Thanks to Florida legislative leaders for their stand. From Tampa Bay Times:
Florida legislative leaders push against DeSantis' call for special session
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling lawmakers back to Tallahassee later this month for a special session to help boost President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration agenda — but legislative leaders are pushing back.
DeSantis, during a news conference at the state Capitol on Monday, said Florida needed to help Trump’s expected “ambitious policy changes” on immigration enforcement and deportation.
The governor said Florida needs more money for local governments and legislation to make clear that it’s the job of local and state officials to assist the federal government on immigration.
“If those duties are clear in law, I have the authority with respect to certain officials to suspend them from their office if they are neglecting their duties,” DeSantis said, saying he would call the Legislature back Jan. 27.
But in a rebuke, Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Danny Perez said a special session is “premature” and potentially “irresponsible.”
They noted in a joint statement to lawmakers Monday that while the governor can compel lawmakers to attend a special session, it’s also up to the speaker and president to convene a special session.
“As the people’s elected representatives, the Legislature, not the Governor, will decide when and what legislation we consider,” Albritton and Perez said in their joint statement.
They said they support Trump’s immigration agenda but felt it was “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 Trump’s efforts.
They added that “while the Governor discussed fragments of ideas for a special session he plans to start in just fourteen days, he did not release any actual bill language or even meaningful details for legislators and our constituents to consider.”
DeSantis’ office did not respond Monday evening to questions about the memo from Albritton and Perez, but the governor formally issued the call for a session after the memo was released.
DeSantis stressed on Monday morning that the state can’t “sit around and wait with a new president taking office” to tackle immigration issues. Trump’s inauguration is Jan. 20.
DeSantis said Florida would work with the Trump administration to figure out what facilities they plan to use for migrant detention and to see if the National Guard or Florida State Guard need to be called in.
DeSantis also said it was time to do away with Florida’s decade-long practice of providing in-state tuition for immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children.
Albritton has said he would like to see that program phased out‚ and Sen. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne, said he plans to file a bill to that effect. DeSantis’ lieutenant governor, Jeanette Núñez, had championed that law when she was in the Legislature.
DeSantis said his call for a special session will also seek legislation on condominium relief, hurricane relief and reforms to the citizen initiative process to amend the state Constitution. But Albritton and Perez again challenged DeSantis.
They said issues like condo reform and the citizen initiative process are complex and should be considered during the regular session, not a truncated session. And they said there are already “ample funds” accessible for disaster response. The regular legislative session is set to begin on March 4.
Condominium associations had a Dec. 31 deadline to complete safety and budget studies and figure out how much they needed to set aside for repairs. DeSantis had urged lawmakers to intervene before that point but declined to call a special session to force their hand.
Nikki Fried, the chairperson of the Florida Democratic Party, criticized DeSantis' call for a special session as a publicity stunt.
“For what seems like the thousandth time, he’s doing everything he can to remain relevant, instead of taking steps to make life more affordable for the people of Florida,” Fried said in a statement.
But Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, a close DeSantis ally, said on social media that the issues outlined by DeSantis are “pressing and time sensitive.”
“Florida should always lead from the front, especially on illegal immigration issues,” Ingoglia said on X.
DeSantis on Monday argued the citizen initiative process should be reformed during the special session so that the rules are in place for the next election cycle. He floated the idea of requiring people signing petitions to show ID, saying he was concerned about fraud in the ballot initiative process.
He also suggested requiring that petitions be notarized and said any legislative changes made should also apply to petitions to qualify candidates for the ballot.
DeSantis' administration last year released a report that accused the organizers of the Amendment 4 effort to protect abortion access of “widespread petition fraud.” Amendment 4 organizers denied any wrongdoing and said the state’s actions were part of an attempt to “silence voters.”
DeSantis campaigned against the abortion amendment as well as the other citizen-proposed amendment on 2024 ballots, which would have allowed for recreational marijuana use. Both amendments failed.
“Our Constitution should not be for sale to the highest bidder, so reform is needed,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis also said he thinks constitutional amendments should only be voted on in standalone elections.
“Because at least people know that’s why they’re going,” DeSantis said. “I think what happens is people go to vote for president, they’re going down and they just kind of make a decision, oh does that sound good or not good, and there’s not as much debate as there needs to be.”
Florida is one of only a handful of states that allow citizens to amend the constitution, but it’s a process that has become more costly and difficultthanks to changes made by lawmakers over the years.
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