Florida Lawmakers Approve Bill Making It Harder To Put Initiatives On Ballot As Marijuana Legalization Campaign Pursues 2026 Effort

Florida Republican lawmakers are working to impose important restrictions on the power to place initiatives on the poll—a plan that would impair efforts to let voters resolve on marijuana legalization subsequent 12 months.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)—who strongly advocated against a 2024 legalization proposal that in the end failed to attain a steep 60 p.c vote threshold—pitched the concept to lawmakers, calling for modifications to the petition gathering course of that threaten to additional complicate citizen-led reform efforts for a variety of points.

On Thursday, legislators took up that decision, with the House Government Operations Subcommittee advancing a invoice from Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka (R) that will, amongst different issues, require petitioners to put up a $1 million bond earlier than commencing signature gathering, prohibit using out-of-state petitioners and slim the window by which signatures should be handed over to election officers, amongst different modifications.

“The process has been taken over by out of state fraudsters looking to make a quick buck and by special interests’ intent on buying their way into our Constitution,” Persons-Mulicka argued on the listening to. “The bill seeks to root out the problem and provide assurances that only those with a stake in our Constitution can change it to that end.”

Opponents say the laws, which is now headed to the complete House State Affairs Committee, would have a chilling impact on citizen-led poll efforts, making it much more cost-prohibitive and leaving campaigns with larger liabilities because it considerations signature gathering.

For marijuana reform stakeholders and advocates, the proposal quantities to authorities overreach. DeSantis and different key Republicans have made their skepticism clear about having voters resolve on constitutional amendments within the first place, and the final a number of legalization poll initiatives have been challenged by state officers.

Last 12 months’s marijuana proposal did obtain a powerful majority of the vote, however Florida’s 60 p.c requirement for constitutional amendments in the end made the newest push unsuccessful. That’s regardless of tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} coming into the Smart & Safe Florida marketing campaign, together with from main hashish firms—primarily the multi-state operator Trulieve.

To add extra restrictions on the petitioning course of—which underneath Persons-Mulicka’s invoice would additionally embrace elevated fines for election regulation violations and a system permitting voters to retract their signatures from petition kinds—might make Smart & Safe’s 2026 legalization push all of the more difficult.

Asked by Marijuana Moment concerning the potential influence of the invoice on the marketing campaign, a Smart & Safe Florida spokesperson declined to remark.

Similar laws sponsored by Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R) has additionally been filed within the Senate.

While the House invoice’s sponsor didn’t explicitly say that the proposal is aware of any specific challenge, arguments about the necessity to change the method have been continuously heard within the run-up to final 12 months’s election in Florida, when each marijuana and abortion rights have been on the poll.

Under the brand new bill, signatures collected earlier than enactment wouldn’t be subjected to the revised restrictions. Smart & Safe Florida has up to now submitted simply over 7,100 legitimate signatures of the 891,523 wanted to make the 2026 poll with its newest model of the legalization initiative, in response to the Florida Division of Elections.

The campaign’s 2026 iteration includes several changes that appear aware of points raised by critics concerning the 2024 model, which was endorsed by President Donald Trump on the marketing campaign path.

For instance, there’s new clarifying language prohibiting the sale of marijuana merchandise which might be marketed in a method that could be interesting to kids.

It additional explicitly states that nothing within the measure would “prohibit the legislature from providing for the home growing of marijuana by adults for their personal use and the reasonable regulation thereof.” That clarification could assuage considerations from sure advocates who criticized the dearth of a house develop possibility within the authentic proposal.

The initiative would additionally make it so medical marijuana operators which have been licensed as of January 1, 2025 would have the ability to begin offering for adult-use gross sales beginning on the efficient date.

Another nuance within the new proposal considerations licensure for companies that need to enter the house sooner or later. Some apprehensive that the prior model might successfully create a monopoly benefitting the present medical marijuana operators alone as a result of it merely stated the legislature wasn’t prohibited from permitting further licenses, with no mandate to truly take up that challenge.

Last month, a survey from the University of North Florida discovered that, regardless of final 12 months’s poll proposal failing, there’s overwhelming bipartisan voter support for the reform. It confirmed that 67 p.c of Florida voters now again legalization, together with 82 p.c of Democrats, 66 p.c of independents and 55 p.c of Republicans.

The outcomes battle with one other current ballot from the Florida Chamber of Commerce, a proactive opponent of legalization, that discovered majority help for the reform amongst seemingly voter (53 p.c) but not enough to be enacted under the 60 percent requirement.

Meanwhile, the governor stated in January that the latest version of the legalization initiative is in “big time trouble” with the state Supreme Court, predicting it will likely be blocked from going earlier than voters subsequent 12 months.

“There’s a lot of different perspectives on on marijuana,” DeSantis stated. “It should not be in our Constitution. If you feel strongly about it, you have elections for the legislature. Go back candidates that you believe will be able to deliver what your vision is on that.”

“But when you put these things in the Constitution—and I think, I mean, the way they wrote, there’s all kinds of things going on in here. I think it’s going to have big time trouble getting through the Florida Supreme Court,” he stated.

Last 12 months, the governor precisely predicted that the 2024 cannabis measure from the campaign would survive a legal challenge from the state lawyer basic. It’s not totally clear why he feels this model would face a distinct final result.

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Separately, a Florida GOP senator claimed lately that the legalization campaign “tricked” Trump into supporting the 2024 measure by deceptive him and most of the people about key provisions.

Ahead of the election, Trump stated in September that he felt Amendment 3 was “going to be very good” for the state.

Before making the feedback, Trump met with the CEO of Trulieve, Kim Rivers, in addition to with a GOP state senator who’s in favor of the reform.

While Trump endorsed the Florida hashish initiative—in addition to federal rescheduling and business banking entry—he has since been silent on hashish points. And his cupboard decisions have combined information on marijuana coverage.

Ohio GOP Lawmaker Files Bill To Revise Voter-Approved Marijuana Law With Less Sweeping Changes Than Senate-Passed Measure

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.