Latest news with #HouseBill1205
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Medicaid expansion would be a lifeline for Floridians; that's why we're suing
Let's not sugarcoat it: Florida's healthcare policies are failing us. They're failing the single mother in Ocala who earns $15,000 a year working part-time and was recently diagnosed with cancer — but can't afford the treatment she needs to survive. They're failing rural hospitals on the brink of collapse. And they're failing the hundreds of thousands of Floridians stuck in the 'coverage gap'— earning too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to afford private insurance. And now, to make matters worse, our state's lawmakers have passed a law that aims to take away one of the last tools Floridians have to fix it: the power of citizen-led constitutional amendments. That's why Florida Decides Healthcare filed a federal lawsuit challenging the dangerous new law known as House Bill 1205. This isn't just about getting Medicaid expansion on the ballot. This is about defending the very foundation of our democracy: the people's right to be heard and to shape their own future. This law, signed by the governor, isn't reform. It's repression. HB 1205 is a cynical effort to make it harder for everyday Floridians — teachers, nurses, veterans, parents — to participate in their own government. It buries citizens in red tape, threatens them with criminal penalties, and intimidates them for simply trying to collect signatures. It's designed to silence us, to shut down grassroots movements, and to keep power locked in Tallahassee's political elite. But we're not backing down. Because we know what's at stake. Medicaid expansion could transform lives in every corner of Florida—from the Panhandle to the Keys. It would bring billions of our own federal tax dollars back to our state — money we're already sending to Washington, only to fund healthcare in other states. It would help stabilize struggling hospitals, especially in rural areas where 135 hospitals have closed since 2010. It would let people see a doctor without risking bankruptcy. This isn't welfare — it's common sense. More than 60% of the people who would benefit from expansion are part of working families. Medicaid helps people stay healthy enough to work, care for loved ones, and contribute to their communities. And study after study has shown that expansion wouldn't raise taxes — it would grow Florida's economy. Floridians get it. Nearly 8 in 10 — Republicans, Democrats and independents — support Medicaid expansion. It's not a partisan issue. It's a people issue. And when our elected officials refuse to act, the people have not just the right, but the responsibility, to do it themselves. That's what Florida's citizen-led amendment process is for. It's how we raised the minimum wage, legalized medical marijuana, and protected our land and water. It's a tool for communities to drive change when politicians won't. HB 1205 is not about accountability or transparency. It's about fear of the people and the power they hold. This law hacks away at a process that may need refining, but not destruction. It puts up traps and hurdles to ensure only the wealthy and politically connected can get an idea on the ballot. It is a direct assault on the will of the people. And if it's allowed to stand here, you can bet it will spread across the country. This is how democracy erodes — not in one sweeping moment, but in a thousand paper cuts to participation, voice, and power. But we're not letting that happen. We filed this lawsuit because we believe in the power of the people. We believe the single mother in Miami, the bus driver in Fort Myers, and the veteran in Jacksonville deserve a voice in the laws that shape their lives. Floridians — not politicians afraid of accountability — should have the final say. This lawsuit is our declaration: We will not let them rig the rules. We will not be silenced. We're collecting signatures. We're building coalitions. We're taking this fight from the courtroom to the streets to the ballot box. Because Medicaid expansion isn't just smart policy — it's a moral imperative. And the citizen initiative process isn't just a political tool—it's a right we will defend. Mitch Emerson is executive director of Florida Decides Healthcare.
