Florida lawmakers are considering a proposal that could make it more expensive to sponsor a ballot initiative in the state, and President Donald Trump exempts some Mexican imports from tariffs until April.

New proposal could make it more expensive to bring a ballot initiative

Florida Republicans are moving forward with a bill that would scrutinize Florida’s ballot initiative process.

The proposal advanced Thursday through a committee in the Florida House.

Last election, the $15 minimum wage or access to medical marijuana were ballot initiatives. It was Florida voters that put them on the ballot, and it was Florida voters that approved it.

Lawmakers want to put more guardrails on the state’s ballot initiative process.

“This process is incredibly important. Our state constitution, it’s our constitution. It belongs to the people of Florida, and we need to ensure we have integrity in the initiative process,” State Rep. Jenna Persons said.

Under the bill, sponsors must first pony up $1 million in the form of bond.

“If you care about the integrity of the process, you should support this bill, which moves to ensure that integrity. Without integrity in the process, any outcomes from the process are justice corrupted as the means that got them there,” State Rep. Sam Greco said.

Thereafter — it’s only Florida residents that are empowered to go gather signatures. That is, if they pass the bill’s newly required background check.

“This bill is not about election integrity. It’s about fear. Fear of the people using their constitutional right to act. When you fail to deliver on the issues that matter most to them,” Equal Ground Education Executive Director Genesis Robinson said.

Fail to do it, and the consequences are tough. A sponsor could face a $50,000 fine for each and every violation.

“The fines proposed in this bill are punitive. They are arbitrary, and they are discriminatory against the small person and the working class family that we say we are sent here to fight for,” State Rep. Dayrl Campbell said.

Florida Republicans have long criticized the state’s initiative process. Florida is just one of 24 states that allows the process to change the state’s constitution.

“The United States of America, the state of Florida, a representative republic. You have 120 chances in the Florida house, and you got 40 chances in the Florida Senate. It is not hard to get a bill created,” State Rep. Jeff Holcomb said.

Citizen initiatives date back in Florida to 1968. Since then, Florida voters have weighed in on more than 50 different initiatives.

Trump exempts Mexico from 25% tariff on some goods until April 2

Two days after enacting a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico, President Donald Trump said Mexico will not be required to pay tariffs on anything that falls under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement until April 2. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he made the decision after speaking with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

“This Agreement is until April 2nd," Trump wrote. "I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl.”

The move comes one day after Trump exempted Ford, General Motors and Stellantis from the 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports through April 2, when the White House expects to begin reciprocal tariffs on a variety of goods.

Earlier Thursday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in an interview with CNBC that Trump would "likely" suspend the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for most products and services for a month. There has been no announcement Thursday about changes to tariffs on goods from Canada.

Sheinbaum thanked Trump in a post on X shortly after his announcement.

"We had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results, within the framework of respect for our sovereignties," she wrote.

"We will continue to work together, particularly on migration and security issues, which include reducing the illegal crossing of fentanyl into the United States, as well as weapons into Mexico," Sheinbaum continued. "As mentioned by President Trump, Mexico will not be required to pay tariffs on all those products within the USMCA."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House censures Democratic Rep. Al Green for disrupting Trump's joint address to Congress

The House on Thursday voted to censure an unrepentant Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, for disrupting President Donald Trump's address to Congress.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had Green removed from the chamber during the early moments of Trump's speech Tuesday night. Green stood and shouted at Trump after the Republican president said the Nov. 5 election had delivered a governing mandate not seen for many decades.

"You have no mandate," the Houston lawmaker said, shaking a cane and refusing an order from Johnson to "take your seat, sir!"

Republicans acted quickly to rebuke Green with a censure resolution that officially registers the House's deep disapproval of a member's conduct. Once such a resolution is approved by majority vote, the member is asked to stand in the well of the House while the speaker or presiding officer reads the resolution.

The resolution against Green was approved in a mostly party-line vote of 224-198.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, the resolution's sponsor, said it was a "necessary, but difficult step."

"This resolution is offered in all seriousness, something that I believe we must do in order to get us to the next level of conduct in this hallowed chamber," said Newhouse, R-Wash.

It's the latest fallout of the boisterous behavior that has occurred during more recent presidential addresses to Congress. Outbursts from lawmakers have happened on both sides of the political aisle.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., noted that Republicans were silent when members of their conference interrupted Democratic President Joe Biden's speech last year.

Some yelled "say her name" in reference to nursing student Laken Riley, as Biden spoke about immigration legislation that some lawmakers were working on. Riley was killed while running on the University of Georgia campus by a Venezuelan citizen who illegally entered the United States in 2022 and had been allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case.