Fresh changes to Florida law on ballot initiatives will create new hurdles for advocates aiming to put legislative proposals before voters—including, potentially, the renewed effort to legalize marijuana in the state.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, (R), signed into law a measure that tightens the requirements for citizen-initiated initiatives. It requires supporters to post a bond of $1,000,000 before they begin collecting signatures, forbids non-citizens and out-of state petitioners, and limits the time period during which the signatures can be presented to the election officials.
Rep. Jenna Persons Mulicka (R) is the bill’s author. She claims that “out-of-state fraudsters are looking for a quick profit and special interests want to buy their way into our Constitution.”
She said that the bill aims to fix this problem, and that those who have a stake on our Constitution will be able to change it.
DeSantis said, on Twitter, over the weekend, that he believes the bill “will combat petition fraud, and stop the abuse of the constitutional amendment process by special interests.”
The new law also prohibits Floridians who have felony convictions to collect petition signatures until they restore their voting rights.
Residents will also have to provide personal details—including their driver’s license number, voter ID card number or the last four digits of their Social Security number—in order to fill out a petition. Forms will be made public and could pose privacy concerns.
Election officials will have a shorter time frame to receive petitions from campaigns, while the penalties for mistakes are also going to be harsher.
The new obstacles to placing a proposal on the statewide ballot come on the heels of two contentious constitutional amendments that went before voters last year, including one—Amendment 3—that would have legalized marijuana for adults 21 and older, and another on abortion rights.
The campaign for the marijuana measure, Smart & Safe Florida, took in more than $150 million in campaign funds—with most from large cannabis companies such as Trulieve, a multi-state operator that contributed tens of millions of dollars.
It also clashed with DeSantis as well as the state Republican Party, the latter of which Smart & Safe Florida later sued for allegedly deceiving voters about the measure.
After Amendment 3 last year failed to win the 60 percent voter support needed to pass a constitutional amendment, Smart & Safe Florida is now aiming to put a revised legalization proposal on the 2026 state ballot.
On Monday, a spokesperson from the group declined to comment about how the newly-signed election law could impact efforts to qualify their measure for next years.
The issue is divided between lawmakers mainly based on partisanship.
Carlos Smith, a state senator (D), said to the Associated Press that the bill was “designed to prevent any statewide initiative from ever being put on the ballot again.” He called it the “final kill shot” against direct democracy.
Republicans on the other side have described these changes as ways to preserve the initiative system.
This bill does not attack the citizen initiative, said Don Gaetz (R), a co-sponsor of the measure. It’s an assault on the corruptors of it.
Meanwhile some Republican lawmakers last month called for a criminal investigation into DeSantis himself over how $10 million in state funds were used to oppose last year’s ballot initiatives—including an $8.5 million donation to the campaign opposing legalization.
The critics have claimed that the changes would make it harder for Floridians to voice their opinions.
A group that wanted to expand Medicaid coverage in Florida has sued DeSantis’ administration for the new law.
Florida Decides HealthCare stated in a release that this new law was unconstitutional, and it “significantly undermines Florida’s citizen-led constitution amendment process,” by enacting “sweeping restrictions,” according to The Orlando Sentinel.
Jeff Brandes – a former Republican senator from Florida and leader of Florida Policy Project – said Friday on social media that changing the constitution should “be difficult but not impossible”.
He added that “unless you are the Florida Legislature”, you would just move the goalposts until you were the only one scoring. Surprise, it’s exactly what the plan is.
While the bill’s sponsors didn’t explicitly say that the new law is a response to any particular issue, arguments about the need to change the process were frequently heard in the run-up to last year’s election in Florida, when both marijuana and abortion rights were on the ballot.
Under the new law, signatures collected before enactment would not be subjected to the revised restrictions. Smart & Safe Florida has so far submitted just under, the 220,016 valid signatures needed to trigger a judicial and financial impact review of the proposal.
A total of 880,062 valid signatures statewide are currently needed to make the 2026 ballot, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
Meanwhile in Florida, state elections officials recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to Smart & Safe Florida campaign, alleging that the group has “committed multiple election law violations.”
The Office of Election Crimes and Security (OECS)—part of Florida’s Department of State—also fined Smart & Safe Florida more than $120,000 for submitting completed petitions more than 30 days after they were signed.
The issue was referred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for a “potential criminal investigation.”
In a statement to MEDCAN24 at the time, a campaign representative said it has confidence in the process and intends to push back on the state’s assertion it violated election law.
“The claims made appear to be a targeted effort to thwart the ability for the people of Florida to express their support of a citizen-driven amendment,” the statement says. “We stand by the process and had legal counsel vet all forms and communications prior to mailing and look forward to challenging the validity of these claims.”
Lawmakers late last month also sent DeSantis a sweeping agricultural bill that includes a provision to outlaw the spores of psychedelic mushrooms.
The bill would outlaw transporting, importing, selling or giving away “spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which will contain a controlled substance, including psilocybin or psilocyn, during its lifecycle.”
Violating the proposed law would be a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum one year in jail and $1,000 fine.
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Psilocybin and psilocin are the two main psychoactive compounds in psychedelic mushrooms. Although spores themselves typically do not contain psilocybin or psilocin, they eventually produce fruiting bodies—mushrooms—that do contain the psychedelic compounds.
Because the spores don’t contain any controlled substances, the federal government deems them legal.
“If the mushroom spores (or any other material) do not contain psilocybin or psilocin (or any other controlled substance or listed chemical), the material is considered not controlled,” Terrence Boos, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section chief, said in a memo last year. (Using a similar rationale, Boos has said that marijuana seeds are considered federally legal hemp because they themselves don’t contain THC.)
In Florida, a legislative report for HB 651—a House companion bill to the measure now heading to DeSantis—similarly notes that “spores do not contain any psilocybin properties themselves and therefore could be considered legal under current law.”
To prevent that, the proposal would clarify as illegal any spores or mycelium that could produce psilocybin or psilocin at any time in their development.
As for psilocybin and psilocin themselves, the substances are already illegal in Florida. Simple possession is a third-degree felony, carrying up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
The Florida House last month also unanimously approved a bill that would exempt military veterans from state registration fees for medical marijuana cards, allowing them to obtain the certifications for free.
As originally filed, the measure would have made more significant changes to the state’s existing medical cannabis program, for example allowing home cultivation as well as reciprocity for out-of-state patients. But the House Health Professions and Programs Subcommittee replaced its language with a two-page substitute that instead would make only small changes to the medical program.
First, it would change how often patients need to renew their medical marijuana cards, from the current annual process to once every two years.
Second, it would waive the $75 registration and renewal fees for veterans, specifying that the state “may not charge a fee for the issuance, replacement, or renewal of an identification card for a qualified patient who is a veteran.”
The changes would take effect July 1.
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