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Health
- Miami Herald
Medicaid expansion would be a lifeline for Floridians; that's why we're suing
Let's not sugarcoat it: Florida's healthcare policies are failing us. They're failing the single mother in Ocala who earns $15,000 a year working part-time and was recently diagnosed with cancer — but can't afford the treatment she needs to survive. They're failing rural hospitals on the brink of collapse. And they're failing the hundreds of thousands of Floridians stuck in the 'coverage gap'— earning too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to afford private insurance. And now, to make matters worse, our state's lawmakers have passed a law that aims to take away one of the last tools Floridians have to fix it: the power of citizen-led constitutional amendments. That's why Florida Decides Healthcare filed a federal lawsuit challenging the dangerous new law known as House Bill 1205. This isn't just about getting Medicaid expansion on the ballot. This is about defending the very foundation of our democracy: the people's right to be heard and to shape their own future. This law, signed by the governor, isn't reform. It's repression. HB 1205 is a cynical effort to make it harder for everyday Floridians — teachers, nurses, veterans, parents — to participate in their own government. It buries citizens in red tape, threatens them with criminal penalties, and intimidates them for simply trying to collect signatures. It's designed to silence us, to shut down grassroots movements, and to keep power locked in Tallahassee's political elite. But we're not backing down. Because we know what's at stake. Medicaid expansion could transform lives in every corner of Florida—from the Panhandle to the Keys. It would bring billions of our own federal tax dollars back to our state — money we're already sending to Washington, only to fund healthcare in other states. It would help stabilize struggling hospitals, especially in rural areas where 135 hospitals have closed since 2010. It would let people see a doctor without risking bankruptcy. This isn't welfare — it's common sense. More than 60% of the people who would benefit from expansion are part of working families. Medicaid helps people stay healthy enough to work, care for loved ones, and contribute to their communities. And study after study has shown that expansion wouldn't raise taxes — it would grow Florida's economy. Floridians get it. Nearly 8 in 10 — Republicans, Democrats and independents — support Medicaid expansion. It's not a partisan issue. It's a people issue. And when our elected officials refuse to act, the people have not just the right, but the responsibility, to do it themselves. That's what Florida's citizen-led amendment process is for. It's how we raised the minimum wage, legalized medical marijuana, and protected our land and water. It's a tool for communities to drive change when politicians won't. HB 1205 is not about accountability or transparency. It's about fear of the people and the power they hold. This law hacks away at a process that may need refining, but not destruction. It puts up traps and hurdles to ensure only the wealthy and politically connected can get an idea on the ballot. It is a direct assault on the will of the people. And if it's allowed to stand here, you can bet it will spread across the country. This is how democracy erodes — not in one sweeping moment, but in a thousand paper cuts to participation, voice, and power. But we're not letting that happen. We filed this lawsuit because we believe in the power of the people. We believe the single mother in Miami, the bus driver in Fort Myers, and the veteran in Jacksonville deserve a voice in the laws that shape their lives. Floridians — not politicians afraid of accountability — should have the final say. This lawsuit is our declaration: We will not let them rig the rules. We will not be silenced. We're collecting signatures. We're building coalitions. We're taking this fight from the courtroom to the streets to the ballot box. Because Medicaid expansion isn't just smart policy — it's a moral imperative. And the citizen initiative process isn't just a political tool—it's a right we will defend. Mitch Emerson is executive director of Florida Decides Healthcare.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Woman sues Keararge board, saying rights violated during trans-athlete debate
Attorneys for a Nashua woman filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday claiming her First Amendment rights were violated when she was 'silenced and threatened with police intervention' after referring to a biologically male athlete on a girls soccer team as a 'tall boy' during a Kearsarge Regional School Board meeting last summer. Attorneys from the Institute for Free Speech, along with local counsel Roy S. McCandless, say Beth Scaer attended the Aug. 29, 2024, meeting to speak out against transgender athletes in girls high school sports, after members of the Kearsarge Regional School Board announced that it would revisit its decision to enforce House Bill 1205, a state law that limited participation in interscholastic girls sports to biological females. Free Speech Complaint The Kearsarge Regional School District is based in New London. