The Florida House on Thursday approved a measure making it more difficult for citizen-led constitutional amendments to get on state ballots.
The proposal (HB 1205) underwent several changes, but ultimately critics claim the measure reduces access to democracy, while supporters say it adds guardrails to the citizen petition process.
“We already have very strict procedures in place," said Cecile Scoon, the co-president of the League of Women Voters of Florida.
Opponents of HB 1205
Scoon was one of many people who spoke against the measure.
Prior to Thursday's House session, she and other voting right advocates held a press conference inside the State Capitol.
“They are trying to make it impossible for everyday Floridians to put citizen-led amendments on the ballot," said Common Cause Florida Program Director Amy Keith. "They don’t want us to be able to directly pass policies that we know our communities need.
The groups hoped to urge the Florida House to vote down House Bill 1205. The House hours later, passed the measure, 76-31, with most Republicans voting in support.
How did this come about?
The bill emerged after Republican-Governor Ron DeSantis helped ax last year’s proposed constitutional amendments on abortion rights and recreational marijuana.
“We can’t allow rampant fraud to affect the Florida petition process," DeSantis posted on X.
We can’t allow rampant fraud to affect the Florida petition process.@FLSecofState uncovered massive fraud regarding the petition process for ballot initiatives during the 2024 election, as revealed in their recently filed annual report.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 27, 2025
Many Floridians whose names were… https://t.co/nMTr51WUXt
House Bill 1205 would impose new financial and legal restrictions on petition-signature gatherers and the groups that back ballot initiatives. These include shortening the petition submission window from 30 days to 10 days and requiring petition sponsors to pay a million dollars to get their initiatives on the ballot.
Senator Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, before the House convened, called for his colleagues across the aisle to keep Florida’s current petition process intact.
He said it already has guardrails.
“Nearly 1 million signatures are required at a 60 percent voter approval threshold right now. The reason why my colleagues did that is because they saw— and they continue to see—what people in the state of Florida want," said Jones.
Supporters of the bill
Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, believes the state’s citizen initiative process is broken.
“Our citizen initiative process is broken," she said on the House floor Thursday. "It has been taken over by out-of-state fraudsters, looking to make a quick buck.”
Some examples of citizen-approved initiatives include Florida’s minimum wage increase, legalizing medical marijuana, and starting up the state’s voluntary pre-kindergarten program.
The measure now awaits a date to be heard in the Senate. Its Senate companion (SB 7016) has one more committee before it can be taken up on the floor.
