Scheduled Special Session A and Surprise Special Session B Conclude

At the call of Governor DeSantis, the Florida Legislature returned to Tallahassee for a special session this week. In the Governor’s proclamation, he included the following potential topics in his call: immigration, condos, hurricane relief, and ballot initiative integrity, a longtime priority of the Florida Chamber as part of our efforts to protect our constitution from out-of-state special interests trying to buy their way onto the ballot.

The legislature quickly concluded Special Session A without hearing any legislation, but indicating condos, hurricane relief and ballot initiative integrity will be considered during the regular session that kicks off on March 4. Instead, Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Danny Perez issued a joint proclamation to convene Special Session B, which included a different immigration package, as well as FY 2024-2025 state budget veto overrides, overturning two line item vetoes the Governor made to legislative services last year. The Governor has indicated plans to veto the House and Senate immigration work product once he receives it, calling the legislation weak on local enforcement and unconstitutional for shifting immigration enforcement powers from the Executive Office of the Governor to the Agriculture Commissioner. It remains to be seen whether an agreement can be reached, if President Trump will weigh in to break the impasse, or the degree to which this increasingly public disagreement between the Executive and Legislative branches will spill into regular session.

Join us at the Florida Chamber Legislative Fly-In on February 10-11 in Tallahassee to learn more about Florida’s legislative future.