Government
Weekly Roundup: Gov, Lawmakers in 'Special' Relationship
Recap and analysis of the week in state government
Around the State
The courts were in session in the busy week that was – and the Legislature will soon be, too.
There was no LeBron James-style ESPN special when Gov. Charlie Crist jilted the Republican Party this spring, but tensions have been running high between the governor and his former political party ever since. Crist fanned the flames this week, giving up on waiting for lawmakers to agree to come back to Tallahassee for a special session to ban offshore oil drilling.
Instead, he ordered them to.
Crist called a special session for July 20-23, saying that not doing so would have meant he was not doing his job. But Republicans said again that the job Crist had in mind by calling the session was the one he hopes to win this fall: U.S. senator.
"I'm going to be governor for about six more months and I think I would not be doing my duty as governor if I didn't call for this special session," Crist said.
Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla disagreed, saying “the only future Charlie Crist is concerned about is his own political one.”
Yet again, Crist’s biggest friends seemed to be Democrats.
"I commend the governor for agreeing to call for a special session to ban near-beach oil drilling, despite the resistance from special interests and some members of the Legislature," presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Alex Sink said, leaving little doubt there would be unhappy elephants in the room when the session is convened.
Sink and other Democrats didn’t get everything they wanted from Crist’s special-session call, however. They had pressed him to include other issues, including renewable energy and tighter rules on reimbursements to small businesses from BP, but Crist said the session was “a rifle shot” to beat an early August deadline for constitutional amendments.
Republicans were taking incoming fire from the courts this week, as well.
Before voters could register an opinion on Amendment 7, which is the Legislature's proposed constitutional amendment dealing with redistricting standards, a Tallahassee judge registered one. And it wasn’t a particularly favorable opinion. Circuit Judge James O. Shelfer said he couldn't easily understand what it would do, so it was unreasonable to expect voters could.
The amendment, which was put on the November ballot by lawmakers earlier this year after two other amendments dealing with redistricting were cleared to go before voters, had been a contentious fight in the Legislature this spring. The group behind the redistricting amendments, FairDistricts, accused lawmakers of purposely trying to “hide the ball,” as the lawyer for groups that challenged the initiative said this week.
Republicans, who were joined in pushing for the measure by a couple of black Democrats, could only say they hoped the same fate would await Amendments 5 and 6.
“It will be interesting to see how this ruling impacts the judicial review of Amendments 5 and 6,” House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon said in a statement. “If the judge here found Amendment 7 confusing, Amendments 5 and 6 probably are as well since they are far more complicated and have far greater impacts on present constitutional powers and rights."
The win for opponents of Amendment 7 may not be final. The case is expected to go to the Supreme Court.
There was no LeBron James-style ESPN special when Gov. Charlie Crist jilted the Republican Party this spring, but tensions have been running high between the governor and his former political party ever since. Crist fanned the flames this week, giving up on waiting for lawmakers to agree to come back to Tallahassee for a special session to ban offshore oil drilling.
Instead, he ordered them to.
Crist called a special session for July 20-23, saying that not doing so would have meant he was not doing his job. But Republicans said again that the job Crist had in mind by calling the session was the one he hopes to win this fall: U.S. senator.
"I'm going to be governor for about six more months and I think I would not be doing my duty as governor if I didn't call for this special session," Crist said.
Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla disagreed, saying “the only future Charlie Crist is concerned about is his own political one.”
Yet again, Crist’s biggest friends seemed to be Democrats.
"I commend the governor for agreeing to call for a special session to ban near-beach oil drilling, despite the resistance from special interests and some members of the Legislature," presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Alex Sink said, leaving little doubt there would be unhappy elephants in the room when the session is convened.
Sink and other Democrats didn’t get everything they wanted from Crist’s special-session call, however. They had pressed him to include other issues, including renewable energy and tighter rules on reimbursements to small businesses from BP, but Crist said the session was “a rifle shot” to beat an early August deadline for constitutional amendments.
Republicans were taking incoming fire from the courts this week, as well.
Before voters could register an opinion on Amendment 7, which is the Legislature's proposed constitutional amendment dealing with redistricting standards, a Tallahassee judge registered one. And it wasn’t a particularly favorable opinion. Circuit Judge James O. Shelfer said he couldn't easily understand what it would do, so it was unreasonable to expect voters could.
The amendment, which was put on the November ballot by lawmakers earlier this year after two other amendments dealing with redistricting were cleared to go before voters, had been a contentious fight in the Legislature this spring. The group behind the redistricting amendments, FairDistricts, accused lawmakers of purposely trying to “hide the ball,” as the lawyer for groups that challenged the initiative said this week.
Republicans, who were joined in pushing for the measure by a couple of black Democrats, could only say they hoped the same fate would await Amendments 5 and 6.
“It will be interesting to see how this ruling impacts the judicial review of Amendments 5 and 6,” House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon said in a statement. “If the judge here found Amendment 7 confusing, Amendments 5 and 6 probably are as well since they are far more complicated and have far greater impacts on present constitutional powers and rights."
The win for opponents of Amendment 7 may not be final. The case is expected to go to the Supreme Court.
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