By Kathleen Haughney
The News Service of Florida

The fate of several proposed constitutional amendments lies with the Florida Supreme Court after six of nine proposals set for the November ballot wound up facing legal challenges.

Property taxes, health care, legislative redistricting and class size requirements have all become the subject of challenges in the past two months. And it seems likely that the Supreme Court will be tasked with resolving them all before the November election.

Two amendments, one to repeal the campaign finance law providing public funding to state candidates and another that provides an extra property tax exemption to active duty military members who served outside of the United States, have not faced opposition.

A third proposal, Amendment 4, has been the target of complaints filed with the Florida Elections Commission. But the growth management initiative remains on the ballot after surviving a series of legal challenges over the past several years.

The remaining proposals, however, now find themselves before the state’s highest court.

• Amendment 3 would allow buyers who have not owned a home for eight years the chance to gather an additional homestead exemption on property purchased in Florida after Jan. 1.

• Amendments 5, 6 and 7 deal with the drawing of Florida's legislative and congressional districts. Amendments 5 and 6 are the products of FairDistricts.org, a grassroots organization that was attempting to “remove politics” from the process by spelling out boundary drawing rules, in-cluding prohibitions against favoring incumbents or political parties when drawing districts. Amendment 7 is the Legislature's counter proposal to FairDistricts.org.

The legislative proposal would create certain requirements for how to draw the lines, even if those requirements conflict with the Fair District amendments. Leon County Circuit Judge James Shelfer tossed the amendment.

• Amendment 8 would revise the restrictions on class sizes in Florida schools put into the Florida Constitution in 2002.

• Amendment 9, proposed by the Florida Legislature, would try to exempt Floridians from the health care overhaul pushed by President Barack Obama. Judge Shelfer struck the proposal from the ballot July 29, calling it “manifestly misleading” to voters. The Florida attorney general has filed an appeal with the Florida Supreme Court, but a date for oral arguments has not yet been set.

Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, who sponsored the amendment in the Senate, released a statement Tuesday saying Floridians should have the right to vote on health care choices.

“The Supreme Court should do everything in its power to ensure that the people of Florida have the opportunity to vote on Amendment 9, instead of robbing them of their right to vote like the lower courts did,” he said.