Issue #202: DeSantis Weaponizes State Agencies against Weed and Abortion Rights Amendments
Issue #202: DeSantis Weaponizes State Agencies against Weed and Abortion Rights Amendments
A dangerous precedent
We are just under three weeks away from Election Day in Florida; with 600,000 people already casting ballots by mail. While the Harris and Trump Presidential campaigns focus much more on other states, Florida is seeing massive advertising and campaigning related to its two most contentious ballot measures: marijuana legalization and abortion rights.
I wrote about this back in April of this year. Florida has two major Amendments that will be voted on.
Amendment 3: Legalizes recreational marijuana in Florida
Amendment 4: Guarantees abortion rights until viability
I wrote in depth about the politics of both; along with past votes on the topic, in the issue seen below. Give this a read for much more detailed data breakdowns on this topic. Per the Florida Constitution, any ballot measure needs 60%; which is right around what both measures are polling at, either a little above or below.
DeSantis does not support either measure, which comes as a shock to no one. However, Republicans are not united on this front. Donald Trump said he will vote for Amendment 3, which legalizes weed. Meanwhile, Trump has said that Florida’s current 6 week abortion ban is too strict, and seemed to possibly indicate he’d vote YES on 4. His campaign eventually said he’d vote NO, no doubt worried about an Evangelical backlash. DeSantis, who’s Presidential bid crashed and burned earlier this year, clearly sees defeating these amendments, but namely abortion rights, as a key factor in him making a 2028 play for the Republican nomination.
As a result of his ambitions, DeSantis has gone full-bore on working to defeat both measures. In May, DeSantis started the “Florida Freedom Fund” political committee, which is raising and spending money to defeat both measures. The committee has raised $6,000,0000 so far and is chaired by James Uthmeier, who is CURRENTLY the Governor’s Chief of Staff. Imagine this, a political committee, run by the COS to the Governor of Florida, soliciting donations. Can’t imagine anyone with business before the state would feel compelled to donate….
His focus is especially strong on defeating Amendment 4. With this focus, DeSantis has weaponized state agencies to carry out a political campaign and intimidate voters. This has manifested in questioning petition signers, to threatening TV stations, to using taxpayer money to run ads. It has been an alarming escalation of the authoritarian tendencies that DeSantis has demonstrated over much of his Governorship.
This article will look at the notable instances of the DeSantis taxpayer-funded administration putting the thumb on the scale.
Misleading Ballot Language
DeSantis and his allies have worked to undermine Amendment 4 by framing it in a negative light on the ballot itself. For that, they have weaponized a bureaucratic and little-known committee: the Financial Impact Estimating Conference.
Per Florida law, all ballot measures must be accompanies by a Fiscal Impact Statement. It is a four member body made up of designees from the Governor, State Senate, State House, and the Coordinator of the Office of Economic and Demographic Research. This is often an overlooked and fairly a-political body.
Sometimes the financial statements can be straight forward, with a clear cost for passing or not passing a measure. Other issues, like Amendment 4, are tricky to “score” (put a price tag on). Debate about the fiscal impact of Amendment 4 took place as far back as October of last year. In June, a judge struck down the initial language for being too vague, forcing the the conference to meet and come up with revised language.
In July, the conference met to debate the language; but it was this time was stacked with partisan appointees. The summer meeting was made up of these four individuals.
Amy Baker - State’s Chief Economist - from Demo Research
Chris Spencer - DeSantis appointee, former DeSantis Budget Chief
Rachel Greszler - House appointee, works for Heritage Foundation
Azhar Khan - Senate appointee, Senate Finance/Tax Staff Director
As the meetings went on, the state paid, via taxpayer funds, for people to testify and argue for financial language that would harm the chances of Amendment 4 passing. This including paying Greszler to be on the board herself; paying her $75 an hour for her time. Chris Spencer led the political charge, advocating for language that “warned” voters of likely lawsuits to come if the measure passed and that state funds would have to pay for elective abortions.
The state’s chief economist, Amy Baker, became a major voice on the panel arguing against including politicized language.
“This is a prohibition on government action, not a right to abortion,” said Florida’s top economist Amy Baker. “Even if it’s a right, it does not mean that the government has to do anything. … We have a proposed amendment to give a right to hunting and fishing in Florida. I don’t think anybody is here saying, ‘Oh, we have to buy a fishing pole for everyone and a rifle for everyone.’”
Baker warned about politicized language being part of the process, often sparring directly with Spencer, who quickly proved to be the Governor’s mouthpiece. She also warned that a politicized decision would taint what has largely been an a-political part of the ballot process.
The committee seemed to be initially deadlocked 2-2, with Spencer and Greszler being two firm conservatives and Baker and Khan looking for less politically charged language. However, with heavy pressure from DeSantis and the lawmakers, Khan ultimately went with Spencer and Greszler, voting 3-1 for the language seen below.
