Republicans want to stop Gov. DeSantis from spending taxpayer money to fight ballot initiatives

A Senate committee voted to ban taxpayer money being spent to endorse or fight constitutional amendments as it advanced legislation making it tougher for those ballot initiatives to get on the ballot in the first place.

Gov. Ron DeSantis reportedly spent millions of dollars to help defeat last year’s abortion rights and marijuana legalization initiatives as he traveled around the state for press conferences, funded commercials and weaponized a state agency website to condemn abortion.

“This amendment makes sure that taxpayers don’t get the bill for political issue campaigns,” said Sen. Jennifer Bradley, the amendment’s sponsor.

Bradley argued that the state has a role in informing the public but said she worries a line is getting crossed.

“When they cross over into attempting to influence the outcome of a ballot measure, I think we’re then treading in territory that makes me very uncomfortable as a conservative who is very concerned about what our role of government is in a Democratic society,” Bradley said during Monday’s Senate Ethics and Elections Committee meeting.

The committee voted 6-3 to advance a larger bill (SPB 7016), which adds stiffer penalties for ballot sponsors caught breaking the law and would add hurdles for grassroots petition drives. 

The proposed changes include requiring a group to post a $1 million bond when it submits a proposal to the Secretary of the State. The ballot initiative sponsor could ask for the $1 million bond waived for a financial burden — but only if the sponsor isn’t paying petition circulators to collect signatures. In that case, the $1 million bond would be immediately owed.

The petitions would need to contain the ballot summary but also the financial impact statement — which in the case for Amendment 4, became politically loaded and the subject of a lawsuit. 

To fill out a petition to get an issue on the ballot, people would now be required to also write their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.

Grassroots efforts where neighbors and friends collect petitions would also be banned since anyone collecting more than two signatures beyond their immediate family would need to register as an official petition circulator with the state and undergo training under one of the bill’s provisions. Anyone in violation would face a third-degree felony under the bill.

The bill also raised the sponsors’ fines for violations. 

“These are reasonable regulations to protect the integrity of the ballot and to prevent fraud,” said Sen. Erin Grall, the Fort Pierce Republican who steered the bill through the committee Monday.

The Amendment 4 political action committee paid a $164,000 settlement with the state over allegations that paid petition circulators submitted fraudulent petitions.

Democrats and advocates feared the proposed changes are designed to squash any future citizen-led ballot initiatives. Past initiatives, such as implementing a $15 minimum wage and free VPK, were all progressive proposals that voters supported in a state where Republicans have a stronghold in Tallahassee.

“We are really making it impossible for the citizens, any grassroots organizations to utilize this process,” said Sen. Tina Polsky, a Boca Raton Democrat. “It is called the citizen initiative process. Why? Because our Legislature doesn’t want to do the things that the citizens want.”

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