A new law causes much disturbance in collecting petitions for a Florida Right to Clean Water (RTCW).

Florida House Bill 1205 imposes numerous restrictions on gathering petitions to get a state constitutional amendment on the ballot, including substantial monetary and other penalties for not following this new law to the letter.

It was signed by the governor on May 2, 2025, so it is law now: Chapter No. 2025-21.

Here is guidance from the organizers of the RTCW campaign.

FL RTCW Guidance 2025-05-09

Florida Right to Clean Water
Official Guidance on HB 1205 as of 5/9/25:
(Updates will be posted on FloridaRightToCleanWaterorg/updates)

If you collect signed petitions

THE 10-DAY RULE APPLIES. (This is because there was no specific “this comes into effect” date for this provision, so it came into effect on 5/2/25.)

• WE HAVE SUSPENDED PETITIONING OPERATIONS DUE TO THE CONFUSION, LIABILITIES, AND STEEP PENALTIES SURROUNDING THIS ISSUE.
• For petitions signed on or after 5/2/25 (for those who didn’t know about suspending petitioning operations), process them IMMEDIATELY to the correct county SOE, according to the signer’s county of residence, ensuring they ARRIVE at the SOE office no later than 10 days after the signature date. Donot“perfect” (put any marks on) the form. ifthe SOE requires Letter of Authorization, Affidavit of Undue Burden, or Cover Sheet, please contact Joe at Joseph Bonasia@outlook.oet,
• For petitions signed before 5/2/25, and due to the lack of “grandfathering” language in the lav, we are already “technically liable for BIG fines as the campaign still possesses MANY petitions in violation ofthe 10-day rule. We have notified and requested guidance from the Secretary of State on 5/6/25 and are still waiting, but they would have to create (vs. Interpret) law to resolve this situation. We stil plan to carry out our fiduciary duty and turn all signed petitions in, But we are awaiting official “cover” (ideally, a waiver of liability) before doing so

If you process & submit petitions

WE CAN NO LONGER “PERFECT” PETITIONS. (Perfecting petitions was a common practice, known and permitted by county SOEs, to assist signers in carrying out their intent to have a valid petition form. For example, lining through “USA” and writing in the signer’s COUNTY of residence. We were told not to touch the signature or date blocks, but everything else was permissible.) ***Whether or not this remains “the law” is to be determined by imminent litigation on this and many other matters with HB 1205. In the meantime:

• For petitions signed on or ater 5/2/25, there’s DEFINITELY no perfecting due to the lack of time.
• For petitions signed before 5/2/25, again, we are in the grey zone of whether or not 1) the Legislature intended this to begin July 1^st, or 2) this provision is a constitutional (necessary) restraint. So here’s how we’re balancing between our duty to the signer (in wanting to turn in a valid petition), to the volunteer who stood out in the heat collecting it and the duty to keeping ourselves out of, trouble:
• If the pettion clearly needs no perfecting go ahead and submit it to the SOE.
• If the pettion doesneed perfecting deliver it to the last person in the chain (who will submit it to the SOE), where it will be held just a little longer as we await a court order or official state guidance on the mater.

ALL PETITIONS WILL BE TURNED IN EVENTUALLY.

For more on Right to Clean Water, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/right-to-clean-water/

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

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