A week before the Legislature goes into special session, there was little agreement on just what oil-related items it plans to take up, though it became clear Monday that the Senate, at least, wants to go beyond the governor’s call and provide economic relief to the spill-weary Panhandle.

The Senate’s Select Committee on the Economy on Monday discussed a list of economic issues lawmakers should address when the Legislature convenes a special session ordered by Gov. Charlie Crist to vote on a proposed state constitutional amendment to ban offshore oil drilling in Florida.

Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos implied the one issue the governor put on the agenda is meant to boost Crist’s standing rather than help those put out of work or otherwise facing hardship.

“We want to go into special session focused on solutions, not politics,” said Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island.

Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, who chairs the select committee, said at the Monday meeting – which was held on the road in spill-worried Pensacola -- that Senate President Jeff Atwater has told him that if he and House Speaker Larry Cretul can agree, a slate of economic issues will definitely be a part of the special session. But the deadline is ticking with lawmakers due in Tallahassee July 20. The committee heard presentations on everything from property tax relief to the process by which BP pays claims to those who lost money because of the spill, to unemployment compensation.

Crist hastily announced last week that he wanted lawmakers to examine an offshore oil drilling ban that, if approved by lawmakers, would go on the November ballot. Several Republican legislators, who overwhelmingly control both the House and Senate, have accused Crist of campaign-season grandstanding, in part because there’s already in place a moratorium on near-shore drilling and little appetite now for dropping it. A number of GOP lawmakers, including Haridopolos and Atwater, have said there are more pressing spill-related issues to address.

Democrats, while largely supportive of the proposed constitutional amendment, have also called for other issues to be taken up, ranging from an alternative energy proposal put forth by Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, who says she’ll file a bill on the issue, to a wide-ranging suggestion that came Monday from the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. She put forth an extensive proposal that included tax breaks and a speed-up of the BP claims process.

Crist had said he wanted lawmakers to look solely at the drilling ban during the July special session, and then maybe look at other issues in a subsequent special session.

With House Republicans mostly united in opposing Crist's call for a constitutional amendment, it’s likely to be a Democrat that sponsors the proposal in the House. Sarasota Democratic Rep. Keith Fitzgerald has told the governor he would, though so far it hasn’t been decided who will carry it there.

"He's got to have somebody carry it in the House," Fitzgerald said. "It's pretty straightforward. There are only so many ways you can say it's banned.”

But Fitzgerald said the constitutional ban at issue is needed.

“I do find it ironic," Fitzgerald added, "that many of the same legislators who last year were pushing for oil drilling are now saying we don't need a constitutional amendment because it's already banned. It's really almost an amendment that protects Floridians from legislators' ideas."