Florida Senate - 2025 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SPB 7016
Ì599798ÄÎ599798
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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The Committee on Ethics and Elections (Gaetz and Grall)
recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 516 - 595
4 and insert:
5 signed initiative petitions from his or her immediate family
6 without registering as a petition circulator. Such person may
7 not physically possess more than two petition forms in addition
8 to his or her own petition form or a petition form belonging to
9 an immediate family member. For the purposes of this subsection,
10 the term “immediate family” means a person’s spouse or the
11 parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling of the person
12 or the person’s spouse.
13 (b) A citizen may challenge a petition circulator’s
14 registration under this section by filing a petition in circuit
15 court. If the court finds that the respondent is not a
16 registered petition circulator, the court may enjoin the
17 respondent from collecting signatures or initiative petitions
18 for compensation until she or he is lawfully registered.
19 (c) The division may revoke a petition circulator’s
20 registration if the circulator violates this section.
21 (d)1. A person may not collect signatures or initiative
22 petitions if he or she has been convicted of a felony violation
23 and has not had his or her right to vote restored.
24 2. A person may not collect signatures or initiative
25 petitions if he or she is not a citizen of the United States.
26 (e)(4) An application for registration must be submitted in
27 the format required by the Secretary of State and must include
28 the following:
29 1.(a) The information required to be on the petition form
30 under s. 101.161, including the ballot summary and title as
31 received approved by the Secretary of State.
32 2.(b) The applicant’s name, permanent address, temporary
33 address, if applicable, and date of birth; a copy of his or her
34 driver license or identification card, regardless of whether
35 such license or identification card was issued by this state;
36 and the last four digits of his or her social security number.
37 3.(c) An address in this state at which the applicant will
38 accept service of process related to disputes concerning the
39 petition process, if the applicant is not a resident of this
40 state.
41 4.(d) A statement that the applicant consents to the
42 jurisdiction of the courts of this state in resolving disputes
43 concerning the petition process.
44 5.(e) Any information required by the Secretary of State to
45 verify the applicant’s identity or address.
46 6. Whether the applicant has been convicted of a felony
47 violation and has not had his or her right to vote restored, by
48 including the statement, “I affirm that I am not a convicted
49 felon, or, if I am, my right to vote has been restored.” and
50 providing a box for the applicant to check to affirm the
51 statement.
52 7. Whether the applicant is a citizen of the United States,
53 by asking the question, “Are you a citizen of the United States
54 of America?” and providing boxes for the applicant to check
55 whether the applicant is or is not a citizen of the United
56 States.
57 8. The signature of the applicant under penalty of perjury
58 for false swearing pursuant to s. 104.011, by which the
59 applicant swears or affirms that the information contained in
60 the application is true.
61 (f) A person may not register to collect signatures or
62 initiative petitions until he or she has completed the training
63 concerning the requirements for petition circulators. The
64 training must be developed by the division and may be in an
65 electronic format available on the division’s public website.
66 The training must, at a minimum, include the following:
67 1. An overview of the petition-gathering process.
68 2. An overview of the petition circulator registration
69 requirements.
70 3. An explanation that the sponsor of an initiative
71 amendment serves as a fiduciary to each voter who signs a
72 petition.
73 4. An explanation that the Florida Election Code prohibits
74 compensation or provision of any benefit based on the number of
75 petition signatures gathered.
76 5. The specific criminal penalties to which a petition
77 circulator may be subject for violating the Florida Election
78 Code.
79 (g) The sponsor of the initiative amendment is liable for a
80 fine in the amount of $50,000 for each person the sponsor
81 knowingly allows to collect petition forms on behalf of the
82 sponsor in violation of this subsection.
83 (5) A sponsor may not compensate a petition circulator
84 based on the number of petition forms gathered or the time
85 within which a number of petition forms is gathered. This
86 prohibition
87
88 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
89 And the title is amended as follows:
90 Delete lines 53 - 75
91 and insert:
92 authorizing specified persons to collect signed
93 initiative petitions from their immediate family;
94 prohibiting such persons from physically possessing
95 more than a certain number of petition forms; defining
96 the term “immediate family”; authorizing the court to
97 enjoin a petition circulator, regardless of whether
98 compensated, from collecting signatures or initiative
99 petitions until such petition circulator is registered
100 under a specified condition; authorizing the division
101 to revoke a petition circulator’s registration if the
102 petition circulator commits certain violations;
103 prohibiting certain persons from collecting signatures
104 or initiative petitions; requiring that applications
105 for registration include specified information;
106 prohibiting persons from registering to collect
107 signatures or initiative petitions until they complete
108 a required training; providing the requirements for
109 such training; providing civil penalties for the
110 sponsors of initiative amendments that knowingly allow
111 persons to collect petition forms on their behalf and
112 violate specified provisions; prohibiting a sponsor
113 from compensating a petition circulator based on the
114 number of petition forms gathered or the time within
115 which such forms are gathered; providing