Florida Dems Move to Ban Taxpayer-Funded Political Ads After Gov's Pricey Alleged 'PSAs'

TALLAHASSEE—Florida Senate Democrats plan to file a bill this session banning the use of taxpayer money for political advertising, prompted by Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration using millions of Florida dollars to fund ads against abortion and marijuana initiatives.

Though Sen. Tina Polsky (D-Boca Raton) doesn't know which member will file the legislation, she feels her party must make a statement against the DeSantis administration and the Legislature's Republican supermajority.

"It doesn't have a chance [at getting broad support], but it's important to us that we make statements about the use of our money and I'm gonna hold their feet to the fire," she told reporters Tuesday, minutes after a slew of new members were sworn in at the state Capitol. "If they're going to be fiscally conservative, then be fiscally conservative with our money and don't violate the law."

The bill is borne from the DeSantis administration's controversial use of over $50 million in public funds for ads opposing ballot amendments that would have expanded abortion access and legalized recreational marijuana. State agencies like the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Health, the Department of Children and Families, and the Department of Transportation all funded websites or TV ads lauding Florida's six-week abortion ban and knocking marijuana use.

While the Florida Constitution bans the state government from using taxpayer dollars to influence elections, and Florida statute bans local governments from using public funds on political ads, using taxpayer dollars on public information campaigns or public service announcements is legal.

And that's exactly what the DeSantis administration claims they did.

They argue that the state departments' ads were PSAs—not political ads—designed to educate Floridians on the dangers of the marijuana amendment (Amendment 3) and the abortion amendment (Amendment 4), both of which failed despite majority support because they didn't meet the 60 percent threshold needed to pass.

Notably, Amendment 4 was the first ballot initiative in state history to fail after being approved by six million people.

"We wanted [Floridians] to cast a vote based on accurate information," said Senate President Ben Albritton (R-Wauchula), who was involved in some of the advertisements. "Using taxpayer dollars in an effort to educate taxpayers on the issues that we have at hand is a reasonable use of those monies."

New House Speaker Danny Perez (R-Miami) was less gung-ho, telling reporters that in his mission to slash state funding ventures, he plans to take a magnifying lens to every expenditure made by the state government.

"Put [the money used for the advertisements] into the same bucket of where are our taxpayer dollars being used, and how are they being used?" Perez said. "What are they being used for? Any sort of taxpayer dollars that have ever left the legislature for whatever use will be under scrutiny."

Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo (D-Hollywood) echoed Perez, telling reporters Tuesday that state government should only spend money appropriated by the Legislature, as required by the state constitution.

"We are not an autonomous body, we are a separate branch," he said. "Going forward, I think people should stop spending money that we haven't allocated or appropriated."

The session starts on March 4, 2025.