Christine Jordan Sexton
On Friday, the last regularly scheduled day of the 2015 Legislative Session, lawmakers didn’t vote on the budget or scurry to get their bills passed in the waning hours.
Instead, Senate Democrats held an afternoon press conference to discuss the Florida Supreme Court lawsuit they filed over the abrupt sine die of the House on Tuesday. They also answered questions about an offensive Tweet posted by Rep. Matt Gaetz.
It was an odd press conference in an even odder legislative session.
The Democrats first focused on the lawsuit and its importance. Sen Darren Soto, a lawyer, said the goal was to have the court rule so that one chamber can’t unilaterally sine die without the other.
Asked what could be accomplished should the House of Representatives be called back, Soto said, “You never know. They could come back and decide to do their jobs and take up five or six bills related to water policy, prison reform and mental health. I, for one, am an optimist and hope that if they did come back they’d make it worthwhile for the taxpayers of Florida.”
Questions inevitably went to Sen. Arthenia Joyner, one of two senators singled out in Gaetz’s Thursday night tweet: “This lawsuit reads like it was researched and drafted by Sen Joyner … and spell checked by Sen Bullard.”
The tweet was retweeted, went viral for Tallahassee political circles and led to House Speaker Steve Crisafulli apologizing for Gaetz.
Joyner has not received an apology from Gaetz, she said. She deemed the remarks were offensive and said they went too far.
“This is the work of someone who is immature and does not respect race in my opinion,” Joyner told reporters. “He is a young man who has a long way to go in life and I’m sure that when he reflects on his actions of last evening, somewhere along the maturation process, be it today or tomorrow or 10 years from now he’ll understand that respect and collegiality and developing real relationships with people whom you want to respect you occur by design.”
Joyner has heard from people acros the state, city and her town who have told her that the remarks are “shameful,” she said.
“To single out me, and my brother, Sen. Bullard, when we have a diverse caucus to single us out and imply I can’t research and he can’t spell was offensive. Why not Senator Soto? Why not Senator Sachs? Why just Joyner and Bullard?”
When asked whether it was the first encounter with something racist at the Capitol, black members of the Democratic caucus laughed and an awkward silence fell over the room.
“No,” Joyner answered. “But this is perhaps the one that was most directed at me personally.”
For his part, Bullard criticized Gaetz for not having researched before tweeting. He then talked about Joyner’s accomplishments as a civil rights leader and noted that she has been the leader of the Bar Association, as well as the first African-American woman to be Florida Senate Minority Leader.
“The criticism of me, so be it, but I will say this, #heknowswhathemeant #heknowswhathemeant.”
