Since 1968, Floridians have organized, put on the ballot, and voted to pass constitutional amendments to improve our state when the Florida Legislature refused to act. Now, some members of the GOP leadership in the legislature want to make it nearly impossible for anyone other than the legislature or the very wealthy to bring constitutional amendments before Florida voters.
Banning offshore oil drilling. Legalizing medical marijuana. Enacting fair redistricting standards. Reducing school class sizes. Restoring voting rights to returning citizens.
Since 1968, Floridians have organized, put on the ballot, and voted to pass these constitutional amendments and others to improve our state when the Florida Legislature refused to act. Now, some members of the GOP leadership in the legislature want to make it nearly impossible for anyone other than the legislature or the very wealthy to bring constitutional amendments before Florida voters.
Even though Florida already has one of the strictest citizen-led ballot measure requirements in the country, SB 1794 and HB 7037 will impose even more obstacles — like making petition signatures expire much faster and requiring an enormous number of signatures to be collected even before a proposal can move past the first legal hurdles.
The current leadership of the Florida Legislature is beholden to corporate special interests and partisan gamesmanship. Time and time again citizens have had to use the constitutional amendment process to get around their inaction or indifference. Now, some legislators in positions of power want to rig the process so only they and the super wealthy have the ability to propose constitutional amendments.
Thanks for all you do to protect democracy in Florida.