| Legislation to Protect the Florida Constitution from Out of State and Special Interests Passes Final House Committee |
| Earlier today, a Florida Chamber-backed bill to protect Florida’s Constitution, HB 1205, passed the House State Affairs Committee by a vote of 18-7. For over two decades, the Florida Chamber has led the effort to protect the Florida Constitution from out-of-state and special interests seeking to buy their way into the Constitution, circumvent the legislative process or use an amendment as a tool for political turnout. The so-called citizens’ initiative process has become ripe for fraud and abuse, making it critical to put adequate safeguards in place to ensure changes truly reflect the will of Floridians. HB 1205 reduces out-of-state influence in Florida’s citizens’ initiative process by ensuring paid petition gatherers collecting signatures are Florida residents and meet certain requirements. Additionally, the bill broadens current law preventing a petition circulator from being paid per petition to eliminate other incentive-based schemes. Finally, the bill strengthens accountability by improving the process for supervisors of elections to review gathered petitions, and aligns the grounds upon which the result of a constitutional amendment can be challenged with the process to contest the results of a candidate election. |
| What’s Next? The Florida Chamber-backed companion bills are moving through the process – the House bill is ready for a vote on the House Floor and the Senate version, SB 7016, has one final hearing in the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee. Additionally, Senator Blaise Ingoglia has filed SB 1414, which also aims to protect Florida’s Constitution from out-of-state and special interest groups, but does not have a House companion. The Florida Chamber will continue to advocate for strong paid petition reforms to protect the Florida Constitution and make sure near permanent changes remain in the hands of Florida voters. |