37 proposals on the way to the full CRC.

Thirty-seven proposed amendments--only five dealing with Art. V issues --have cleared committee review at the Constitution Revision Commission and are headed for consideration by the full body.

The CRC concluded substantive committee meetings February 2 and then embarked on several weeks of public hearings on its preliminary proposals. (See stories elsewhere in this News.)

It's still possible that proposals that were defeated in committee could be revived by a majority vote for debate by the full CRC. However, any proposal that goes to voters in November requires the vote of 22 of the commission's 37 members.

After its initial public hearings and public input, the commission had 103 proposals, two derived directly from by citizen proposals and several others suggested by commissioners based on what they heard from the public. Many of the proposals were withdrawn because they were similar to other suggested amendments or it was obvious there was little support. A handful of "shell" amendments were proposed to allow for technical changes to be introduced in the committees.

The court-related amendments that are advancing raise the judicial retirement age, increase the experience required when lawyers want to become trial judges, regulate lobbying activities by former judges and justices, mandate that the Legislature sets fees and costs to compensate court clerks for their expenses in handling criminal cases and other matters where there are no filing fees, and repeal the "Chevron doctrine," as applied in Florida, requiring judges to give weight to governmental interpretations of laws and rules.

Commissioner Bill Schifino, a immediate past Bar President, noted in one of his presentations that the 1997-98 CRC had 189 issues considered by the full commission, compared to the relatively few this year.

Below are the 37 proposals that cleared the initial committee review. The first five affect Art. V., the remaining ones cover a variety of topics ranging from requiring that the lieutenant governor head up a state department to setting term limits for school board members to making it harder to pass future constitutional amendments:

* P-6 creates Art. V., [section]21, requiring state courts and administrative law judges to review any state law or rule de novo without giving deference to an administrative agency's interpretation.

* P-39 creates a new section in Art. V and Art. II restricting lobbying activities of former elected officials and public...