FLORIDA – After seeing their fundraising efforts hobbled by uncertainty over the fate of a new Republican-crafted law restricting donations, the organizers of a slew of constitutional amendment campaigns are preparing to make up for lost time following a federal judge's decision to block the law from taking effect.

The preliminary injunction was issued by U.S. District Court Judge Allen Winsor Thursday, the day the $3,000 cap on individual contributions was set to begin. In his decision, Winsor wrote he agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union that donations to candidates and causes post-Citizens United are "beyond question a very significant form of political expression."

Sean Shaw, a former Democratic state representative who runs 'People Over Profits', a group working to put three voting access amendments on the 2022 ballot, hailed the injunction as consistent with case law that has allowed for unfettered campaign trail fundraising by the Republican legislators who passed the amendment contribution cap.

"You can't have it both ways. Either it is or it ain't," Shaw said in an interview.

"Some of us would love to see Citizens United go away, but as long it's the law of the land and the U.S. Supreme Court has deemed it so, then we are where we are. So, I'm confident it will be upheld and in the meantime, we get to operate with this injunction in place and to continue to take contributions over that $3,000 cap."

During this year's legislative session, Republican lawmakers were undodging in explaining their motivation for passing the contribution cap. The policymaking prerogative of the Florida Legislature is being circumvented by the ballot initiative process, they argued, pointing to well-heeled donors including the Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan as major drivers of the success of recent amendments to legalize medical marijuana, grant automatic felon voting rights resortation and implement a $15 minimum wage.

Their message: Florida is a constitutional republic, not a direct democracy.

"We have a duty to protect that elective process and not have it dominated by some other forces," said Sen. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala).

While the legal battle over the cap is by no means over, the injunction is allowing for fundraising to continue apace as amendment campaigns work to collect nearly 900,000 voter signatures by February in order to qualify for next year's general election ballot.

"There were certainly people that were holding back, waiting on this type of ruling, so I think we are going to accelerate some of the fundraising now," Shaw said. "We're still under the gun, we've still got a lot of signatures to go, but this certainly makes it a little bit easier for us to raise funds."