Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference at the Florida Capitol Monday in which he announced a special legislative session to tackle three key items: Supporting President-Elect Donald Trump’s incoming immigration policies, hurricane relief and concerns regarding the citizen ballot initiative. 

DeSantis emphasized that with Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, the United States will experience a “sea change” in immigration policies, particularly with regards to illegal immigration. DeSantis vowed that Florida would be supporting incoming federal efforts in this regard. 

“This is the time to get it right once and for all,” DeSantis said. 

Trump has promised swift immigration action to begin quickly after his inauguration. He has repeatedly pledged to seal the U.S.-Mexico border and implement a mass deportation program targeting millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally.  

DeSantis said the state “stands ready, willing and able” to help Trump facilitate these policies, and that Florida has a “responsibility to be in this fight.” He added that he has even been working with the Trump transition team, speaking with the president-elect on these “ambitious” policy changes promised for day one. DeSantis said he anticipates executive orders to be issued immediately after Trump’s swearing in and inaugural address. 

While DeSantis banned sanctuary cities in his first year as governor, he said the state needs additional legislation to ensure local officials follow federal guidelines on immigration and also provide funding to other local officials that require it. 

“It will require new legislation in Florida to ensure that the duties of both state and local officials are very clear and that those duties require them to be assisting the federal government in this regard,” he said.

DeSantis said if he can get this into law, he’ll be able to suspend local officials who don’t cooperate. 

“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,” he said. 

The governor added that he’s had “a lot” of sheriff’s “chomping at the bit” to assist the incoming president with immigration.

The session will also address lingering issues related to hurricane relief, including funding for homeowners who were affected by last year’s hurricanes but have not yet received assistance. DeSantis said if money is available now, struggling homeowners shouldn’t have to wait until the next scheduled legislative session on July 1 for relief. 

Additionally, DeSantis expressed concerns about the state’s petition and amendment process, citing fraudulent petitions that had been investigated by the Secretary of State. He’s calling on new legislation to prevent special interests from exploiting Florida’s citizen initiative process, like he says happened this past election cycle. 

“To have the amount of fraudulent petitions that were verified as fraudulent by the Secretary of State’s investigation for Amendment 4 — that is a huge, huge problem,” DeSantis said. “Our constitution should not be for sale to the highest bidder.”

The special legislative session will take place the week of January 27, the week after Trump’s inauguration.