The political committee backing Medicaid expansion in Florida is delaying a ballot initiative push to 2028.
Florida Decides Healthcare (FDH[1]) initially wanted for language to appear before voters on the 2026 ballot. But the PC is blaming a new state law for making it harder to get ballot initiatives off the ground.
“Politicians in Tallahassee didn’t just make it harder to get on the ballot, they tried to shut Floridians out and deny them their constitutional right to participate in their own democracy. HB 1205 wasn’t about transparency, it was sabotage aimed directly at citizen-led ballot initiatives. This law may have delayed us until 2028, but it will not stop us,” said Mitch Emerson, Executive Director of FDH.
“Despite this setback, we’re focused on building the biggest, strongest campaign Florida has ever seen by expanding our coalition, raising the resources, and organizing at the scale needed to overcome the barriers Tallahassee politicians created.”
The group says 1.4 million people are stuck in coverage limbo because they make too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance. A GOP-controlled Legislature has declined to accept additional federal money to expand Medicaid coverage.
FDH is hundreds of thousands[2] of petitions short from qualifying for the 2026 ballot.
HB 1205, passed this year, limits the number of signed petitions[3] a volunteer can collect before having to register as an official petition circulator. Violators can be charged with a third-degree felony.
Other changes include speeding up the timeline for signed petitions to be submitted from 30 days to 10 days, adding stronger penalties for violations to the new rules, and requiring petition signers to write either the last four digits of their Social Security number or their driver’s license number on petitions.
Republicans argued[4] the changes were needed to clean up the citizen-led ballot initiative process and stop fraud.
Ballot initiatives already require a supermajority of at least 60% of the vote to pass.
Represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center[5], FDH filed a lawsuit[6] hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation[7] in May.
FDH said the new requirements will make ballot initiative efforts more expensive and, in some cases, impossible.
FDH is preparing for a trial in January over its lawsuit but said it will also ramp up its campaign efforts for the proposed ballot initiative with the longer runway.
“Over the next three years, FDH will expand its coalition in every county, maintain and grow a statewide volunteer army, and engage Floridians in every corner of the state,” FDH said. “This has always been a long, hard-fought fight, and shifting to 2028 positions the campaign on a timeline that gives it the best chance at success, one that is stronger, better resources, and impossible to ignore.”
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References
- ^ FDH (floridadecideshealthcare.org)
- ^ hundreds of thousands (dos.elections.myflorida.com)
- ^ limits the number of signed petitions (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ Republicans argued (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ Southern Poverty Law Center (www.splcenter.org)
- ^ filed a lawsuit (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ legislation (floridapolitics.com)