And just like that: Gov. DeSantis signs bill targeting citizen-led ballot initiatives into law

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 3/4/25-Gov. Ron DeSantis talks with the media after giving the State of the State speech on the opening day of the 2025 Legislative Session, Tuesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill adding new hurdles for future citizen-led ballot initiatives Friday night, hours after the Legislature passed the measure.

DeSantis, an outspoken critic of Amendment 3 and 4 to legalize marijuana and protect abortion rights, had pushed lawmakers to change the process before the start of the Session.

The ACLU of Florida warned that the new law will make future constitutional amendment initiatives impossible. The organization, which could not say late Friday if it planned to sue, vowed to fight back.

“This is not about protecting the integrity of the process. It’s about preserving power for a few who want unchecked control and the ability to ignore the will of the voters,” said Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida. “When politicians don’t like the outcomes of citizen amendments — like raising the minimum wage, expanding voting rights or exposing the majority mandate to restore reproductive freedom — they change the rules. That’s not democracy. That’s manipulation. … But we will not stand by quietly. We will fight back, we will organize, and we will stand with the communities and constituents who have been betrayed and will help to hold every lawmaker accountable who voted to silence our voices.”

A ballot initiative already needs at least 60% of the vote to win — a tough bar to cross.

Now, people who collect more than 25 signed petitions beyond their own and their immediate family must register as official petition circulators and undergo two hours of online training. Otherwise, they could be charged with a third-degree felony.

The law makes sweeping changes to the process, including increasing the timeline to turn in signed petitions from 30 days to 10 days and imposing hefty fines on petition sponsors and petition signers who must provide personal information, such as the last four digits of their Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers.

During HB 1205’s debate this week, Republicans argued the changes are necessary to stop out-of-state circulators and crack down on petition fraud.

“We’re doing this because we want to reduce the bad actions,” said Sen. Don Gaetz, a Crestview Republican. “We want to reduce the fraud. We want to reduce the opportunities for people to pervert the system.”

The new law also bans public money from being spent on amendment campaigns after DeSantis spent millions of dollars fighting Amendments 3 and 4.

Gaetz conceded that state officials had inspired the provision last year without mentioning DeSantis by name.

“They engaged in behavior that will now be unlawful and will now be prevented if we pass this bill,” Gaetz told Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat turned Independent, to convince him to vote for the bill on the Senate floor.