Tallahassee, FL - Once Florida’s lawmakers are finished with their special session on redistricting, they’ll be due back in Tallahassee for yet another special session in about a month.
For weeks, Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) has tried to get lawmakers to support his push for another special session to deal with the state’s property insurance crisis. In order to get lawmakers back to the state Capitol for a session, he needed at least three-fifths of both legislative chambers—that’s 24 senators and 72 House members—to agree in a poll to go back.
Lawmakers had until noon on Monday (April 18) to respond, but not enough lawmakers did, meaning the poll failed. So they won’t be going back to Tallahassee because of Brandes, they’re going back because of Governor Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis announced an additional special session during a press conference in Jacksonville on Monday, the day before lawmakers were set to discuss redistricting, which is in itself a whole other issue. Dates on this next session aren’t clear at the moment. DeSantis also believes that addressing the state’s property insurance issues will take some time.
“I am not confident we’d be able to punch it through this week,” said DeSantis. “But what I will be signing this week is a proclamation to set the dates for a special session in May. We’re going to work with the legislative leaders on those dates, and it will have as the main focus the reform of the property-insurance market.”
Lawmakers tried to address the current property insurance crisis in the state, but failed to do so before the end of the 2022 Legislative Session in mid-March. Other high-profile proposals, such as a plan to put additional requirements on condo buildings after the deadly Champlain Towers South collapse, also failed to make it through the session. DeSantis said that can be one of the other issues lawmakers tackle when they come back in May.
Throughout much of this year’s session, House and Senate members were at odds about how to address the property-insurance problems. For example, the Senate wanted to allow new deductibles of up to 2 percent on roof-damage claims. The House eventually rejected that idea, saying it could lead to increased out-of-pocket costs.
Some lawmakers also think a special session is not needed. House Speaker Chris Sprowls (R-Palm Harbor) thought that changes made in 2021 still needed time to take hold. Also against the vote is local legislator, Sen. Tom Wright (R-New Smyrna Beach), who cast the lone dissenting vote in the Senate.
At the moment, lawmakers are meeting again in Tallahassee for a special session on redistricting. There, legislators are expected to approve a redistricting plan submitted by DeSantis. At the time of this writing, DeSantis issued a proclamation saying the special session will also include discussion on legislation relating to independent special districts and to talk about Florida’s intention to “protect consumers from the arbitrary and inconsistent censorship of social media platforms in a viewpoint-neutral manner.”
The special session runs until Friday (April 22).
