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Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers OK ballot measure changes decried as subverting direct democracy
TALLAHASSEE — Citizen petition drives are facing new regulations critics say are a 'kill shot' to direct democracy that would make it nearly impossible for hot-button issues from abortion to marijuana legalization to make it on the ballot. The proposed overhaul approved Friday by the Florida Legislature erects new hurdles for groups seeking to put ballot initiatives before Florida voters. Supporters argue reforms are needed to ensure integrity in the process. 'The purpose of this bill is to have citizen initiative amendments that are valid, that are not corrupt and properly show the will of the people of Florida,' said Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, the measure's sponsor. But Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando said he thinks the additional hurdles are meant to 'silence the voices of Floridians for generations,' shutting down the ability to take issues directly to the people. 'What we have here with this bill is the final kill shot against direct democracy,' he said. The petition bill now heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who wanted lawmakers to go even further in overhauling the petition process. DeSantis called for an end to the third-party collection of petitions. In the past, the petition process has been used to legalize medical marijuana, raise the state minimum wage and restore voting rights to most Floridians with felony convictions, among others. Ballot initiatives seeking to overturn the state's six-week abortion ban and legalize recreational pot narrowly failed last year. Supporters of legalizing marijuana are already gathering signatures to try again with a new ballot proposal. Citizen initiatives that make it to a ballot require a 60% supermajority to pass. The bill would impose a variety of new regulations, tighter deadlines, penalties and potential fines on the petition process. Anyone who doesn't register with the state as a signature-gatherer and possesses more than 25 signed petitions beyond their own and immediate family members could face a third-degree felony charge punishable by up to five years in prison. There is no restriction on distributing blank petition forms. The bill bars people from out of state, noncitizens and felons who have not had their voting rights restored from collecting petitions. Registered petition circulators would have to undergo training with the state. Citizen-led ballot initiatives already face significant hurdles. Nearly 900,000 signatures must be gathered from across the state. Paid petition gatherers must register with the state. County supervisors vet petitions and check if they are from valid, registered voters. The legislation also seeks to bar state funds from being used for political communications related to ballot initiatives, a rebuke to DeSantis. DeSantis' administration spent millions of public dollars on ads targeting last year's marijuana and abortion initiatives. State officials defended them as educational messages. The governor is also facing scrutiny over Hope Florida, an initiative spearheaded by first lady Casey DeSantis that seeks to get people off welfare. The initiative's charitable arm received a $10 million donation as part of a $67 million settlement Florida made with a Medicaid managed care contractor. The foundation then gave that money to two nonprofit organizations that within days of receiving the funds donated $8.5 million to a political committee opposing the marijuana amendment.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Citizen power under fire in Florida ballot measure clash in Legislature
Florida voters have taken it into their own hands in recent years to approve medical marijuana, a minimum wage hike and several other policy changes when lawmakers failed to act. But future citizens' ballot efforts look bound to face costly and complex new barriers under legislation poised for final approval in the Senate and headed to the House. Senate Democrats warned the legislation (HB 1205) will effectively end citizens' initiatives, allowed under the state constitution since 1968. But the sponsor, GOP state Sen. Don Gaetz of Niceville, said that's not his goal. 'This bill is not an attack on the citizens' initiative process. But it is an attack on those who have corrupted it,' Gaetz told the Senate during debate April 30. Still, the legislation would impose a lot of new hurdles. Steep financial requirements and the threat of costly fines would be faced by organizations who hire signature-gatherers to get initiatives on the ballot. Almost 900,000 verified signatures from registered voters are now needed for a proposed constitutional amendment to be eligible for the Florida ballot. The Senate bill also requires petitions to go to the local Supervisor of Elections within 10 days of a signature collection, instead of the current 30 days. Late submission would result in $50-a-day fines that could climb into thousands of dollars under aggravating circumstances. Moreover, signature gatherers would face new standards, with certain felons, non-Florida residents and noncitizens barred from collecting. Paid gatherers also would have to undergo training and be registered with the state. New demands would be placed on county elections supervisors, who would have to notify voters whose signatures are verified on a petition, but not when their signatures are found to be invalid or disqualified because they were collected by an ineligible gatherer. 'We're only doing one side in this bill,' said Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, who fought against the measure. Fresh standards also have been added that could trigger a Florida Secretary of State's investigation of organizations gathering signatures. Many of the provisions are viewed by critics as slowing down the signature-gathering process, making it more difficult for campaigns to get a proposal on the ballot. Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, called the measure 'big government overreach,' and said it was clear that Republican majorities in the Senate and House were intent on curbing petition campaigns: 'This is to stop any citizens' initiative from ever appearing on a ballot again.' The House has advanced similar legislation, which is even tougher in some ways, requiring ballot sponsors to post a $1 million bond with the state's Division of Elections to cover potential fines and other costs. But with this year's legislative session winding down, the House and Senate are expected to settle their differences. Ruling Republicans, starting with Gov. Ron DeSantis who proposed a citizens' initiative overall in January, look likely to agree on some form of crackdown. An investigation last fall by DeSantis' Office of Election Crimes and Security claimed rampant fraud in the Amendment 4, abortion rights signature-gathering effort, and to a lesser degree, Amendment 3's marijuana proposal. Clampdown by GOP... Florida GOP lawmakers look to layer new demands on state's ballot measures Senate Democrats downplayed the report, arguing the amount of fraud was relatively minor in these high-profile campaigns. But the Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF) political action committee, which backed the abortion rights measure, paid a $164,000 settlement with the state over allegations that paid petition circulators submitted fraudulent petitions. Still, Republican majorities in the Legislature have worked for years to thwart constitutional amendments, almost 20 years ago raising their approval requirement to at least 60% of those voting. 'It should be a very big deal to change our founding document,' said Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, another Senate sponsor. But even when approved by voters, some initiatives have been hamstrung when lawmakers enact them, with 2018's felons' voting measure not going as far as supporters wanted. Last year, DeSantis used millions of taxpayer dollars in fighting the recreational marijuana and abortions rights measures, which fell just short of the 60% threshold. The House has been investigating DeSantis gaining help in this battle from a political committee led by his then-chief-of-staff, James Uthmeier, whom he has since appointed Florida's attorney general. DeSantis' October surprise... DeSantis-backed report accuses abortion amendment backers of signature gathering fraud The committee received $8.5 million tied to a legal settlement for alleged Medicaid overbilling. The money was funneled through the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity founded to support a key initiative of First Lady Casey DeSantis. The Senate bill takes its own swipe at DeSantis, banning the use of public funds from again being used to support or oppose a constitutional amendment. Both the House and Senate also have ignored DeSantis' earlier call to outlaw third-party signature gathering by citizens' organizations, which rely on paid gatherers to collect the vast number of verified petition signatures from voters needed to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network's Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@ Follow him on X: @JKennedyReport. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida GOP set to add new hurdles for citizen ballot measures
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Granny flats' Mandate passes Florida Bill
Editor's note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal. The Florida Senate on April 9 unanimously passed a bill that would require local governments to allow what are known as 'granny flats' or 'carriage houses' in single-family residential areas. Sponsor Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, said the bill (SB 184) would help increase workforce housing as the state continues to grapple with affordable-housing issues. Read: Osceola County announces changes to trash pick up days for residents The bill would require cities and counties to allow adding what are technically known as accessory dwelling units, which are independent living spaces added on properties. Current law says local governments can allow the dwelling units, but the bill would require them to do so. Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journal's website. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill that would severely limit citizen-led constitutional amendments heads to the Senate
Hired security personnel wait for voters outside the Leon County Supervisor of Elections office on Nov. 3, 2020, in Tallahassee. (Photo by) A proposal that would significantly raise the bar on citizen-led constitutional amendments ever making it on the ballot is headed to the floor of the Florida Senate, where it is expected to pass in that GOP-controlled chamber. The measure (SB 7016) is one of the most controversial bills proposed in the 2025 legislative session. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced at the beginning of this year that he wanted the Legislature to tighten election laws over alleged signature petition fraud. The bill passed along party lines in the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee on Tuesday. Slightly amended from its original version, the measure make a number of substantial changes in the rules for those working towards placing a citizen-led constitutional amendment on the ballot. The process already requires gathering nearly 900,000 signatures by Feb. 1 of the year the measure hopes to be placed on the ballot, and it must pass by a 60% threshold. Republicans says there is a need for such legislation to combat signature petition fraud. The Office of Election Crimes and Security published a report in January asserting that more than 100 representatives of the group attempting to pass the abortion-rights last year committed crimes related to gathering petitions. 