DeSantis, lawmakers can join unpredictable legislative meetings

Talahassee – Just a few months ago, Gov. Ron DeSantis and a Florida Republican lawmaker had a friendly term for his final two years in office.

Or until this year’s fierce battle over immigration exposed the simmering tensions. DeSantis, the House Speaker and the Senate president say they have been great ever since.

You will know for the next 60 days.

This year’s legislative meeting, which begins Tuesday, is becoming one of the most unpredictable in years.

Republican lawmakers feel encouraged. They hope to see more monitoring of DeSantis’ spending and more disclosure by his state agency.

In recent years, priorities of legislative meetings have been largely determined by the top priorities of Desantis and previous legislative leaders.

Republicans are proposing bills in scope, from stopping “chemtrails” to limiting homes owned on Wall Street.

“That’s something that’s been said among my colleagues,” said Rep. Vicki Lopez of R-Miami. “A new day lights up.”

Democrats also say the mood has risen this year.

However, they are skeptical that the outcomes are very different from the past six years of legislative sessions, where cultural issues are dominated by.

Republicans The session is already eager to follow President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, prohibiting local governments from placing restrictions on potential future presidential libraries.

They proposed ideas to address the most pressing component issues: living expenses, property insurance, condos, etc., but have not yet addressed them.

“From a perspective of what’s coming next, it’s very clear to me that it’s likely to be driven by President Trump,” said D-Tampa’s Fentrice Driskell, a House minority leader.

Desantis and his priorities are still in great detail. The governor wants to crack down on the voting initiative further, making it even more difficult to amend the constitution and make it difficult to allow abortions after six weeks. He also wants sales tax leave for guns and ammunition.

Publicly, DeSantis and the Republican leaders have characterized the highly public conflicts of the past two months as “healthy exercises” that have strengthened their relationship.

“I don’t think I’m going to see any lingering feelings, not from me,” DeSantis told reporters at a press conference earlier this month.

Senate President R-Wauchula Ben Albritton said the disagreements “had made this family stronger.”

Desantis revealed this month that he is closely watching the session. He will be waiting to appoint a lieutenant governor and chief financial officer until after the legislative meeting.

In Congress, harsh feelings with DeSantis may last long after years of frowning to hand over his agenda.

“For a long time, we’ve been treated like staff,” said R-Melbourne Rep. Debbie Mayfield.

Lawmakers were able to override Desantis’ veto over the next 60 days as a special committee convened by House Speaker R-Miami Daniel Perez released recommendations. Congress never nullified what Desantis rejected until January, when he recovered $56 million in legislative support funds he cut last year.

Desantis said the top veto was “their privilege,” but he added that he “should keep a line in spending.”

Some House committees are also increasing oversight of state agencies.

For example, Lopez’s committee this month did a field trip to look at the progress of the state’s $300 million effort to upgrade and modernize the Capitol.

Construction on and around the parliamentary ground was temporarily stopped as legislators weaved between ladders and stepped around debris, asking about the materials used to replace crowd control and the historic Capitol roof at the new entrance.

“These types of questions are rare,” said an official at the Administration Services Department.

This year, some Republicans are seeking questions from Democrats.

“The (committee) chair never asked me to ask questions,” said D-Orlando Rep. Anna Eskamani. “Usually they get plagued by my questions.”

Unlike in the past few years, DeSantis, the House Speaker and the Senate speaker have yet to clarify the major legacy priorities of the session.

Some lawmakers say they have more freer reins than this year, and they fill the void with laws that back either DeSantis or party legislation.

Two Republican senators want to prevent DeSantis from building a golf course and pickle court in the state park.

Rep. Berny Jacques of R-Seminole wants to make it more difficult for Wall Street-backed landlords to buy a home in Florida.

Sen. Jonathan Martin of R-Sarasota wants to ban dyes and other chemical additives that cause food cancer, which have long been defending consumer groups and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., health secretary to President Donald Trump.

What to do about the apartment financial crisis created by past laws that mandated inspections and financial requirements after the collapse of surfside apartments in 2021 is one of the biggest issues of this session.

It’s already fighting Senate Republicans against their home counterparts.

Lopez proposes refusing to cover state-run citizen property insurance coverage for condominium associations that do not comply with the new requirements that many unit owners can afford.

Republican Senators Jennifer Bradley and Ileana Garcia have criticized the idea for worsening the bad insurance environment and threatening to drive Florida condominium owners into “thousands.”

Lawmakers can also take further action on homeowners and car insurance. State regulators want greater surveillance of insurance affiliate companies, which has been repeatedly cited as a source of repeated obstacles.

Sen. Don Goetz, the father of former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, has introduced a bill that limits utility companies’ interests and requires greater disclosures to insurance executive coverage.

Getz said he returned to the Senate after an eight-year break as the state failed to come up with a long-term solution to homeowner insurance. He said he recalls the days when Republicans sworn as insurance executives on committees.

“The pendulum has since turned around in other directions,” Gaetz said.

Times/Herald staff writers Alexandra Glorioso and Romy Ellenbogen contributed to this report.