TALLAHASSEE—The Florida House passed a massive package on Thursday revamping the steps Floridians must take to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot, following hefty fines levied against groups supporting abortion and marijuana.
The 45-page measure follows Gov. Ron DeSantis’s plea that the legislature crack down on the citizen initiative process, and after DeSantis led a taxpayer-funded blitz opposing two citizen-led amendments and their sponsors, both of which will have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars over alleged election violations.
“The initiative process is broken, we have an obligation and a duty to protect our state constitution,” said bill sponsor Republican Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka from the House Floor, speaking after a two-hour debate. “Stand with me against the fraudsters, stand with me against the special interests.”
She referred to the massive debate surrounding Amendments 3 and 4, two proposed measures that would have legalized recreational marijuana and enshrined abortion access in the state constitution. The campaigns behind the measures have been fined over $300,000 total, involving claims of petition and election violations.
Though her bill passed the Floor in a 76-31 vote, House Democrats accused the measure of violating Floridians’ First Amendment rights, undermining democracy, and creating more roadblocks to amend the constitution.
“While it is framed as reform, it would significantly undermine one of our citizens’ most fundamental rights, and that’s the right to participate in our democracy,” said Rep. Rita Harris, arguing the bill would empower wealthy groups while stripping everyday Floridians of the ability to change the constitution.
What’s in the Bill?
HB 1205 would grant any Floridian legal recourse to challenge a citizen ballot initiative if they believe it shouldn’t have been certified. It also allows the Legislature to define any “terms of art” that the amendment sponsors haven’t defined, while decreasing the number of days petition sponsors have to turn in petitions, and upping the fines for late submissions.
Other provisions strike the state’s chief economist from voting on the financial impact of future constitutional amendments and impose a $1 million bond from sponsors once 25% of mandatory petitions have been submitted.
These proposed revisions came after a massive dispute between DeSantis and the group behind Amendment 4, Floridians Protecting Freedom. FPF gathered over a million signatures to secure the measure’s spot on the ballot. But after DeSantis and his agencies conducted a multi-million dollar ad blitz opposing the measure, it failed with 57% support at the ballot box.
A preliminary state report later found bulk identity theft and petition fraud, following FPF paying a $164K settlement to the state. More recently, the campaign behind Amendment 3, Smart and Safe Florida, has been charged a $121K fine for alleged election violations.
What’s Next?
Though the measure cleared the House Floor, its Senate companion still must make it through the Committee process—and it’s markedly different from the House version.
The Senate’s version does not allow the legislature to create its own definitions for undefined terms, does not strike the chief economist, and does not allow Floridians to challenge a citizen petition.
While it shares the high penalties, $1 million bond, and decreased days to submit petitions, it has some provisions unique to the Senate. These include mandating that a statement on the amendment’s financial impact be present on the petition and requiring volunteers who collect petitions other than their own, their families, and two others to register with the state as petition circulators.
The Senate will hear the bill in Tuesday's Fiscal Policy Committee.
