Florida Amendment 1, Fuel Taxes Amendment (1948)
| Florida Amendment 1 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Taxes and Transportation |
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| Status |
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| Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Florida Amendment 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Florida on November 2, 1948. It was defeated.
A “yes” vote supported establishing that all excise taxes upon gasoline or other motor fuel products be used for public highway, street, and airport purposes. |
A “no” vote opposed establishing that all excise taxes upon gasoline or other motor fuel products be used for public highway, street, and airport purposes. |
Election results
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Florida Amendment 1 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 73,184 | 25.73% | ||
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211,248 | 74.27% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Amendment 1 was as follows:
| “ | NO. 1 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ARTICLE IX, SECTION 17 A proposed amendment to Article IX by adding a section 17 thereto, providing that after July 1, 1949, all excise taxes collected upon gasoline and other fuels for propelling motor vehicles and aircraft be used exclusively for road, street, bridge and airport purposes and indebtedness; that all such taxes, except those collected on aviation fuel, no less than four cents tax per gallon shall be used by the state road department for state road purposes and one cent or more tax per gallon shall be imposed by the legislature and the proceeds distributed to the counties for use in the same manner as provided in Section 16, Article IX, of the Constitution, but with no limitation as to duration of such tax and provided eighty per cent surplus funds shall be expended in the county by the state road department for state roads as directed by the board of county commissioners thereof, and providing further that the taxes collected on aviation fuel shall be used exclusively for airports and access thereto. | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Constitutional changes
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Section 17. All excise taxes now or hereafter imposed upon gasoline or other like products of petroleum or upon all combustible gases and liquids used in internal combustible engines for the generation of power to propel vehicles and aircraft, which are collected and retained shall be used exclusively for the lease, acquisition, construction, reconstruction, repair, operation and maintenance of roads, streets, bridges and rights of way therefor or for airports, or for the payment of indebtedness and interest thereon incurred for the lease, acquisition, construction, reconstruction, repair, operation and maintenance of roads, streets, bridges and rights of way therefor or for airports. Of all state excise taxes collected and retained upon gasoline or other like products of petroleum, except aviation fuel, not less than four cents tax per gallon on such products shall be used by the State Road Department for state road purposes in the manner provided by law. One cent or more tax per gallon upon gasoline or other like products of petroleum, except aviation fuel, shall hereafter be imposed by the legislature and the proceeds retained distributed among the several counties and used in the same manner as the Second Gas Tax is Distributed among the several counties and used by the State Board of Administration, the State Road Department and the several Boards of County Commissioners as provided in Section 16, Article IX, of this Constitution but with no limitation as to duration of such tax; provided 80% surplus funds shall be expended by the State Road Department for state roads in the county as directed by the Board of County Commissioners thereof. Any taxes that may be imposed upon aviation fuel shall be used exclusively for airports and access thereto in the manner provided by law. Nothing in this Section shall repeal or modify Section 16, Article IX, of this Constitution. This Section shall take effect July 1, 1949. |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Florida Constitution
A 60% vote was required during one legislative session for the Florida State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounted to a minimum of 51 votes in the Florida House of Representatives and 18 votes in the Florida State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments did not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot. Amendments on the ballot required a simple majority vote in this year.
See also
External links
- Florida Constitution Revision Commission, "Florida's Constitutions: The Documentary History"
- The Independent, "Study This Ballot -- You Vote on It Tuesday," November 1, 1948
Footnotes
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State of Florida Tallahassee (capital) |
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