A proposal that could jeopardize Children's Services Councils isn't very popular in Sen. Joe Negron's home district, but his fellow state lawmakers showed the idea overwhelming support Wednesday morning.

The Palm City Republican's bill was passed 8-2 by Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Community Affairs Committee, despite passionate objection from people in Negron’s district and elsewhere.

The proposal has gotten Negron in trouble in his Republican-dominated district. If it survives in the Senate, and then through the House, the much-respected Children's Services Council's very existence would require a referendum every six years.

The bill has prompted a possible challenge to Negron's re-election in November, multiple columns arguing against it in Treasure Coast newspapers and a public outcry from children’s services advocates.   

Eight of the state’s 11 Children’s Services districts have been given authority by voter referendums to fund themselves through property taxes.

These agencies, four of which are in Negron’s district, can levy as much as much as 50 cents on every $1,000 of taxable property in a county and are labeled independent.