Skip to content
Amendment 1: Budget Stabilization Fund

Loading search…

Your ballot: 0/23

Research as of Oct. 24, 2026. Early voting runs through Nov. 1; Election Day is Nov. 3. Check your voter info at votehillsborough.gov

Amendment 1: Budget Stabilization Fund

State Constitutional Amendments

Amendment 1: Budget Stabilization Fund

Open in…

Listen: this contest in 1:19

Research as of Oct. 23, 2026

Read by a synthetic voice from this page’s research. A summary, not a recommendation.

Read the transcript

Florida voters will decide whether the state can keep far more money in its rainy-day fund. It needs 60 percent to pass. A Yes vote raises the fund's cap from 10 percent to 25 percent of general revenue, requires deposits of up to 750 million dollars a year, and lets lawmakers withdraw money for critical needs. A No vote keeps the 10 percent cap. The Republican Party of Florida backs it. Chairman Evan Power says government should not spend it all and then come back for more. Democratic nominee for governor David Jolly reportedly supports it with guardrails. Republicans are split: Governor Ron DeSantis calls it foolish and says the fund is already maxed out, and Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor, also opposes it. Two Democratic county parties say No, arguing it ties up money for schools, health care and housing. Hillsborough Democrats make no recommendation. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay's editors say No, noting the fund hasn't been drawn on since 2008. The Tampa Bay Times editorial board recommends No in a syndicated column. A poll sponsored by the James Madison Institute, taken around the start of October, found 42 percent support. No campaign money was found on either side. Research as of October 23, 2026. Sources and the full picture are on this page.

Official sample ballot wording

Constitutional Amendment No. 1

Budget Stabilization Fund

Article III, Section 19

Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to increase the amount of funds that may be retained in the budget stabilization fund from 10% to 25% of general revenue collections, require the legislature to transfer the lesser of $750 million or the amount required to reach 25% of the general revenue collections each year unless certain conditions are met, and allow the legislature to withdraw funds for critical state needs.

Yes · No

60% needed to passWhat this means

Mark your ballot: Amendment 1: Budget Stabilization Fund
EditorialWhy Creative Loafing picks No
  • It would let the state's rainy-day fund grow from 10% to 25% of general revenue; Florida TaxWatch says reaching that could take 22 years.
  • The fund, created in 1992, is nearly full and hasn't been drawn on since 2008. Nothing needs fixing.
  • CL doesn't want to give Tallahassee more control over tax money, and notes Gov. DeSantis is also urging a No.

Ray Roa, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Florida's Constitutional Amendments

Where it stands

FactState amendments (60% needed) · Amendment 1 (Budget Stabilization Fund)

42% yes (1 sponsored poll)

1 poll in the analysis. Research as of Oct. 24, 2026.

Lead recommendationEditorialCreative Loafing Tampa Bay, Oct. 22, 2026

Creative Loafing’s pick

No

Why, as they argue it (our summary of their write-up)

  • It would let the state's rainy-day fund grow from 10% to 25% of general revenue; Florida TaxWatch says reaching that could take 22 years.
  • The fund, created in 1992, is nearly full and hasn't been drawn on since 2008. Nothing needs fixing.
  • CL doesn't want to give Tallahassee more control over tax money, and notes Gov. DeSantis is also urging a No.

Ray Roa · Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Florida's Constitutional Amendments · every pick: the full guide

Creative Loafing’s reporting on this race (1)

Why this leads: The site owner's choice (Oct. 24): the recommendation that best matches the owner's values, shown first on every contest. Still an editorial: one outlet's opinion, not this site's.

The money gap

Fact

The research didn't verify committee money for or against this amendment.

What the research holds

Counts from every page and file
Polls
1
Money-map edges0 with money
5
Network edges
4
Progressive support
7
Progressive oppose
0
Right-leaning support
6
Right-leaning oppose
0
Sources
64
People & groups
18

Tampa Bay Times

EditorialMoney map

No

The Times' case
The Times recommends No.
The other side
The excerpt available did not include detailed reasoning.

EditorialAs recorded in each guide

Progressive guide
No recommendation
Right-leaning guide
No recommendation

Sources differTampa Bay Times on Amendments 1 and 2

Other editorial pages

Opinion columns, not endorsements

No other editorial page in the research has made a pick here.

Endorsements, both lenses

Neither lens is this site's voice

Progressive lens

LensOpen the guide

Summary

YES raises the rainy-day fund cap from 10% to 25% of general revenue and requires yearly transfers (lesser of $750M or the amount needed to hit the cap).

Local note

Hillsborough County Democratic Party: "No Recommendation."

Yes0 support · 0 oppose

No listings found in this guide.

Notes

  • No progressive group supports it. Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Jolly reportedly supports it with guardrails (WLRN).
No7 support · 0 oppose

SupportEndorsement

Labor
Progressive & community organizing
Democratic Party & caucuses
Nonpartisan civic (context)

Conservative side, as noted in this guide

Republican Party of Florida and Florida TaxWatch: YES. Gov. DeSantis and Byron Donalds: NO (want surpluses used for tax cuts).

Searched, nothing found

Florida Policy Institute, Florida Democratic Party (statewide), SEIU Florida, Florida Rising, Progress Florida, ACLU of Florida, Equality Florida, Florida Watch.

Right-leaning lens

LensOpen the guide

Summary

YES raises the rainy-day fund cap from 10% to 25% of general revenue with mandatory yearly transfers. Passed the Legislature 100–1 (House) and 29–4 (Senate); House Speaker Daniel Perez pushed it.

Primary notes

Intra-right split: the sitting Republican governor and the party's nominee against the state party; Florida Politics ties it to wider DeSantis–RPOF and DeSantis–House friction (source).

Yes4 support · 0 oppose

SupportEndorsement

Republican Party & officials
Fiscal / free-market
No2 support · 0 oppose

SupportEndorsement

Republican Party & officials

Progressive side, as noted in this guide

West Central Florida Labor Council and several Democratic county parties say NO; Hillsborough Democrats make no recommendation; Jolly supports it with guardrails.

Searched, nothing found

AFP, James Madison Institute, Florida Chamber, AIF.

Terms

Definition

Sources

64 in the registry, official records first · All sources
Show 54 more sources

Where sources disagree

All conflicts

  • Amendment 1 legislative vote

    • 110–1 / 37–0
    • 100–1 / 29–4

    Resolved: 100–1 / 29–4

    110–1 / 37–0 is Amendment 2's tally; verified against the Senate bill record for HJR 5019.

  • Tampa Bay Times on Amendments 1 and 2

    • A1 No, A2 Yes (money map, via AOL syndication)
    • 'No recommendation' (both endorsement guides)

    Resolved: show the money map's pick with its source, and note the guides found no recommendation

    Guides searched tampabay.com directly; the money map found the syndicated column. Both statuses are real.

Matched from the research's conflict list by contest, candidate, judge or measure name.

Where to vote