, as prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference, provides: “This amendment requires the state to spend $20 million a year for ten years.”

II. GOVERNING LAW

The citizen ballot initiative process is recognized in the Florida constitution:

The power to propose the revision or amendment of any portion or portions of this constitution by initiative is reserved to the people, provided that, any such [197]*197revision or amendment, except for those limiting the power of government to raise revenue, shall embrace but one subject and matter directly connected therewith.

Art. XI, § 3, Fla. Const.

The process begins when the sponsoring party files a petition and copy of the proposed amendment with the custodian of state records, the Secretary of State. Id. Accompanying this petition are signatures collected from electors across the state. Id. Once the Secretary of State verifies that the threshold number of valid signatures has been reached, notice of the initiative is sent to the Attorney General, who then must request an advisory opinion from this Court. Art. IV, § 10, Fla. Const.; § 16.061, Fla. Stat. (2006). The advisory opinion is to address the ballot initiative’s compliance with article XI, section 3 of the Florida Constitution, which requires that an amendment by ballot touch upon “one subject and matter directly connected therewith.” Art. IV, § 10, Fla. Const.

Through prior case law and advisory opinions, this Court has explained its standard of review as follows:

The Court’s inquiry, when determining the validity of initiative petitions, is limited to two legal issues: whether the petition satisfies the single-subject requirement of article XI, section 3, Florida Constitution, and whether the ballot titles and summaries are printed in clear and unambiguous language pursuant" to section 101.161, Florida Statutes.

Advisory Op. to the Att’y Gen. re Amendment to Bar Gov’t from Treating People Differently Based on Race in Pub. Educ., 778 So.2d 888, 890 (Fla.2000) (citing Advisory Op. to the Att’y Gen. re Right of Citizens to Choose Health Care Providers, 705 So.2d 563, 565 (Fla.1998); Advisory Op. to the Att’y Gen. re Prohibiting Pub. Funding of Political Candidates’ Campaigns, 693 So.2d 972, 974 (Fla.1997)).

When reviewing a proposed amendment to determine compliance with the single subject and ballot summary requirements, this Court has stated that it will “not address the merits or wisdom of the proposed amendment.” Advisory Op. to the Att’y Gen. re Fla. Marriage Prot. Amendment, 926 So.2d 1229, 1233 (Fla.2006) (citing Amendment to Bar Gov’t from Treating People Differently Based on Race in Pub. Educ., 778 So.2d at 891). Additionally:

[W]e have recognized that we “must act with extreme care, caution, and restraint before [we] remove[ ] a constitutional amendment from the vote of the people.” Askew v. Firestone, 421 So.2d 151, 156 (Fla.1982). In elaborating on this latter principle, we have noted that “the Court has no authority to inject itself in the process, unless the laws governing the process have been ‘clearly and conclusively’ violated.” Advisory Opinion to the Attorney Gen. re Right to Treatment & Rehab, for Nom-Violent Drug Offenses, 818 So.2d 491, 498-99 (Fla. 2002). It is within the framework of these fundamental principles that we review ... proposed amendments] and ballot language.

Fla. Marriage Prot. Amendment, 926 So.2d at 1233 (second and third alterations in original).

A. Single-Subject Rule

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
959 So. 2d 195, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 285, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 960, 2007 WL 1556733, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/advisory-opinion-to-the-attorney-general-re-funding-of-embryonic-stem-cell-fla-2007.