TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida state lawmakers are advancing legislation that could alter the ballot-initiative process. The House version of the bill, HB 1205, successfully passed a subcommittee this week, while the Senate version is set for its first hearing on Monday.
Governor DeSantis announced his desire for a change in the process when he called for a special session in January.
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It comes after two initiatives made their way onto the ballot in November. Voters might remember seeing the amendments on the “personal use of marijuana” and “government interference with Abortion.”
Those both got there as the result of the petition process; however, neither of these amendments met the 60% threshold to be enshrined as a state constitutional right.
But throughout the process, Republican lawmakers raised questions about how these amendments got there — asking about the validity of signatures and possible influence from out of state parties.
“Members over the past few election cycles it has become apparent that our citizen initiative process is broken,” Bill sponsor Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, said as she introduced the house bill to the Government Operations Subcommittee.
She said the bill would make sure those with a “stake in our constitution can change it.”
The bill presents several changes, including:
- Petition sponsors must post a $1 million bond prior to circulating a petition
- Anyone collecting or handling must be a resident of Florida.
- Voters must include their driver’s license number, ID number, or last four digits of their social security number with their signature.
- Paid petition circulators must submit a background check and undergo training.
- Verified signatures will be confirmed by the Supervisor of Elections and, if not confirmed, can be revoked
- Petitions must be turned in within 10 days of receiving the signature -- no longer 30.
But opponents said the proposed restrictions would prevent citizens from trying to pass ballot initiatives when their wishes are ignored by the Legislature, pointing to numerous examples of voter-approved initiatives, like measures that raised the minimum wage, granted access to medical marijuana, started the state’s voluntary pre-kindergarten program, and sought to prevent political gerrymandering.
Others said that these changes would crack down on fraud and maintain the sanctity of the process. That included State Representative Judson Sapp, who represents parts of Clay and St. Johns counties.
“To me, integrity and accountability absolutely makes this process better and stronger,” Sapp said. “Makes the end result count more.”
The Republican-controlled House Government Operations Subcommittee on Thursday voted 14-4 along almost-straight party lines to approve a bill (HB 1205) that focuses on the critical process of gathering and submitting petition signatures to place measures on the ballot.
Only one lawmaker crossed party lines, with Rep. Jose Alvarez, D-Kissimmee, joining Republicans in supporting the bill. The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee is slated to take up a Senate bill (SPB 7016) about the ballot initiative process.
That would require the amendment language to be submitted to the state before starting the petition process.
If either passes a full vote, they would become effective immediately.