Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn’t think there’s such a thing as a citizen’s initiative, saying that the process is dominated by “fraud” and “special interests.”
Given those conclusions, he believes political insiders, including some who are never elected, are better suited to decide what amendments go on the ballot.
“The Legislature can put constitutional amendments on the ballot. It doesn’t have to go through citizen initiative,” DeSantis said during remarks at Tampa’s Hula Bay Club.
He explained that the Legislature can put a measure on the ballot via supermajority, and that the Constitutional Revision Commission (CRC), which meets every 20 years, can also propose amendments.
The CRC doesn’t meet again until 2038. When it does, the process is largely dictated by the Governor, who picks 15 of the 37 members and the Chair of the CRC. Nine are selected by the Senate President, nine by the House Speaker, and three by the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
The Florida Attorney General is also empaneled.
Earlier this month, DeSantis quickly signed HB 1205, the latest legislative action to make it tougher to get citizen’s initiatives. The bill includes new restrictions on petition collection, including online training and registration, a restriction to Florida residents only collecting the petitions, and a limit of 25 submissions at a time unless they register as an official petition circulator.
The law makes other sweeping changes to the process, including increasing the timeline to turn in signed petitions from 30 days to 10 days and requiring petition signers to provide personal information, such as the last four digits of their Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers.
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