TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A group behind a petition drive to expand Medicaid is suing the state over a law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that erects even more barriers to getting citizen initiatives on the ballot.

Florida Decides HealthCare said in a press release that the new law is unconstitutional and “significantly undermines Florida’s citizen-led constitutional amendment process” by enacting “sweeping restrictions” that make it harder to gather the petitions needed to get amendments on the ballot.

The political committee filed the lawsuit Sunday in federal court in the Northern District of Florida.

DeSantis signed the ballot measure overhaul bill into law late Friday night without fanfare, several hours after the Legislature approved it on the last day of the regular session. Supporters said it was needed to eliminate the instances of fraud uncovered by the Secretary of State’s elections crimes unit involving a ballot initiative to overturn the state’s strict abortion laws.

“The purpose of this bill is to have citizen initiative amendments that are valid, that are not corrupt and properly show the will of the people of Florida,” said Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, the measure’s sponsor.

But Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, said the law’s intent is to kill any future chances for citizens to directly influence the Legislature by passing constitutional amendments lawmakers refuse to tackle during legislative sessions.

Past initiatives have led to legalized medical marijuana, restoring felons’ voting rights, clean water and imposing school class size limits.

Last year, ballot initiatives seeking to overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban and legalize recreational pot narrowly failed despite the millions of dollars raised to collect petition signatures and drum up voter support.

Pro-Amendment 4 forces raised and spent over $112 million to get voters to approve an amendment that would protect women’s right to abortion for up to 22 weeks. Amendment 3 supporters for legalizing marijuana raised more than $150 million, almost all of it from Trulieve, the state’s largest medical marijuana company.

The DeSantis administration spent millions of public dollars on ads targeting last year’s marijuana and abortion initiatives. State officials defended them as educational messages.

At least two committees run by the governor’s then-chief of staff, James Uthmeier, raised millions more to fight both ballot initiatives.

The new law imposes several new regulations, including tighter deadlines, penalties and potential fines on the petition process. Anyone who doesn’t register with the state as a signature-gatherer and possesses more than 25 signed petitions beyond their own and immediate family members faces a third-degree felony charge punishable by up to five years in prison. There is no restriction on distributing blank petition forms.

The new regulations bar people from out of state, noncitizens and felons who have not had their voting rights restored from collecting petitions. Registered petition circulators will be required to undergo a two-hour online training with the state.

The law signed by DeSantis Friday also bars state funds from being used for political communications related to ballot initiatives.

--------------

©2025 Orlando Sentinel. Visit at orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.