Bipartisan group criticizes DeSantis for using taxpayer money to fight Amendment 3. •Florida Phoenix

A bipartisan trio of top state political figures criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday for using $50 million in taxpayer money to try to defeat Amendment 3, the proposed constitutional amendment banning adult use of recreational cannabis 21 years would legalize.

DeSantis made clear this spring that he would use all of his resources to defeat both Amendments 3 and 4 on the Nov. 5 statewide ballot, shortly after the Florida Supreme Court approved sending those measures to voters.

Amendment 4 would enshrine the right to abortion in the Florida Constitution.

Advocates said Friday they never imagined the governor would pressure state agencies to use taxpayer money to oppose the measures.

“No matter where you stand on the issue, this is still a democracy. We don’t spend taxpayer dollars in advance of a political issue,” Sarasota Republican State Senator Joe Gruters said in a Zoom conference call organized by Safe & Smart Florida, the advocacy group behind Amendment 3. “Tax dollars should be spent on our police, schools, roads and other public programs that make our state great, not political agendas.”

Gruters' conservative credentials are unassailable. He served as chairman of the Florida Republican Party from 2018 to 2022 and twice co-chaired Donald Trump's presidential campaigns in Florida (Trump has also supported the measure). He is also a staunch opponent of Amendment 4. However, DeSantis is unable to spend taxpayer money to fight this measure as well.

“I have been an outspoken critic of Amendment 4, but no matter the issue or where I stand, I firmly believe it is undemocratic and a violation of Florida law against spending taxpayer dollars on political advertising. Period.”

South Florida Democratic state Sen. Jason Pizzo filed a lawsuit in state court earlier this month alleging the Florida Department of Transportation improperly spent state money fighting Amendment 3. However, a Leon County district judge granted a motion by FDOT to dismiss the lawsuit last week, the News Service of Florida reported.

Pizzo said the intent of his lawsuit was not to use the courts to punish anyone. He said he just wanted the agency to stop issuing a public notice that “warns that drunk driving accidents are on the rise in states where marijuana has been legalized, putting everyone at risk.”

“There is no funding for FDOT to spend money on this,” he said on the Zoom call.

“We're now looking at over $50 million that we can back up with data, $50 million that we can spend on this advertising campaign… that's more than half of what we're spending on Visit Florida “To promote tourism as our largest economic driver in the state, and “It all serves the ideology and position of a few people.”

Six state authorities

Independent journalist Jason Garcia wrote in his “Seeking Rents” newsletter this week that the governor has blamed at least six state agencies for upholding the Sunshine State's six-week abortion ban and recreational cannabis laws.

Smart & Safe Florida organizers now say the combination of 13,000 television commercials, more than 5,000 radio commercials, and digital and billboard ads across the state actually amounts to more than $50 million in taxpayer dollars.

The election comes as more than 3.3 million Floridians have already cast their votes, either by absentee ballot or at early voting polling stations, according to the state's Division of Elections.

In addition to being the only Republican in the Florida Legislature to actively support Amendment 3, Gruters also appears to be the only Republican lawmaker in the state to publicly condemn the practice of using taxpayer money for explicit political purposes.

“We shouldn't spend money on propaganda one way or another because it sets a bad precedent for future governments,” he said on the call.

Ulterior motives?

Orlando litigator and Democratic Party fundraiser John Morgan has been actively involved in three campaigns promoting constitutional amendments in the last decade (medical marijuana in 2014 and 2016 and minimum wage increase in 2018). And he has flirted with the idea of ​​running for governor in 2026 as a political independent. He speculated that the desire to repeal the amendment is being driven by Republican Party donors who have their own agendas.

“Which donors? Donors who have a vested interest in the pharmaceutical industry and the alcohol industry,” he said. “Marijuana – recreational and medical – is an existential threat to both industries. With all due respect to the two senators, money rules in Tallahassee and you have to follow these donors.”

Morgan added that the only way for the public to challenge the state government's actions is to work together to push the measure past the 60% threshold required for passage.

“I hope that all of this leads to you, the taxpayers of Florida, being so outraged by this theft of taxpayer dollars that you say, 'By God, I'm going to go out and that's what I'm going to do.'” Vote. And if you go out, I urge you to vote yes on 3,” he said.