TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — There are still a lot of questions about Governor Ron DeSantis’ call for a special session in less than two weeks. The governor ordered the legislature to meet back up in Tallahassee on Jan. 27 to tackle immigration, condo and hurricane relief, and reforming the amendment process.

And while the governor received national support from President-elect Donald Trump, there’s been some concerns on reforming the amendment process. DeSantis says we need election integrity across the board.

“These initiatives and these petitions should not be able to be manipulated this way, especially with respect to amending the constitution,” DeSantis said. “Our constitution should not be for sale to the highest bidder.”

However, state leaders think his priorities are out of touch.
As the governor’s policy plans for the special session circulate, state lawmakers warn the end of citizen petition gathering.

“We’ll be reforming the petition and amendment process in the state of Florida. We had a major, major thing in this last election with the number of fraudulent petitions that were verified as fraudulent by the Secretary of States investigation for Amendment 4,” DeSantis said. “That is a huge, huge problem and I think part of the reason we are at this juncture is because the citizen initiative has really been transformed into a special interest initiative.”

House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa) questions the governor on his plan to prioritize reforming the amendment process over reforming issues like insurance.

“It seems to me that this is a governor who’s always finding solutions in search of a problem, and he doesn’t really do this in a way that is responsive to the people. So, to me it causes us to come across as tone deaf,” Driskell said. “People can’t pay their grocery bills with a ballot petition, right?”

Other House leaders agree.
“Insurance is the single most important thing everywhere that I go, that’s the first question I’m asked, ‘What’s happening with insurance?'” said State Rep. Dianne Hart (D-Hillsborough).

When asked about the special session and property insurance concerns, State Senator Blaise Ingoglia (R-Spring Hill) shared that the reforms they’ve done in the past are bending the cost of insurance down.
“I would just ask everyone to continue being patient, and that doesn’t mean we are going to sit and rest on our laurels. We are always going to think about ways to reduce property insurance premiums,” Ingoglia said. “I have a couple of proposals that I think will do that, which entails hardening homes and making Florida more resilient to storms in the future.”

Governor DeSantis has drummed up support from State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, State Sen. Jay Collins, State Sen. Jonathan Martin, State Rep. Mike Caruso, Former State Rep. Joel Rudman, his current cabinet, Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, and more.

However, in a joint letter, Florida GOP Senate President Ben Albritton and Republican House Speaker Daniel Perez called the special session “premature” and wrote, “Florida’s Constitution compels our attendance at a special session unilaterally called by the Governor. However, the power to convene a special session also resides with the presiding officers. As the people’s elected representatives, the Legislature, not the Governor, will decide when and what legislation we consider.”

Driskell shared that after speaking with the House Speaker, it is still uncertain of how the special session will proceed.

“I was quite surprised that in my six years here, this is the very first time I have literally seen the President of the Senate and House Speaker come against anything that the governor has said so I was really taken back a little bit, but I think they are standing up for what they believe in,” said Rep. Dianne Hart.

Some state lawmakers aren’t too sure action will happen in the special session, saying they think they will gavel in and gavel out.

“I think we will gavel in and gavel out,” Hart said.

One thing Democrats and Republicans can agree on is that immigration, insurance, and hurricane and condo relief will be at the forefront come March.