Ryan Ray
The House Democrats gathered Monday morning in the Capitol for their pre-Special Session planning period and media availability, where caucus leader Rep. Mark Pafford vowed that he and his 39-strong opposition party will not let up in applying pressure to Republican leaders who have overseen “catastrophic” dysfunction in Tallahassee.
Pafford went on to diagnose the problem as a “lack of leadership” from state lawmakers in the majority.
“We’re here under the premise that we work efficiently, and we are very thoughtful in the way we spend the people’s money. Unfortunately that has not been true,” said Pafford to reporters. “The governor seems to be unable to use his office, his bully pulpit on any number of issues, and the Senate and the House continue to be unable to come together.”
Pafford also continued his call for a third-party commission to draw the maps of both chambers and Florida’s U.S. House maps, an unlikely move that would radically change the process that now lands lawmakers in Tallahassee for the third time this year.
Democratic leaders have been in something of a bomb-dropping mood lately, as a consensus has formed that the legislative process has been less than ideal in recent years. Pafford and Senate minority leaders Sen. Arthenia Joyner have taken it upon themselves to spread the word of late.
At the Associated Press’ annual legislative planning meeting last week, Joyner said the Florida House was run by “extremists” in the Republican caucus, and that Gov. Rick Scott must inhabit a “fantasy world” for the governor to harbor ambitions of running for higher office.
For good measure, she also took a crack at past Tallahassee bigwigs, former Gov. Jeb Bush and former House Speaker Marco Rubio.
“What did they actually accomplish here that would help them solve a single problem facing our nation?” the term-limited Joyner said last week.
Pafford – who just last week was hired as CEO of Florida CHAIN, an organization that advocates for expansion of health care – has also made news for going after his GOP colleagues.
“It’s so corrupted at this point,” Pafford said of the legislative process. “How dare we say we’re doing anything for the people of Florida when we fail every time?”
