A Florida Democrat filed a new bill Monday to ban state agencies from using taxpayer money to fund campaigns influencing proposed amendments, inspired by the DeSantis administration's controversial use of public funds to combat two ballot items.
Tina Polsky, a state Senator from Boca Raton, toldĀ The FloridianĀ that her bill is a direct response to reports that multiple state agencies drew from the Florida opioid settlement trust and other public funds to fight Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational marijuana, and Amendment 4, which would have expanded abortion access.
Both amendments were just shy of the 60% threshold needed to pass.
"We didn't have enough in place to stop the tens of millions of dollars spent on advertisements against two citizen-led initiatives. And that can't go on," Polsky said, calling the DeSantis Administration's use of public funds "unprecedented."
"We need the money for our constituents, not to promote political agendas," she added.
Under SB 216, which has yet to have a House companion bill, any state department or agency is banned from using public funds to "advocate for or against any matter that is the subject of an amendment or a revision to the State Constitution." From September through November, six state agencies ran television ads or websites blasting one or both of the proposed ballot initiatives.
DeSantis and his administration insisted that they were public service announcements designed to educate Floridians on the alleged "dangers" of both referendums.
According to Seeking Rents, an investigative site run by independent journalist Jason Garcia, the Department of Education, the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Health, the Department of Transportation, the Agency for Health Care Administration, and the Department of State engaged in a $20 million "taxpayer-financed campaign" against Amendments 3 and 4.
DCF paid $4 million of that to a marketing agency for an "advertising campaign aimed" at educating Floridians "about the dangers of marijuana, opioid, and drug use." DCF has since asked the Florida Legislature for $28.4 million from the state's opioid settlement industry for future "prevention and media campaigns," which Seeking Rents notes is a nearly 60 percent increase over the current budget.
"There's a reason [the Amendments were] citizen-led, so the citizens can decide," Polsky said. "They didn't need false information paid for by the taxpayers to help sway the boat."
DeSantis has called a special session for Jan. 27. The regular session begins March 4.
