Legislative Action
Legislative Action
U nder Rule 2-9.3 (b) – (e), Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, active members of the Bar may file a specific objection to any legislative position adopted by the Board of Governors.Objections properly filed within 45 days of this News issue will be considered for a refund of that portion of mandatory membership fees applicable to the contested legislative position, within an additional 45 days. The Bar’s governing board has the option to grant the appropriate refund to an objector or to refer the matter to arbitration.
The arbitration process will determine solely whether the legislative position is within those acceptable activities for which compulsory membership fees may be used under applicable constitutional law. The objecting member’s fees allocable to the contested legislative position will be escrowed promptly upon receipt of the objection, and any refund will bear legal interest.
Any active member may provide written notice to the executive director of The Florida Bar, setting forth an objection to a particular legislative position. Failure to object within 45 days of this News issue will constitute a waiver of any right to object to a particular legislative position within this notice.
The policy requires the Bar to notice such legislative positions in the next available News issue following their adoption.
Pursuant to Standing Board Policy 9.21, on February 18, 2013, the Executive Committee of The Florida Bar Board of Governors approved the following positions of The Florida Bar:
14. Supports amendment of Article V, Section 8 of the Florida Constitution, to increase the mandatory retirement age for justices and judges, from 70 years to 75 years of age.
15. Supports a merit based process for selecting Florida judges through independent judicial nominating commissions and opposes any changes to the current JNC process that would impair the independence of the commissions.