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Concord, claims Kearsarge board members silenced Scaer 'just seconds' into her remarks, with board Chair Alison Mastin declaring Scaer's speaking time forfeited, and warning her that police would intervene if she continued speaking and threatening to have the police remove her for violating an unwritten policy against 'derogatory comments' for referring to a biologically male athlete on the girls' soccer team as a 'tall boy." While Scaer was speaking, many attendees in the meeting room "jeered, and hissed to express their opposition to her comments," the lawsuit claims. "Some audience members applauded Mastin for interrupting Beth and cutting her off early," the lawsuit says. "Scaer attempted to protest Mastin's silencing her, but — due to the jeers, hissing, and applause — it was difficult to hear Scaer. Mastin and the school board made no attempt to quiet the crowd so that Scaer's comments could be heard." The lawsuit claims other speakers were given a full three minutes to express support for the transgender athlete by name, with one attendee displaying a sign with the athlete's name on it — which the board allowed. The lawsuit claims the board's actions are unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination that violates the First Amendment. The suit also argues that the unwritten 'no derogatory comments' rule is unreasonable, vague, overbroad, and selectively enforced against disfavored viewpoints. 'School boards cannot invent speech rules on the fly to silence citizens expressing views they dislike,' Institute for Free Speech attorney Nathan Ristuccia said. 'This unwritten rule about 'derogatory' comments gives the board unchecked power to determine which speech is acceptable and which isn't — precisely what the First Amendment prohibits." The Kearsarge meeting featured a heated debate over the state's Fairness in Women's Sports Act, a law reserving girls sports for biological females. The district had previously voted to follow the law, but following the incident with Scaer, the Kearsarge board reversed course, voting 5-1 to allow the transgender athlete to compete on the girls soccer team. 'Everyone deserves an equal opportunity to address their elected officials without fear of censorship,' Scaer said. 'This case is about ensuring that all citizens — regardless of their viewpoint — can participate in public meetings and comment on issues that are important to the community.' The lawsuit seeks to enjoin enforcement of the 'no derogatory comments' rule, prevent discrimination against speech based on viewpoint, and establish that Scaer's First Amendment rights were violated. Scaer's attorneys also say the lawsuit aims to ensure that Scaer, and others, can speak freely at future board meetings without fear of censorship, retaliation, or removal simply for expressing controversial or dissenting views. A request for comment from Kearsarge school officials was not immediately answered. In a separate lawsuit filed last year, Beth Scaer and her husband, Stephen, claimed their free speech rights were violated after they applied to fly two different flags, a pro-life flag and a Pine Tree flag on flagpoles at City Hall Plaza in Nashua. A federal judge ruled Nashua officials didn't violate the couple's First Amendment rights when they rejected their application, denying their request for a preliminary injunction. The Scaers are appealing that decision. pfeely@
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What is SB 7016? Florida bills would make gathering petitions for ballot initiatives tougher
Last year, citizen-led amendments to legalize recreational marijuana and protect abortion rights in Florida nearly passed, falling just short of the state's required 60% threshold after Gov. Ron DeSantis spent millions in taxpayer money to defeat them. Bills moving through the Florida Legislature this session would make it much harder and far more expensive for such initiatives to ever reach the ballot in the first place. If Senate Bill 7016 or House Bill 1205 becomes law, any groups sponsoring a ballot initiative, such as the recent successful citizen-led minimum wage and medical marijuana amendments, would have to put up a $1 million bond with the Division of Elections. They also would have to run background checks and face fines of up to $50,000 if they hire someone (paid or unpaid) who isn't a U.S. citizen and Florida resident to collect petitions, which would now have to include a voter's driver license or state ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. Petitions must be sent to local Supervisors of Elections within 10 days, instead of the current 30, with fines for late submissions increased from $50 to up to $2,500. Supervisors would also be required to individually notify each voter who signed a petition that their name has been verified and allow them to revoke it, and charge the ballot initiative's sponsor whatever it costs to do so. Supporters of the bills say they are needed to claim down on rampant fraud, pointing to a January report from the Office of Election Crimes and Security citing complaints of petition gatherers signing voters' names, stealing personal information to fill out petition forms, and submitting the names of dead people. Critics say it's just a move to make sure citizens can't create policies that the governor and Legislature oppose, effectively stripping Floridians of a constitutional right by adding insurmountable obstacles to the process. The bills have been opposed by the ACLU, State Voices Florida, the League of Women Voters of Florida, Florida for All, the Cleo Institute, Common Cause Florida, Equal Ground Education and Action Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Florida AFL-CIO, according to Florida Politics. The House bill passed last