The Florida Capitol building on Aug. 12, 2024. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)
The Republican-led Legislature could, for the first time, find itself on a special-session collision course with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis has called lawmakers into a weeklong special session beginning Monday to address a number of high-profile and complicated issues, from immigration to soaring special assessments for condominium owners, to changing how constitutional amendments can make the ballot.
He has made immigration a priority and insisted that a revamp of immigration laws is needed to help President Donald Trump carry out his plans to deport millions who have entered the country illegally.
It’s not unusual for the Legislature to convene in special session; this will be the eighth since DeSantis has been in office.
What is unusual is for DeSantis to call the members into a special session without having some kind of an agreement hammered out in advance with the GOP-controlled Legislature.
The House and Senate issued statements Friday announcing they would convene Monday at 10:30 a.m. as “constitutionally required.” The Senate also has opened a “2025A session” page on its website where bills filed for consideration during the special session will be posted. As of this posting, there were none.
The House, meanwhile, had not established a webpage for special session-related bills to be filed as of this posting.
The governor’s office has released what it is describing as “suggested bill language” for immigration changes and what it is calling “ballot initiative integrity.” But there aren’t any proposals for condominiums or for increasing funding for the My Safe Florida Home program, another DeSantis wish.
Lobbying and trolling
The governor has ratcheted pressure on legislators to act, including holding a roundtable in Jacksonville during which he said it would be “hazardous” for lawmakers politically if they voted to quickly end the session.
The DeSantis administration sent agency heads to appear before committees last week to contend that unauthorized immigration was a pressing matter.
James Hartsell, executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, drew a reprimand from Panhandle Republican Rep. Alex Andrade during the first committee meeting of the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee on Jan. 15. While Hartsell described the department’s function to new lawmakers, he shifted gears to bring up border security.
“I understand that there’s a political dynamic going on, but we are here to talk about health care today,” Andrade, the chair of the subcommittee, insisted during the meeting.
Please stick to health care and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. I don’t anticipate many illegal immigrants being veterans receiving services.
– Alex Andrade, House Health Care Budget Subcommittee
“I was actually kind of curious if you were going to work in illegal immigration somehow into your speech because it has been very impressive so far. However, I would just ask: Please stick to health care and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. I don’t anticipate many illegal immigrants being veterans receiving services,” the chair said.
DeSantis chastised on X Miami Dade Republican Rep. Vicki Lopez for a similar back-and-forth with Florida Lottery’s Secretary John Davis.
Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo on Friday called the agencies’ intervention sad.
“I’m sorry if they have kids old enough to see their parents on TV basically reading from a script,” he told reporters following a panel discussion in Tallahassee in which he called for more bipartisanship in politics.
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Options
When DeSantis first announced the special session earlier this month, House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton responded by issuing a joint statement calling it “completely irresponsible to get out ahead of any announcements President Trump will make, especially when uninformed or ill-timed state action could potentially impair or impede the success of President Trump’s forthcoming efforts to end illegal immigration, close our borders, and protect the sovereignty of our nation.”
Once in session, though, the Legislature has options.
It can address the issues DeSantis has identified, which would entail committee meetings to consider bills with the goal of passing new laws.
Conversely, the House and Senate could each convene, read the governor’s proclamation, then adjourn. Or legislators could allow the time to run out on the session without reconvening.
A motion to adjourn could pass on a voice vote, which means lawmakers wouldn’t have to go on the record. However, they could be forced to register their vote on the motion if five members raise their hands to demand a roll call.
Difficult to prognosticate
The options may be clear but what the Legislature will do is not.
Pizzo is a leading voice in the Florida Legislature on soaring condominium costs, serving as vice chair of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee. Sen. Jennifer Bradley, a Republican from Fleming Island, chairs the panel, which is taking the lead in the Senate on crafting legislation to address the soaring special assessments.
Pizzo wasn’t optimistic Friday about finding a resolution on the condominium problem during a week-long special session.
“If condo was going to be on there, I think I would have had extended discussions,” he said. “Sen. Bradley and I met with the governor’s staff a week and a half ago at length. Good discussion, and what I think we all gleaned from that it was [that] there’s a lot of, you know, complex ideas, and nuances, and things that have to be flushed out and consider the implications. All of which cannot be done on a Monday morning snap.”
Sen. Don Gaetz told the Florida Phoenix he was not in on any plans for the special session. “All I know is that we are gaveling in Monday [morning],” Gaetz, a former Senate president, told the Phoenix in a text message.
Taxpayers foot the bill
Senate Appropriations Chair Ed Hooper earlier this month said calling a special session without advance agreements would be a waste.
“The issues he’s interested in holding a special session, those are hard to fix in three days,” Hooper said during a Pinellas County legislative delegation meeting in Clearwater. “They need to have a discussion. Why go to Tallahassee if you don’t have a solution? That’s just a waste of money.”
Since DeSantis took office in 2019, the Legislature has met seven times in special session at a cost of nearly $360,000.
Florida Phoenix Senior Reporter Mitch Perry contributed to this story
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