The proposed amendment would result in significantly more abortions and fewer live births per year in Florida. The increase in abortions could be even greater if the amendment invalidates laws requiring parental consent before minors undergo abortions and those ensuring only licensed physicians perform abortions. There is also uncertainty about whether the amendment will require the state to subsidize abortions with public funds. Litigation to resolve those and other uncertainties will result in additional costs to the state government and state courts that will negatively impact the state budget. An increase in abortions may negatively affect the growth of state and local revenues over time. Because the fiscal impact of increased abortions on state and local revenues and costs cannot be estimated with precision, the total impact of the proposed amendment is indeterminate.
This language is plainly biased, designed to scare off voters. There is uncertainty with some measures like this, and referencing that is fine, however, this language comes with a clear negative tilt. It also acts like the measure will cause a massive population collapse in Florida. The language was challenged by the YES on 4 campaign, but they were going to struggle with the modern conservative Florida Supreme Court.
As sadly predicted, the Supreme Court would ultimately side with the state, ruling 6-1 to support the language. The results fell on the current ideological lines of the court, with moderate Justice Jorge Labarga being the lone dissenter. The majority argued that sense the Pro-4 groups had taken part in the economic drafting process, they could not question the committees authority now. Justice Labarga warned that the court was allowing the legislature and Governor to politically interfere in the citizen-led initiative process.
“Despite the majority’s focus on the actions of the Estimating Conference, make no mistake that today’s decision opens the door to the legislative branch leadership to intervene in the citizen-driven constitutional amendment process — even in the midst of ongoing legal proceedings such as were taking place here.”
This move and the court decision does make it very likely future Financial Impact Estimating Conference meetings will see more partisan involvement.
Taxpayer Funded Anti-4 Website
The DeSantis meddling hardly stops with the ballot language fight.
In September, the Florida Department of Health launched a taxpayer-funded website that attacks Amendment 4 and defends the state’s current 6-week bad. Jason Weida, the head of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), tweeted out on September 5th…..
The website, FloridaCares, is nothing more than a campaign website. The site, funded by taxpayer dollars, says Amendment 4 is being pushed by fearmongers and that the campaign is lying about current Florida laws.
The launching of the site was a major political firestorm in Florida. It marks a continued blurring of the lines between government actions and political campaigning. Bacardi Jackson, head of the ACLU of Florida, did not mince words.
“This kind of propaganda issued by the state, using taxpayer money and operating outside of the political process sets a dangerous precedent. This is what we would expect to see from an authoritarian regime, not in the so-called ‘Free State of Florida.’”
DeSantis claims this website is completely fine because its related to healthcare issues. However, the bias of the site means it is clear electioneering - filled with “fact checking” and partisan-tainted language. It honestly could be easily confused with a formal campaign website of opposition to the amendment. The site also stems far from health issues, delving into questioning the finances of the amendment itself; something that has no bearing on the health of anyone.
Taxpayer-funded Commercials Against 3 & 4
Meanwhile, as well documented by reporter Jason Garcia, state-funded agencies and organizations are spending MILLIONS on ads to oppose Amendments 3 and 4.
The FL Department of Health and Florida Department of Transportation are running anti-marijuana campaigns. DOT ads can seem at first like they are simply PSAs on safe driving, something you might see similar to alcohol. However, the language of the ads, which were produced with help from the official NO on 3 campaign, focuses also on warning about a hypothetical increase in crashes if Amendment 3 passes.
“DUI crashes increase in states with legalized marijuana — putting everyone at risk,”
The data on this is very subjective to begin with, as we are in a very new era with increased marijuana use. However, if DOT was so concerned with DUIs, they would be running ads nonstop on alcohol; which is still the vast majority of DUI-related accidents. Not only does King Alcohol reign supreme in causing accidents, alcohol consumption does far more damage to driving ability than marijuana.
If DOT, responding to passage of Amendment 3, decided to run ads warning about DUIs in wake of new law, I’d be completely supportive. However, these ads are currently designed to sway a public vote - and use taxpayer funded dollars to do so.
On the Amendment 4 front, multiple ads have been run, backed by taxpayer dollars, to either oppose the amendment or defend the current 6-week bad. You can see ads from AHCA right on twitter; which are also running on TV.
Another ad, funded by taxpayers, features an anti-abortion doctor that also gained notoriety for refusing to subscribe birth control pills, is running across TV stations. Jason Garcia’s research, which is further detailed here, has estimated that around $15,000,000 in taxpayer funds is likely being spent on advertising to oppose Amendments 3 and 4.
Fifteen million dollars - in taxpayer money - to campaign against citizen-initiated ballot measures. Think about that.
Petition Investigations
The political interference from DeSantis kicked into a higher gear in September when the administration decided to “investigate” the petition gathering effort of Amendment 4. The 2022-created “Florida's Office of Election Crimes and Security” - the so-called “Election Police” that DeSantis demanded, has led the charge here.
In September, the Secretary of State’s office, run by far-right former State Rep Cord Byrd, requested 36,000 verified petitions from the election offices in Hillsborough, Orange, Palm Beach and Osceola.
