FL H1205

Overhauls Florida's constitutional amendment initiative petition process by expanding the definition of "petition circulator" to include all persons collecting signatures (not just paid collectors), requiring circulators to be U.S. citizens, Florida residents, and non-felons (or with restored voting rights), and mandating they complete state-developed training and register with the Secretary of State before collecting more than 25 signed forms beyond their own or immediate family members'

Significantly increases civil penalties for petition sponsors, including $50,000 fines per person knowingly allowed to collect forms in violation of the law, $5,000 per forged or falsified petition, and $50 per day late (up from $30-day to 10-day delivery window) for each petition form not promptly delivered to the supervisor of elections; also prohibits compensating circulators based on number of forms gathered or time-based quotas

Requires supervisors of elections to mail verification notices to voters whose petition signatures are validated, allowing voters to return a form to the Office of Election Crimes and Security to invalidate their signature if they believe it was forged or misrepresented; triggers mandatory preliminary investigations when invalid petition rates exceed 25% in a reporting period

Restructures the Financial Impact Estimating Conference so it may only be convened by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House jointly, requires the financial impact statement to appear on petition forms (not just ballots), and mandates that if no statement is produced, the ballot must state "THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THIS AMENDMENT, IF ANY, HAS NOT BEEN DETERMINED AT THIS TIME"

Adds election code fraud involving initiative petitions to the definition of "racketeering activity," prohibits state government expenditure of public funds on communications to electors concerning proposed constitutional amendments, grants any qualified voter or taxpayer standing to contest a constitutional amendment's adoption, and imposes a signature verification moratorium from July 1 through September 30, 2025