Your Action is Needed Now:
The Florida Legislature is pursuing a massive power grab against direct democracy!
Out-of-touch politicians in Tallahassee want to make it nearly impossible for Floridians to get future citizen-led amendments on the ballot.
Thanks to citizen-led amendments, Florida voters have raised the minimum wage, mandated term limits for politicians, protected our environmental treasures, legalized medical marijuana, established a taxpayer bill of rights, created universal voluntary pre-kindergarten for children, and passed many other reforms when politicians in Tallahassee have refused to act.
SPB 7016 by the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee and HB 1205 by Representative Jenna Persons-Mulicka are the bills that are moving through committees focused on restricting the citizen-led amendment process at this point in the legislative session. These approaches are very different but both represent dire threats to the citizen-led amendment process in Florida.
Both of these bills give only ten days to turn in petitions, and create unnecessary and burdensome fines on volunteers, preventing everyday Floridians from being able pass policies that improve our lives and strengthen our communities when politicians refuse to act. SPB 7016 would even allow politicians to kick an amendment they don’t like off the ballot. A more detailed analysis can be found here.
These attacks on the citizen-led amendment process are a cynical ploy to rewrite the rules to keep power in the hands of out-of-touch politicians and their corporate elite donors rather than letting the people have a say through their vote. It is no coincidence that constitutional amendments placed on the ballot by politicians – and not we, the people – are untouched by these proposed changes.
A newly released survey of Florida Republicans found that strong majorities opposed these efforts to restrict petition collection or giving lawyers the power to block constitutional initiatives. In fact, 72% of Florida Republicans voiced support for citizen-led amendments, while just 14% opposed the process, according to the poll.
Please take 60 seconds to urge your state legislators to oppose attacks on the citizen-led amendment process.
Consider contacting all of Florida's state legislators about your opposition to this legislation. Click here for a list of all legislative members contact information.
Thank you for helping make democracy work!
