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Lawmakers head into special session on immigration – and a host of other issues

The Florida Legislature is expected to take up immigration and a host of other issues in a special session, called by Gov. Ron DeSantis, which convenes Monday morning in Tallahassee.
News Service of Florida
The Florida Legislature is expected to take up immigration and a host of other issues in a special session, called by Gov. Ron DeSantis, which convenes Monday morning in Tallahassee.

Lawmakers convene in Tallahassee Monday morning for a special legislative session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis that is expected to focus on curbing illegal immigration.

On Sunday, a day before the gavel pounds at 10:30 a.m., a raft of bills were submitted for consideration in the Florida Senate. Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican from Spring Hill, filed a series of bills that align with DeSantis’ proposals on immigration that he issued to the Legislature when he called it into special session earlier this month. Ingoglia’s measures include requiring, instead of just authorizing, state and county law enforcement agencies with more than 25 officers to comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations and create an Unauthorized Alien Transport program within the state Division of Emergency Management, at a cost of $3 million to state taxpayers.

Senate Republican Jonathan Martin of Fort Myers also filed bills that would eliminate waivers for out-of-state fees for undocumented students and allow victims of a crime committed by an undocumented immigrant to sue anybody who helped that immigrant enter the state.

In keeping with another proposal from the governor to change the way citizen initiatives end up on the ballot, Sen. Jay Collins, a Republican from Tampa, filed a bill that would require sponsors of an initiative amendment to register as a political committee before circulating any petitions to voters and to use only petition forms approved by the Secretary of State.

On Friday, Central Florida lawmakers expressed misgivings as to what to expect out of the session. In addition to combating illegal immigration, DeSantis listed four pages of proposals on a range of issues, including condominium regulation, disaster relief for the agriculture industry, replenishing the My Safe Florida Home program, and the changing the citizens’ initiative petition process.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed initial uncertainty about why the session had been called and what could be achieved.

State Sen. Randy Fine of Melbourne has filed two bills related to immigration for the regular legislative session in March. He said he hopes they are taken up during the special session.
AP
Republican State Sen. Randy Fine of Melbourne has filed two bills related to immigration for the regular legislative session in March. He said he hopes they are taken up during the special session.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,’’ said Republican state Sen. Randy Fine of Melbourne. “Look, I have two bills that I filed for regular session that deal with illegal immigration. I was the only person who had bills on illegal immigration ready to go when the governor called the special session. So, I’m hoping that maybe those can be heard during a special session. But I have no idea what to expect.’’

Fine added that he thinks President Trump is doing a great job combating illegal immigration in the first week of his presidency and doesn’t need the governor’s help. Lawmakers were already planning to convene for the Legislature’s regular session, which occurs annually in March.

State Rep. Rita Harris, who represents District 44 in southwest Orange County, says she wants the special session to focus on replenishing the popular My Safe Florida Home program.
Courtesy Florida House of Representatives
State Rep. Rita Harris, a Democrat who represents District 44 in southwest Orange County, says she wants the special session to focus on replenishing the popular My Safe Florida Home program.

House Democrat Rita Harris, who represents parts of southwest Orange County, agreed that she’s not sure what to expect, but hopes any bills filed deal less with immigration, which she sees as a federal issue, and more with the problems she says concern her constituents.

“Like a lot of my colleagues, we’re not really sure what to expect,’’ Harris said. “There’s been a little bit of tension between the Legislature and the governor, so I’m going in assuming that we’re going to gavel in and that there are some bills we’re going to be hearing.’’

Harris added she hopes the Legislature will take up the governor’s proposal to replenish the My Safe Florida Home program. She said the popular initiative has bipartisan support and can help lessen the costs of property insurance by showing insurance companies that “we are fortifying homes and making them more resilient to the weather and therefore giving them a reason to come back in and insure people they have dropped. I would love to support that. That would be great.’’

State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, a Democrat who represents District 42 in Orlando, is focused on preserving citizen initiatives during the special session.
Courtesy Florida House of Representatives
State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, a Democrat who represents District 42 in Orlando, is focused on preserving citizen initiatives during the special session.

But Harris shares concerns with her Democratic colleague Rep. Anna V. Eskamani of Orlando about DeSantis’ proposal to change the citizens’ initiative petition process in any way that would make it more difficult to get those initiatives on the ballot.

“The governor is using the immigration issue to try and consolidate the power of the executive and subvert the will of the people as expressed through citizen initiatives on the ballot,’’ Eskamani said.

Updated: January 27, 2025 at 9:23 AM EST
This story was updated Sunday to include details on bills filed for the special session.