Florida Bill Puts Citizen Initiatives on Tougher Path to Ballot

Florida would make it harder for citizen-proposed constitutional amendments to qualify for the ballot under a bill headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for his signature.

The Republican-backed legislation (HB 1205) would set limits on who can gather petition signatures, require a $1 million bond from ballot initiative sponsors, and expand the ability of initiative opponents to challenge the validity of petition signatures in court. The state Senate voted 28-9 Friday largely along party lines to send the bill to DeSantis.

The governor’s office didn’t comment on his position on the bill, but said it would ...