TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The future of Florida's citizen-led ballot initiatives is now in the hands of a federal judge, as a full trial gets underway in Tallahassee challenging the state’s sweeping 2025 changes to the process.
Sate Capitol Reporter Forrest Saunders deep dives into the lawsuit targeting HB 1205, a law passed last year that dramatically tightened requirements for citizen-led constitutional amendments. The case is being led by Florida Decides Healthcare, which is seeking to place a Medicaid expansion amendment on the ballot.
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Plaintiffs argue the law imposes unconstitutional burdens on political speech and voter participation by tightening deadlines, increasing penalties, and restricting who can collect petitions. Under the law, petition circulators must meet stricter eligibility requirements, and campaigns face heightened fines and legal exposure.
"Frankly, HB 1205, the way we've been describing this, it's just death by 1000 cuts, because it would be very difficult to say, if only this provision, or for only that provision, it is. There are so many parts of this," said Mitch Emerson, executive director of Florida Decides Healthcare.
The trial unfolds against a broader backdrop: all 22 of Florida’s active citizen-led initiatives failed to qualify for the 2026 ballot under the new rules. Critics say that result underscores just how restrictive the law has become. Plaintiffs' attorney Emma Olson Sharkey pointed to that outcome as telling.
"It is notable to us that no initiatives are on the 2026, ballot," Sharkey said. "And I don't think that's by accident."
Florida Decides Healthcare and other plaintiffs have previously secured mixed results at the preliminary injunction stage, temporarily blocking some provisions of HB 1205. Over the next week and a half to two weeks, they plan to present additional evidence against the state and Secretary of State Cord Byrd.
State attorneys declined to comment Monday, but Byrd defended the law during a recent interview with WPLG. The secretary said it was necessary to address widespread fraud in the initiative process.
"The legislature passed the new law, HB1205, last year, to address these issues. And even with all of those additional measures put in place, we are still uncovering massive amounts of fraud, which is underlies the problem in the citizens’ initiative process," Byrd said.
Governor Ron DeSantis and other Republican lawmakers have repeatedly echoed that argument, framing the law as a crackdown on an industry they say invites abuse.
"It's a cottage industry where people are getting paid to generate petitions and so they can sign names and then get more money, and it's gotta stop," DeSantis said last year.
The case will ultimately be decided by Northern District Judge Mark Walker, an Obama appointee who has previously struck down DeSantis-era policies. His ruling could determine whether HB 1205 stands—or whether key provisions are overturned.
Meanwhile, Florida Decides Healthcare says it is restarting its Medicaid expansion campaign aimed at the 2028 ballot. Whether that effort can succeed may hinge on the outcome of this trial, Emerson said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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