INITIATIVE FINANCIAL INFORMATION STATEMENT
Florida Marriage Protection Amendment
SUMMARY OF INITIATIVE FINANCIAL INFORMATION STATEMENT
Florida law currently prohibits marriages between persons of the same sex and defines
“marriage” as the legal union between one man and one woman. The proposed amendment
would place into the Florida Constitution language that defines “marriage” as the legal union of
one man and one woman. The amendment would further prohibit the State from recognizing
any other legal union that is treated as marriage or is the equivalent of such a relationship.
Based on the information provided through public workshops and information collected through
staff research, the Financial Impact Estimating Conference principals expect that the proposed
amendment will have the following financial effects:
•
If domestic partnership registries are deemed substantially equivalent to marriage, their
termination could place registrants at risk of losing specified rights and benefits, such as
those related to health insurance. The fiscal impact is indeterminate.
• A loss of revenue may occur if domestic partnership registries are terminated. There
would be a reduction in local revenue resulting from the elimination of registration fees
associated with the registries. The fiscal impact is expected to be minor.
• Revenue from the issuance of marriage licenses may increase. If the amendment has
the effect of encouraging marriages (between one man and one woman) that were
previously common law marriages, there may be a minor increase in the revenues from
marriage licensing fees. The fiscal impact is expected to be minor.
• Revenue from the domestic violence surcharge may be affected. By invalidating any
union or “substantial equivalent thereof,” this amendment could be raised as a defense
in domestic violence cases, resulting in fewer domestic violence convictions, causing a
decrease in revenues for the Domestic Violence Program. The fiscal impact is