week and was sent to the Senate. The Senate's version passed out of committee on a 14-5 vote and heads to the Senate floor. The sweeping bill makes the following changes to how petitions for proposed constitutional amendments would work: Limits political committees to only sponsoring one amendment initiative petition per election cycle Requires a sponsor to post a $1 million bond with the Division of Elections after they have collected 25% of the necessary signatures to cover any potential fines. The bond requirement may be waived if the sponsor claims undue burden but if they do, they are prohibited from paying people to circulate petitions Requires that petitions must be one page, front and back, with at least a 10-point font Petition signatures must also include the voter's Florida driver license or ID card number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number Requires the person circulating a petition to verify that the petition was completed and signed by the voter in their presence Prohibits anyone, paid or unpaid, from collecting more than two signed petition forms in addition to their own or those of immediate family members unless they register as a petition circulator Requires background checks and mandatory training for anyone to become a petition circulator Requires that petition circulators must be U.S. citizens and Florida residents who have not been convicted of a felony and have not had their right to vote restored. Sponsors who hire someone who isn't a citizen or has been convicted could be fined $50.000 Reduces the number of days a sponsor has to submit signed petition forms to the appropriate supervisor of elections from 30 down to 10, subject to fines of $50 for every day a petition is late, up to $2,500. The current law is a flat fee of $50 for late petitions Requires supervisors of elections of all 67 of Florida's counties to notify each voter on submitted petitions that their signature has been verified and give the voters the option to revoke their signatures. Supervisors of elections would be able to pass the costs of doing that to the amendment's sponsor, along with other "operational and personnel costs" Increases fine for intentionally non-submitted petitions to $5,000 Fines sponsors $100 for each day late for submitting a signed petition form after the deadline, up to $5,000, and a flat $5,000 per petition form if it was done intentionally Makes it a third-degree felony for a petition circulator to fill in a voter's missing information or to copy or retain voter's personal information for any reason besides the petition Fines a sponsor $5,000 each time a petition circulator signs another person's name or a fictitious name, or fills in missing information on a petition Prohibits sponsors or petition circulators from mailing or providing a petition form with the voter's information prefilled, with a fine of $50 per petition The bills also require the state Office of Elections Crimes and Security to investigate if more than 10% of submitted petitions during any reporting period are deemed invalidated. Groups routinely gather more signatures than are needed, with the expectation that some will be rejected. 'No citizen-led amendment has ever reached a 90% validation rate, like not even 70%, in the history of Florida,' Rep. Dotie Joseph, D-North Miami, said about the House bill. 'What you're asking for is an impossible threshold.' The Senate version includes a provision prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars to influence ballot measures. The House specifically removes the director of the Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research as a voting member of the panel that calculates the financial impact of a proposed initiative. Last year, Amy Baker, the current director, differed from DeSantis' office, the House and the Senate on the financial impact of the abortion amendment. Most often, Florida law is crafted, discussed and approved or rejected by elected lawmakers. However, under the Florida Constitution, citizens may collect enough signatures to put their own proposed amendments on the ballot for all Florida voters to vote on. (Lawmakers also can pass a measure to amend the constitution.) The Sunshine Laws in Florida mandating transparency in government were the result of the first successful citizen-led amendment, with a heavy push from then-Gov. Reubin Askew. In more recent times, Florida voters have passed popular amendments to raise the minimum wage in the state and legalize medical marijuana after legislators failed to respond to voter needs. Legislators have added obstacles to make citizen-led initiatives harder. In 2006, they put a measure on the ballot to require 60% of the vote. And a bill passed in 2021 put a $3,000 cap on donations for ballot measures, but it was knocked down by the courts. Contributors: Gray Rohrer, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida; Dara Kam, News Service of Florida This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida bills seek to restrict citizen amendment process against fraud
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Editorial: Lawmakers scheme to block Florida voters' ideas from reaching the ballot
