Jacob Ogles
Lawmakers have been formally called to Tallahassee on Monday. But as of the close of business on the Friday before a scheduled Special Session, no legislation has been filed for consideration.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Jan. 13 announced plans for a Special Session to kick off Monday, Jan. 27. But legislative leaders did not send a memo until Friday morning formally telling Senators and Representatives to convene in Tallahassee and gavel in at 10:30 a.m. The language in that memo lacked any palpable enthusiasm, saying only that legislators were “constitutionally required” to answer the Session call.
Within hours of DeSantis’ initial announcement, Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez had acknowledged as much while also labeling the call from the Governor “completely irresponsible.” Since then, predictions have varied substantially on whether leaders would gavel Session in and out quickly, or if they would take up bills.
DeSantis has stepped up a public pressure campaign on lawmakers, including inviting Republican Executive Committee members onto a Zoom call and sending out e-blasts to party members urging them to call lawmakers. On Thursday, the Governor’s Office sent out a one-page info sheet placing urgency on the need for Florida to “enforce the nation’s immigration laws and deport illegal aliens.”
DeSantis wants the Special Session to touch on a number of issues he said will be important in helping execute President Donald Trump’s mandate to crack down on immigration, and Trump has endorsed the Special Session. The Governor would like state and local law enforcement empowered to enforce deportation policies, and he also wants to end in-state college tuition for undocumented individuals living in Florida.
Sen. Randy Fine notably filed legislation for the Regular Session on the change in tuition policy, and said after DeSantis’ Special Session call that he would like that bill heard in Special Session. But as of Friday afternoon, Fine had not filed it for consideration then and said he remained in discussion with Albritton’s Office.
“What is important to me is that the content of the bill I first filed in 2021 becomes law,” Fine told Florida Politics.
Trump’s Department of Homeland Security on Thursday issued a memo requesting assistance from state and local governments to administer immigration laws based on circumstances that “endanger the lives, property, safety or welfare” of residents.
But DeSantis also wants lawmakers to pass changes to the petition process for candidates and constitutional amendments to qualify for a place on the ballot, and he would like legislation regarding condo regulations as a follow-up to statutory changes after the 2021 Surfside tower collapse.
Lawmakers on background offered different predictions on whether anything will be heard in Special Session. Committee meetings that were canceled for weather-related reasons this week have in some cases been rescheduled for next week, but no published agendas make any mention of bills to be heard in Special Session. DeSantis’ proclamation calls for the Special Session to begin on Monday but end no later than midnight on Friday, Jan. 31.
Republican lawmakers conceded that a majority of legislators in the House and Senate would likely support the Governor’s policy proposals. But many said the dictation of policy and attempt to take full credit for the measures rubbed leadership the wrong way, as did scheduling a Special Session for a week when lawmakers did not intend to be in Tallahassee.
