Monday, the state Legislature convened its sixth special session of the two-year legislative cycle. What does it say about our lawmakers that the very first order of business was to shoot down the possibility of adding bills that would benefit Floridians in urgent need of help with healthcare, housing and other priorities?
Instead, the GOP-dominated Legislature is taking swift action …. to act as governmental bootlifts, with no greater purpose than to burnish DeSantis’ swagger. The current slate of bills reflects nothing that would qualify as a legitimate emergency, outside of a servile desire to make the governor look tougher when he walks onstage Wednesday for the third GOP presidential primary debate.
Meanwhile, across Florida, families are facing emergencies that demand swift action, including potential evictions, skyrocketing property insurance bills and sick kids who are about to lose their health insurance. If the Legislature does anything at all to help these families, they will have to wait.
It’s a shameful performance, playing out on a national stage.In fact, we’d love to see some of DeSantis’ GOP rivals challenge him Wednesday on the way he’s twisted the Legislature into his personal band of cheerleaders.
Here’s how DeSantis’ hyper-online strategy suddenly went south
No case for urgency
Here’s what you need to to understand about legislative special sessions: They are meant to be reserved for emergency situations. That’s because special sessions wipe out most of the safeguards that ensure time for thorough analysis of a law’s potential impact, ample public input and time for lawmakers to amend and debate. Special-session bills are usually introduced, go through an abbreviated committee process and are then hustled onto the floor within a week’s time.
But DeSantis and his legislative minions have trampled that extraordinary authority into a ramrod, shoving useless, harmful or deeply flawed legislation into law before anyone realizes what’s going on. Nearly everything under consideration for rapid action this week falls into one of those categories; the only real exception being an expansion of relief (in HB 1) for victims of Hurricane Idalia.
Some of the bills are meant to be merely a Greek chorus of the points DeSantis plans to make Wednesday on stage, such as support for the state of Israel and condemnation of Hamas. Yes, such a declaration is timely — but Florida lawmakers are perfectly capable of expressing their own opinions. There are also “sanctions” against Iran that are highly unlikely to have any measurable impact, outside of an opportunity for DeSantis to pretend he’s already president.
Other bills ladle more cash into voucher programs — months after Florida’s school year has started — and dole out money for security measures at Jewish day schools. There’s nothing here that can’t wait for the regular session that starts in January, if it’s necessary at all.
By then, of course, DeSantis’ presidential hopes may be thoroughly extinguished. That’s why these bragging points are being so hastily manufactured.
The real emergencies
Contrast that to the issues being raised by a handful of Democratic lawmakers who are — let’s be realistic — also using the special session to make a point, rather than an actual difference.
But there is a critical distinction here. Their quick-action bills — most filed by Rep. Anna Eskamani, the irrepressible Orlando-based Democrat — address real emergencies that are impacting more Floridians every day.
And those bills were brutally stomped within hours of their filing, with House leadership refusing to even make them available for consideration.
Among those bills were opportunities to:
- Help Florida children being shoved, sometimes unfairly, off Medicaid rolls right now;
- Find ways to assist Florida tenants facing eviction and help workers searching for housing they can afford right now;
- Find relief for Florida property owners who are receiving massive property insurance hikes (or can’t find insurance at all) right now;
- And something that should be an urgent priority for any lawmaker proclaiming themselves to be pro-life — curbing gun violence in a state that has already seen more than 100 deaths from firearms in 2023 alone.
These all sound like things that can’t really wait until the 2024 legislative session convenes in January. Add to that an override of a bizarre DeSantis veto that blocks the state from accepting hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid, and Florida voters have to ask: Why do their lawmakers care so much about the governor’s political fortunes, and so little about the real threats their constituents face?
It’s a deep disappointment to constituents who deserve better, and a cautionary tale to voters in other states who want to know what a DeSantis presidency might look like.
The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com
