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After a class size initiative, a workplace smoking ban, and high speed rail amendments were approved in 2002, lawmakers were successful in convincing voters to make it harder to pass amendments. Now after the passage of medical marijuana and felons rights, the legislature is again trying to make passing initiatives harder…much harder.

After a series of successful petition drives in 2002 lawmakers were successful in raising the threshold for approval from 50 to 60 percent. Scott McCoy of the Southern Poverty Law Center says when it comes to voters going around lawmakers, they become parochial. 

 “They don’t like it of course, because they want to only game in town when it comes to making Flordia Law” says McCoy. 

When amendments kept passing, lawmakers shortened a petition’s unlimited lifespan to just two years. 

“They’re trying to put roadblocks in that path and we have serious concerns about that” add McCoy

Now, after the passage of the controversial felons voting rights, and medical marijuana, A bill was filed and passed its only committee in the short span of thirty six hours. 

Rep. Paul Renner of Palm Coast is the Chair of the Judiciary Committee.

“And it should be for Floridians to initiate that,” says Renner when it comes to petition drives. 

The hastily filed legislation requires petition gatherers to only be Florida residents and registered with the state.

“Let’s make sure they’re actually Floridians, Not North Koreans or Russians, or Californians or people from Georgia” add Renner.

Aliki Moncrief ran the Successful land conservation amendment in 2014 and says paid petition gatherers is the only was to succeed with a tight time limit and a large state.

“There’s no way we would have been able to do that as Florida’s Water and Land Legacy if we weren’t able to call on professional signature gatherers” says Moncrief.

So we asked Rep Renner how petition drivers could flourish with only Floridians 

“I would say to them, Florida has twenty one million people, they have twenty one million options.”

Because the changes being proposed this year are statutory, voters don’t really have a say, except to voice their opinion.

The legislation also says that those who gather petitions, can’t be paid by the petition….which is exactly how they are paid now.  

The legislation also requires the ballot summary to contain the name of the sponsor, a cost estimate, and contribution information, all without lengthening the 75 word limit on ballot summaries.