“I have never in my tenure had a request like this one,” - Mary Jane Arrington, Osceola Elections Supervisor since 2008.
Every petition-driven ballot measure must go through a petition validation process, where the local Election Supervisors compare the petitions with voter records and signatures. Campaigns will always aim to submit far more petitions than required, knowing plenty will be invalidated. Some invalidations are due to errors, or changing signatures. Others are due to fraud from petition gatherers. Every campaign deals with this issue, but the verification process weeds out the bad petitions. The state also maintains the report of valid petitions. Amendment 4 needed 891,523 petitions to make the ballot. It had 997,035 verified by the local election departments. Even anti-choice groups admitted that the campaign had secured the needed petitions to make the ballot.
However, Byrd insisted a review was needed because of “the large amount of petition fraud in the process.” To be clear, the timeline to challenge the amendment being on the ballot has LONG passed. This investigation is basically the state wanting to review petitions the county already validated as legit. Regardless, as they grumbled about the office time the request took up, the election supervisors complied and handed the petitions over. The result has been the “election police” that DeSantis now controls going to the homes of people who signed petitions to question them. Countless stories like the one seen below have been reported.
Going door to door to question and interrogate people about petitions they signed is clear intimidation. Imagine someone saying they are investigating fraud shows up to your door - it’s easy to convince yourself you did something wrong even if you didn’t. Its also calling out your support for a very contentious issue - something many are not comfortable discussing. This can easily be designed to scare people from ever signing petitions - worried they will be subject to a knock at their door some day.
Then, on October 11th, the Secretary of State released a truly insane report on their findings. The “investigation” claimed that anywhere from 15% to 23% of petitions validated should not have been so, namely due to them claiming the signatures were not close enough to those on file. The reasoning for deeming a verified petition as suspect is truly amazing. The “audit” refers to the “indicia of fraud” - not actual proof. It uses things like suspected handwriting or the fact someone actual put the voter ID number on a form.
The report also uses the fact that people often have signed petitions multiple times (which is something that gets flagged in the verification process). The simple fact a person may show up on multiple petitions is not new or shocking. Most folks do not remember if they signed, and often may do so again. Its illegal to knowingly do this, but countless folks do it unknowingly all the time. The verification process weeds out doubles - and the simple fact such submissions happened isn’t indicative of anything.
The full report, filled with innuendo and vague warnings, is setting the stage for the legislature to pass even more strict petition gathering rules. The report sets a verification standard that clearly aims to ensure no measure can ever be approved for the ballot. In typical fashion, the report also attacks the local election departments, saying they were “too lenient.”
Threatening TV Stations
The intimidation game continued beyond petitions. The DeSantis administration has now begun to try and bully TV stations. This stemmed from an ad being run by the YES on 4 campaign. The “Caroline” ad highlights the glaring flaws in the “life and health of the mother” exemption to the state’s current 6-week ban.
Two years ago, Caroline was pregnant with a second child when it was discovered she had a terminal brain tumor. Ending the pregnancy and securing life-extending treatment was allowed under the old laws, but under the new law it is not (because the treatment can only extend her life, not cure the cancer) - even though continuing the pregnancy would have likely have led to her not even surviving the pregnancy.
In response to this ad, the Florida Department of Health sent CEASE AND DESIST letters to at least one TV station. The letter can be seen below. I highlight relevant points - but the letter threatens the station with criminal prosecution! It claims the ad lies about current law and creates a “sanitary nuisance.”
The reporting of the letter led to widespread condemnation from the media and from the YES on 4 campaign. The head of the Federal Communication Commission also weighed in - taking the DeSantis administration to task.
“Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech,” - FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel
A few days later, John Wilson, the lead attorney for the Department of Health, left the agency. It is unclear if he was fired or resigned, but I am pretty confident he “fell on the sword” and will be set up nicely in some hack political post.
This intimidation effort may have faltered for this campaign. As best I know, no stations are pulling any ads. However, this is a dangerous escalation in the intimidation game by the DeSantis administration. It is surely the last time we will see such tactics.
Final Warning
Ron DeSantis clearly sees that defeating one or both of these amendments is good for him politically. As you likely ventured from this issue, a large amount of the focus appears to be on Amendment 4; which makes sense as abortion is so critical to Evangelical conservatives.
DeSantis opting to campaign against the measure, even raise money against it, would be in line with traditional political principles. However, rather than simply running a classic campaign, the governor has decided to weaponize state resources for a political issue. In doing this, DeSantis has embraced the illiberal practices that many authoritarian ‘democracies’ use; which sees the party in power utilize state resources to tilt opinions in the democratic process. These tactics, seen commonly in places like Hungary or Turkey, have no place here.
Unfortunately, these tactics are becoming all the more common in DeSantis’ authoritarian administration. It will surely be replicated at the national level if a certain orange-haired man wins the Presidency next month.
It is imperative that does not happen.