Why the rush? Florida legislators push back against DeSantis’ call for special session

Two days after Gov. Ron DeSantis said he wanted the Florida Legislature to call a special session to be “prepared to act” on immigration and tackle soaring condominium assessments lawmakers on both side of the aisle are questioning why the rush.

“I’m guessing that there’s not a big appetite for a special session,” said Pinellas Republican state Sen. Ed Hooper, the Senate Chair of the Appropriations Committee, speaking before the Pinellas County legislative delegation meeting in Clearwater on Thursday.

In addition to working on immigration issues, which DeSantis said was necessary to respond to expected executive orders coming from President-elect Donald Trump after taking office, the governor said he wanted lawmakers to meet soon to tackle condominium safety regulations, hurricane relief, and fraudulent signature-gathering petitions for constitutional amendments.

“The issues he’s interested in holding a special session, those are hard to fix in three days,” Hooper said. “They need to have a discussion. Why go to Tallahassee if you don’t have a solution? That’s just a waste of money.”

The two legislative leaders who have the immediate power to call a special session — Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez —have not commented publicly on the governor’s request, sparking speculation that they also have no interest in holding a special legislative session ahead of the March starting date.

“There are a lot of things that need to be fixed. I’m not so sure that we need a special session to do it,” added Tampa Bay Democratic state Sen. Darryl Rouson. “But it would appease the voters if they saw some action quickly. I’m just not sure that the leadership and the Legislature is on board with it.”

Noting that the regular session is scheduled to begin in less than two months Rouson said, “I don’t know what we could do in that short period of time that would make an impact.”

The veteran legislator also pointed out there are five weeks set aside for interim committee meetings before the start of the regular legislative session that begins March 4. “You could call a special session during a committee week when everybody is already up there, and it wouldn’t be as expensive,” he said.

Pinellas County House Republican Rep. Berny Jacques said he is neutral on whether to have a special session or address DeSantis’ wish list of issues during the regular session.

“Either way I’m going to be ready,” he said. “We are a very efficient state, so even when we have regular sessions, we get things done. So either way, either model, I’m just going to be ready to serve my constituents.”