Democracy is dying — not in darkness, but in plain sight at the Florida Capitol. Republican legislators want to make it outrageously expensive for citizens to launch ballot initiatives. In the past, voters have used their direct access to the ballot for a wide range of issues: An increased minimum wage. A ban on dog racing. Multiple initiatives on casino gambling. Term limits. The medical use of marijuana. Voting rights for people who had prior felony convictions but had paid their debt to society. Mandates for government in the sunshine and other ethical issues. Some were too minor to be in the constitution. But most were legitimate issues that legislators stubbornly ignored until voters forced their hand. Lawmakers have always hated these citizen-backed initiatives, and done everything possible to throw up roadblocks. But this year, they want to kill direct democracy — the only alternative left for frustrated Floridians. House Bill 1205, approved on a 14-4 vote by the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Thursday, would require a $1 million bond before sponsors can begin a petition drive, restricts them to one at a time and shortens the deadlines for collecting and turning in signed petitions. Combine these changes with other measures, and the path to a successful signature-driven ballot question becomes nearly impossible, particularly for the purer-minded efforts that don't have oceans of special-interest money behind them. These attacks include some provisions that would serve little public purpose. If it passes, even volunteer petition circulators must be Florida residents. The bill imposes $50,000 fines on sponsors for each solicitor found to not be a U.S. citizen. All that may be unconstitutional. It's unquestionably unfair. More than three hours of debate and intense testimony made it clear: The intent is to deter any more campaigns like those last year to restore abortion rights and legalize recreational marijuana. Both had heavy financial support, including out-of-state interests. Both drew majority support. But both fell short of the 60% approval required. It's already very difficult to pass an initiative facing organized opposition. Both initiatives likely would have passed if Gov. Ron DeSantis hadn't misused state agencies and taxpayers' money to oppose them. In the House, more than 130 citizens signed up to speak against the bill or logged in opposition. Many were students, seeing first-hand how democracy in practice mocks its theory. So many registered to speak that the chairperson, Rep. Linda Cheney, R-St. Pete Beach, cut their microphone time from three minutes each to two, then one, and silenced overlong speakers in mid-sentence. Cheney was determined to pass the bill before the panel's noon adjournment time in the session's first week. It has only one more committee stop, in House State Affairs, before reaching the floor. One supporter, an anti-abortion activist, said the bill isn't tough enough and touted the Senate version, SB 1414, which is even worse. It would forbid sponsors from collecting signatures for their own petitions. Individual voters would have to submit them to county election supervisors, like vote-by-mail ballots. This is the more onerous, DeSantis-backed version. The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee tackled that legislation Monday afternoon, with a similarly packed audience (though fewer attempted to speak) and the same outcome. Somehow, impossibly, the committee managed to make it worse by tacking on additional restrictions before passing it along party lines. Florida's iron-fisted attack on direct democracy is a back-door maneuver to repeal the 1968 constitutional reform that established the initiative process, without actually amending the Constitution to remove it. That's harder. It requires 60% approval and it would likely fail, so the scheme is to suppress initiatives by creating a series of impossible hurdles. HB 1205 leaves the initiative wheezing. SB 1414 would strangle it. None of the other 23 states that allow initiatives, most in the Midwest and West, go so far out of their way to discourage them. It's deeply disappointing that the statewide association of election supervisors supports HB 1205 'with a couple of little tweaks,' as its lobbyist, David Ramba, told House members. Bad idea. Election supervisors should not take sides in a political debate involving ballot access. This could easily damage their hard-earned reputations for political neutrality. It's costly and time-consuming for supervisors to validate so many petitions, as nearly 900,000 valid signatures are required for an initiative to reach the ballot. But that comes with being agents of democracy. There's no doubt that some paid solicitors forge names, but that's already a crime. Prosecuting them under that law should suffice. Election supervisors have referred cases to prosecutors. A DeSantis administration study that alleged voluminous forgeries in last year's campaigns was unreliable because it was a projection based on forged petitions that supervisors had already detected in four counties. These bills are the worst assaults in a relentless, years-long campaign against initiatives. Requiring 60% voter approval for amendments was just the beginning. Every Republican on the House panel voted for HB 1205 One Democrat voted with Republicans, to his discredit: Rep. Jose Alvarez of Kissimmee. That's disheartening, as Alvarez seemed relatively supportive of voters' rights during the 2024 campaign. Floridians, Republicans and Democrats alike, deserve legislators who are willing to protect their constituents' voices. The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Executive Editor Roger Simmons, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant, Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney and editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman. Send letters to insight@
