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The group behind the initiative to expand Medicaid said Monday that a Florida Department of State rule could force it to restart the petition collection process.
Florida Decides Healthcare re-launched in February a petition drive for voters to decide in 2026 whether the state should provide health coverage for low-income adults. The group suspended the campaign because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The group said on Monday it received guidance from the department in early August that Floridians who signed the petition during the previous attempt couldn’t sign it again unless the group restarts the process with a new petition.
In a press release, the group said it was working with the state to find a solution that wouldn’t force it to start over or not submit signatures from the 80,000 Floridians who supported the initiative last time. However, the press release said Florida Decides Healthcare would also look into a legal challenge against the rule.
The build-up begins to get Medicaid expansion on the ballot in FL
“As we have engaged with voters across the state, we have heard time and again how important it is that the people of Florida are given the opportunity to make this decision for themselves directly by placing Medicaid expansion on the ballot in 2026,” the campaign’s manager, Jake Flaherty, wrote in the press release. “We remain committed to ensuring that all Floridians have the opportunity to participate fully in shaping the future of health care in our state.”
‘Advocating for a fair and consistent application of the rules’
The rule comes under a 2020 Florida law that prohibits a sponsor from collecting a signature for a particular election cycle and then re-using that signature in a subsequent cycle. However, that prohibition also applies if the sponsor gets another signature from the same person, even if the original signature has expired, according to the guidance the department sent to the group.
“The Florida Constitution guarantees citizens the right to participate in the citizen initiative process, and the state’s new guidance puts that right at risk,” ACLU of Florida Legal Director Daniel Tilley wrote in the press release from the sponsor.
“We are simply advocating for a fair and consistent application of the rules governing the citizen initiative process, and we look forward to a resolution that upholds the Florida Constitution and the rights of every eligible voter to make their voice heard in our state.”
Florida remains one of 10 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act. This expansion would cover adults under 65 who have incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level. Florida Decides Healthcare claims that approximately 964,000 people would be eligible for Medicaid under the expansion, which the Republican-controlled Legislature has refused to consider.
The initiative would need 8% of the votes cast in this presidential election and approval from the Florida Supreme Court to get to the ballot.
The department didn’t provide a comment at the time of publication.
Update: Florida Decides Healthcare provided the following comment from Flaherty:
“This campaign is full steam ahead on continuing to collect petitions regardless of this ruling and are confident that the state will make the right decision to ensure that no Floridian has their constitutional rights violated. We are continuing to work with the state on a resolution in regards to this specific issue and are assessing all of our options with regards to a legal challenge in order to guarantee no voter is disenfranchised throughout this process.
“While we disagree with this interpretation of the rule, we know that the people of Florida are fired up about expanding access to Medicaid for the over one million workers, veterans, and seniors who are currently without care and nothing will get in the way of our mission to ensure their voices are heard and the voters get to decide this issue in 2026.
“We are confident that the overwhelming desire for access to affordable and quality health care in Florida will translate in our ability to make it onto the ballot, even if those who have already made their voices heard are unfairly excluded from the process.”
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