According to this news story, the Majority Leader of the Florida House says the legislature will not have time to consider the omnibus election law bills, HB 497 and S 956. Those identical bills, 81 pages long, included a ban on paying initiative petitioners per signature.
This year, activists have had good success stopping bills to make ballot access more difficult. So far, bills to restrict circulators have either died, or failed to make much headway so far, in Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, and Virginia. Also, the only states that considered making an independent candidate or minor party petition deadline worse (South Dakota and Texas) did not do so, and an early petition deadline bill in Missouri has not moved.
The Florida changes will not pass in the regular session. However….
There will almost certainly be a supplemental session (ostensibly to deal with the budget) that starts near the end of May. That session could, as previous supplement sessions have in the past, still pass a similar election bill.
In short, the danger is still there.
Also, the 81-page twin omnibus bills are SB 956 and HB 7149. HB 497 is an 8-page bill focused only on paid petition circulators (and yes, it too would ban paying per signature). It may still not have time to pass in the regular session, of course — but just so we can follow things accurately.
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jalp (*of* GPMI)