Pro-choice activists in Orlando, Florida on April 13, 2024. Credit: Photo by Dave Decker

In an effort to thwart the proposed constitutional amendments that would have legalized recreational cannabis and protect abortion rights last year, state agencies in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration ended up spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on public service announcements to campaign against those measures.

That’s despite the fact there are already laws on the books in Florida that ban state employees and agency heads from using their official authority to influence or interfere in elections.

Nevertheless, if state employees and the agencies they work for are found to be doing that in the future, they would face serious sanctions, including potentially being removed from their job and having their agency’s funding reduced under a bill (HB 727) filed by Tampa Bay area Democrat Rep. Michele Rayner on Wednesday.

Her measure, titled the “Public Resource Election Neutrality Act,” would ban any state department or agency from producing, disseminating, or funding any public service announcement (PSA) related to a statewide ballot initiative. The Florida Commission on Ethics “may” investigate complaints of violations of the law. All state agencies would also have to maintain records of PSAs produced or funded during the 12 months preceding a general election and make the records available to the public.

Meanwhile, another bill (SB 860), labeled the “Broadcast Freedom Protection Act” by Democratic Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, was also introduced on Wednesday. Under his proposal, any elected or appointed state official found to be interfering with broadcasters’ decisions to air political campaign advertisements, “particularly those related to statewide ballot initiatives,” would face third degree felony charges. They also could be removed from office and permanently disqualified from holding any subsequent elected or appointed office. The legislation also allows the Florida Commission on Ethics to investigate complaints alleging the law’s been broken.

The bills come after DeSantis was criticized last year for using taxpayer dollars to campaign against the cannabis ballot initiative, Amendment 3, and the abortion proposal, Amendment 4. Both measures ultimately received more than 50% support from the voters, but less than the 60% threshold required for passage.

Taxpayer funds were used in 2024

Smart & Safe Florida, the advocacy group advocating for Amendment 3, claimed that the state government had spent $50 million in taxpayer dollars to campaign against the proposal.

The Miami Herald reported that the Department of Children and Families had spent $4 million to pay a marketing agency for an “advertising campaign aimed at educating Floridian families and youth about the dangers of marijuana, opioid, and drug use.” Though the ads never explicitly mentioned Amendment 3, those ads aired last September, as the campaign for the measure was receiving heavy news coverage.

The DeSantis administration did not stop there, though.

The Florida Department of Health went as far as threatening legal action against TV stations that aired ads in support of Amendment 4 and was taken to court over its actions. A federal judge ruled in that specific case that the state was “trampling” on free speech rights and blocked the agency from continuing to threaten broadcasters.

The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) also created a website whose homepage included language stating that “Amendment 4 Threatens Women’s Safety.” Democrats unsuccessfully demanded that it be removed.

Later South Florida Democratic Sen. Jason Pizzo filed a lawsuit alleging that the Florida Department of Transportation improperly spent state money to oppose Amendment 4 last fall, but a Leon County Circuit Court Judge dismissed the lawsuit.

The agencies actions weren’t just criticized by Democrats.

“No matter where you stand on this issue, this is still a democracy. We do not spend taxpayer dollars in advance of a political issue,” Sarasota Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters said on a Zoom conference in October. “Tax dollars are meant to be spent on our police, schools, roads, and other public programs that make our state great, not political agendas.”

Further crackdowns on proposed amendments ahead?

Meanwhile, DeSantis appears intent on pushing legislation that would make it harder for citizen-led initiatives to get on the statewide ballot by placing restrictions on how the signature petition process works.

The Florida Department of State produced a report last fall alleging that the group behind Amendment 4, Floridians Protecting Freedom, was guilty of “widespread election fraud,” and was slapped with a $328,000 fine that the group ultimately paid.

“The petition fraud, and making sure that that is reformed so that this process doesn’t run amok, is something that’s very important,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Tallahassee on Wednesday. “I absolutely think you’ll see the speaker and the president of the senate work towards enacting really strong reforms in that respect, I do think that that’s something that’s very important. We gotta get that done.”

Meanwhile, Smith also filed a bill on Wednesday that would reduce the threshold to pass constitutional amendments in Florida from 60% to 50%

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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This article appears in Feb 20-26, 2025.