Amendment · every Florida voter

Amendment 1A bigger rainy-day fund

Legislative referral (constitutional amendment): Ballot No. 1, placed on the ballot by the Legislature as House Joint Resolution 5019 (2025) . Passes with at least 60% of the votes cast on it.

Read the full text of the measure: Division of Elections full-text file (PDF)

In plain words

The Budget Stabilization Fund is Florida's savings account for emergencies, often called the rainy-day fund. Amendment 1 lets it grow much bigger and makes lawmakers add money to it every year until it does. (ballot title )

Before and after

Question	Today	If Amendment 1 passes
Most the fund can hold	10% of a year's general tax money	25%
Required yearly deposit	None	Up to $750 million a year, until the fund is full
When the deposit can be skipped	Not needed	Years the fund is tapped for a shortfall or emergency, or (two-thirds vote, at most once in five years) a critical state need
Can lawmakers take money out?	Yes, for budget shortfalls and emergencies	Yes, and also for a one-time critical state need if the fund is above 15% (two-thirds vote)
When it starts	Not applicable	January 5, 2027

Numbers come from the official ballot title and from the full text and analyses cited on this page, not from the title alone (ballot title ); also see (flsenate.gov )

Example

Illustration only: for every $100 of general tax money the state collects in a year, the fund could hold up to $25 instead of $10.

Biggest change

Lawmakers would have to move up to $750 million a year into the emergency fund until it reaches the new, higher limit. They can skip the deposit in a year the fund is tapped for a budget shortfall or an emergency, or, by a two-thirds vote of each chamber (at most once every five years), when they decide a critical state need comes first. source: flsenate.gov
The most the fund can hold goes from 10% to 25% of the general tax money the state collects in a year. source: initiativepetitions.dos.fl.gov
Lawmakers could also take money out for a one-time "critical state need", but only by a two-thirds vote of each chamber, only when the fund holds more than 15%, and never leaving it below 10%. source: flsenate.gov

Who it affects most: The state budget. Money set aside for the fund is money that can't be spent that year on services or tax cuts.

Cost to the state: No new tax. It moves up to $750 million a year from spending into savings.

Our plain-words summary. Every line points to its source.

What your vote means

YES

The state must save up to $750 million a year until its emergency fund holds up to 25% of a year's general tax money, instead of the 10% limit today.

The emergency fund stays limited to 10% of a year's general tax money, and the new yearly deposit rule doesn't start.

Our one-line summary. Florida does not publish an official "what your vote means" statement; the ballot title above is the official description.

Why people want it, and why others object

Why this is on the ballot

The Legislature put this on the ballot. It changes the state constitution, so only another statewide vote can change it back. It passes with 60% of the votes cast on it.

Florida last drew on the fund in 2008, during the Great Recession. The Legislature passed the proposal 100-1 in the House and 29-4 in the Senate in 2025. source: wusf.org

Why supporters want it

Then-House Speaker Daniel Perez (R): "This is just a preparation of being prepared for the unexpected." He added, "The state of Florida was not prepared for that recession." source: wusf.org
The Republican Party of Florida endorsed it, saying it "will help strengthen Florida's rainy day fund" so the state can handle storms and downturns "without raising taxes or raiding the budget." source: wusf.org

Why opponents object

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R): "This is a foolish constitutional amendment proposal." He said, "We already have a maxed out rainy day fund and have run the largest surpluses in state history," and urged a NO vote, saying extra money should go to lower taxes instead. source: wusf.org

Who backs each side

For: the Legislature's leaders and the Republican Party of Florida. Against: Gov. Ron DeSantis. We have not found a campaign committee or reported campaign money for either side. source: wusf.org

In each side's own words where we could find them, quoted or summarized with a link to the source. We don't endorse either side.

Claim check

We check facts that people on each side state about this measure. Verdicts: True, Mostly true, Mixed, Mostly false, False, or Too early to tell.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), opposes it: "We already have a maxed out rainy day fund." Mostly true
What we found: The fund is close to its limit but not at it. The limit is 10% of last year's general tax money. In August 2026 the fund held about $4.9 billion. Our math: this year's limit is about $5.2 billion. A year earlier the House counted $4.44 billion against a $4.75 billion limit. source: state economists, Aug 2026 source: state revenue report, June 2026 source: Florida House bill analysis
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), opposes it: "We have run the largest surpluses in state history." True, in dollars
What we found: Money left over at the end of the year hit $13.7 billion in 2022-23. It was under $1.5 billion a year from 2017 to 2021. In 2005, state economists called $4.6 billion in total savings "unprecedented." source: Long-Range Financial Outlook, Sep 2026 source: Long-Range Financial Outlook, 2006
Then-House Speaker Daniel Perez (R), supports it: "The state of Florida was not prepared for that recession." True
What we found: Going into the 2008 recession the fund held about $1.4 billion. Our math: that was about half its limit then. The state's general tax money fell about 13% in one year. Lawmakers took $1.1 billion out of the fund, and the budget was still more than $2 billion short each year. source: state economists, Dec 2009 source: Long-Range Financial Outlook, 2007 source: Florida House bill analysis

Each check uses at least 2 sources, one of them official. Where we did the math ourselves, we say so.

What you will see on your ballot

Official ballot wording, word for word (tap to open)

The official ballot title, word for word from the Division of Elections' full-text file .

BUDGET STABILIZATION FUND.—

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

Copied word for word from the ballot statement at the end of the joint resolution in the Division of Elections file. Your county sample ballot is the final word.

Latest news

Recent reporting from a range of outlets, newest first. We link to it; we don't endorse it.

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Full text of the measure

The full text of the change is in the Division of Elections file. Read it in the Division of Elections full-text file (PDF) , or on the Legislature's page for House Joint Resolution 5019 (2025) , which also shows the votes in each chamber.

We link to analysis from several sources; we don't endorse it.