The Senate Criminal Justice Committee approved a plan Monday to restore the voting rights of most ex-felons with fewer restrictions than the House plan. The measure now heads to the Senate floor.

Stung by critics who said a House proposal to implement the constitutional amendment would create a new Jim Crow law by imposing a poll tax, senators voted to require only fees imposed by a judge be paid before voting rights are restored.

Bills in both the Florida House and Senate set the definitions of the terms used in the constitutional initiative approved by voters. Both define a sentence complete when felons pay back all court-ordered fees to regain the right to vote.

More:House Committee passes Amendment 4 bill, requires ex-felons to pay court costs and fees

“The problem here is that many hardworking returning citizens with limited job opportunities are unable to earn enough to pay restitution completely,” Cecile Scoon of the Florida League of Women Voters told the panel.

“The League contends they should not be punished for life with the denial of the right to vote."

Voters approved Amendment 4 in November to restore voting rights to most felons upon completion of their sentence but excludes those convicted of murder and felony sex offenses. Elections supervisors have asked the state to clarify the qualifications.

A House bill to implement the initiative includes all court costs, fees and restitution. It has been roundly criticized by editorial boards across the nation, including the Washington Post. Florida has some of the highest court fees in the nation – and a Brennan Center for Justice study found an estimated 80 percent of felons leave prison in debt due to fines and fees.

The New York Times heralded the “Return of the Poll Tax,” when it editorialized on the House bill. The Washington Examiner called out lawmakers for “trying to undo Amendment 4.” And Slate charged “Republicans are sabotaging Amendment 4.”

Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, chairs the Criminal Justice Committee. He explained to dozens of onlookers who had gathered Monday to speak against the proposal that lawmakers were bound by the ballot language and Amendment 4 supporters’ testimony before the Supreme Court.

Perry and Sens. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg and Jason Pizzo, D-Miami, discussed ways to reduce the number of ex-felons who would be excluded by the Legislature’s definitions of the terms voters approved by a 64 percent margin.

The Senate version defines sexual offenses as those that would require someone to register as a sex offender.

But it would still require an ex-felon to pay any fees imposed by a judge as part of the sentence. Sen. Randolph Bracy, D-Orlando, objected and referred to Perry’s opening remarks that lawmakers were bound by the parameters set by the ballot language.

“There is nothing that mentions financial obligation in the written constitutional amendment. It does not say financial obligation to be completed,” said Bracy. “You are essentially telling these people you won’t be able to vote.”

Many fees are mandatory under state laws and county ordinances. A 1998 constitutional amendment requires courts to be funded entirely by fines and fees, so many of the fees are imposed at the county level and not by a judge.

Brandes amended the bill to require felons to pay only the fees set by a judge as part of the sentence. But Bracy and a long line of speakers would not buy the compromise he and Perry offered.

The criticism seemed to exasperate Brandes. In the face of criticism from the Fines and Fees Justice Center, he asked what lawmakers could do other than follow the plain meaning of the language the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition used at its web site and in their Supreme Court testimony that fines, and fees are part of a sentence.

“For the purposes of voting rights, we feel monetary obligations should not be a bar from this fundamental right to vote,” responded Ashley Thomas, the center’s Florida director.

“But that is not what the Constitution said,” replied Brandes. “It says all terms of sentence.”

“Correct," said Thomas. “What I’m offering is a simple definition which is completion of the terms of incarceration, probation and parole. Which colloquially, what many people in our community think of . . . when sentence is complete.”

A spokesman for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition called the Senate bill a step in the right direction because it takes a less restrictive approach than the House.

The measure passed on a 3 -2 party-line vote. It’s next stop is the Senate floor.

Writer James Call can be contacted at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on Twitter @CallTallahassee