'In these pages are hundreds of specific cases of con artists and fraudsters operating in almost every county of our state,' declared Panhandle Republican Sen. Don Gaetz, a co-sponsor of the measure. The Election Crimes office last month informed Smart & Safe Florida, the group working to get a constitutional amendment regarding the adult use of cannabis on the 2026 ballot, that the Division of Elections was fining them $121,850 for allegedly submitting petitions more than 30 days after voters signed them — a violation of existing law. One of the most controversial provisions of the pending Senate measure has been removed: It no longer requires petition sponsors to post bonds of $1 million. Gaetz said his co-sponsor, Southeast Florida Republican Erin Grall, had learned about how difficult it would be for anyone to acquire such a bond for an organization solely created solely to pass a political measure. 'We felt it would be a significant barrier and prohibition to ordinary folks,' he said. But other provisions remain, such as: Requires additional personal identifying information for voters signing petition forms and for petition circulators. If the percentage of petition forms deemed invalid by a supervisor of elections exceeds 25% in a reporting period, that would trigger an investigation by the Election Crimes office. (Originally the bill called for such a trigger at just 10% of bad petitions, a number criticized by Democrats and voting rights advocates as far too onerous). Prohibits certain felons and noncitizens from acting as petition circulators and increases fines for late submission or nonsubmission of petition forms. Requires the sponsor or petition circulator to deliver signed petitions to the supervisors of elections in the counties in which the voter resides within 10 days after the voter signs the form. The sponsors will be fined $50 per each day late that the petition comes in after 10 days. A petition sponsor would be fined $2,500 if they 'acted willfully.' Fines of $100, up to a a maximum of $5,000, for each form collected by a petition circulator and signed by a voter on or before February of the year the general election is held if the sponsor 'acted willfully.' If a person collecting petitions signs another person's name, the sponsor can be fined $5,000 for each made-up petition. If the sponsor retains or copies a voter's personal information, that would be a third-degree felony. Additonally, the bill says state government (or any person acting on behalf of the state government) may not expend or authorize the expenditure of, and a person or group may not accept public funds for, a political advertisement or any other communication regarding a proposed constitutional amendment. This was an amendment introduced earlier in the process by Northeast Florida Republican Sen. Jennifer Bradley in response to criticism regarding Gov. DeSantis' use of such taxpayer funds in 2024. Debate and public comment took more than two hours, with plenty of people speaking out in opposition. 'Citizen-led amendments empower everyday citizens to pass policies that improve our lives and strengthen our communities,' said Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel of the ACLU of Florida. 'This bill takes that power away from the people and solidifies it into the hands of politicians.' 'This bill doesn't protect democracy, it attacks it,' said Jackson Oberlink, policy director with the progressive group Florida For All. 'It criminalizes volunteers, imposes outrageous fines, and throws up roadblocks for working class Floridians who want a say in their future. Why? Because when voters lead, they pass policies corporate lobbyists hate, like raising the minimum wage, protecting our environment, and restoring voting rights. This bill isn't about fraud, it's about fear. Fear of people power.' After it passed along party lines, it now moves to the full Senate for consideration. A House companion filed by Lee County Republican Jenna Persons-Mulicka (HB 1205) has already been approved in that chamber. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
CBS News
24-03-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Florida Senate proposes school funding changes
With massive growth in school voucher programs , the Florida Senate has released a plan that, in part, would seek to address funding concerns as students move between schools. The Senate Pre-K-12 Education Appropriations Committee is scheduled Wednesday to take up the bill (SPB 7030), which would make changes affecting public schools and voucher programs. "Over the last few years, we have learned that for the money to truly follow the student, we need better ways to track where students are at key points throughout the school year," Republican Sen. Don Gaetz said in a prepared statement Friday. "We also need to ensure money appropriately follows the student to the family's provider of choice, including when they move back and forth between providers. With input from stakeholders across the spectrum of school choice, this bill creates reasonable timeframes and mechanisms to improve both transparency and efficiency in education funding." The bill, among other things, would create what is known as a "categorical" budget fund for the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program, a major voucher program. Categorical funds are earmarked for specific programs. Also, the bill would use an "educational enrollment stabilization program" to provide supplemental money to address enrollment changes during the course of the academic year in public schools and voucher programs. "In the new environment of universal choice, where the money follows the student, we know everyone is working diligently to ensure students have access to the educational settings their parents choose," Pre-K-12 Education Appropriations Chairman Danny Burgess said. "However, as our choice programs expand, mid-year transitions have proven difficult to keep track of. Additionally, parents with students in the personalized education program and unique abilities program (voucher programs) have been frustrated by the reimbursement process, which can be quite time consuming and at times inefficient. This legislation is about lessons learned over the last few years."
