If you’re paying attention to any conservative talkers who actually discuss policy rather than just the narrative soap opera, you’ll know that the Florida legislature proved my prediction from last year: Democrats have to run as Republicans to get elected so our massive majorities are a mirage and we’re in the same boat as Wyoming.
Two weeks ago, Governor DeSantis called a special session to deal with illegal immigration, condo regulation, hurricane relief funds, and the citizen’s initiative petition process
The legislative leadership (Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton) immediately stabbed DeSantis in the back and threw cold water on the idea, forcing DeSantis to double down and provide details

This week the special session started, and Perez immediately gaveled the Governor’s special session (Special Session A) over and started a new special session (previously unannounced Special Session B). Their first action was to nearly unanimously (only Blaise Ingoglia voted against this!) restore over $50 million in funding for their own offices that DeSantis vetoed after the 2024 session.
Moving to Special Session B automatically consigned the carefully written Special Session A bills to oblivion, and leadership replaced them with one House bill and one Senate bill (the Senate bill is 75 pages long!). Despite the length of these bills, they leave almost all of DeSantis’ priorities on the cutting room floor.
Worse, these “leaders” dared to call their bill “The Trump Act.” (Time will tell if Trump is actually paying attention or if he’s also being backstabbed by his own staff in D.C.)
Both Deace and Horowitz covered this today.
Governor DeSantis’s response to the Trump Act, which would put immigration enforcement under the Commissioner of Agriculture:
“Agriculture has not exactly been known for immigration enforcement, so it’s almost like the fox guarding the hen house. It was bizarre. They also bizarrely didn’t include things we know need to happen.
“It should be a crime for an illegal alien to register to vote. We’ve been trying to do this for years. Now’s the time to do it.
“Now they’ve named this bill the Trump Act, but that’s a misnomer because President Trump’s been very strong coming out of the gate on immigration enforcement. He wants to solve this problem once and for all. The bill they did is more window dressing.
“It is not going to solve the problem. What the legislature did not only will not allow us to do it, it will actively inhibit some of the things we’re already doing. So now is the time to be tough.
“No squishing out here. We’ve got to get the job done.”
Given all the Democrats and legacy media outlets are siding with and cheering Perez and Albritton, you know what they’re doing has to be wrong.
Here are some quotes from Daniel Horowitz on today’s Conservative Review Podcast:
“Most Republicans are conduits for special interests. They can’t see a greater cause beyond that.”
“Joe Gruters is the biggest cancer on Florida, yet he is the number one ally of Trump there.”
“This is DeSantis as governor for six years and still it hasn’t changed. The party is horrible. It’s worse than it ever was.”
The Ag Commissioner is worthless Wilton Simpson. Tweet from @johncardillo
https://twitter.com/johncardillo/status/1884268092227744094?s=43&t=6lSFORhn-o_sW-z2RI4G4g

Here’s a comparison of DeSantis’s plan and the legislature’s watered-down version. Tweet from @HeritageAction
https://twitter.com/Heritage_Action/status/1884284759754592524


After the initial version, the legislature is backpedaling a bit. @GovRonDeSantis says it’s not enough.
https://twitter.com/govrondesantis/status/1884318481086083510?s=43&t=6lSFORhn-o_sW-z2RI4G4g

The replacement bills have sailed through committees so far, despite the backlash. Some changes were made, but the legislators have made it clear that their priority is to put the Commissioner of Agriculture in charge of immigration enforcement, ensuring that Big Ag will continue to have access to cheap labor. There are also reports that Senate Republicans are meeting with Senate Democrats and are open to keeping in-state tuition for illegal immigrants at state universities.
If you’re wondering if your legislator is a worthless turncoat, you don’t have to. Only three legislators have publicly supported DeSantis: Blaise Ingoglia, Jay Collins, and Mike Caruso. You can try to contact your representative and senator to get them to back DeSantis. Unfortunately, we’re as far away from the next election as possible, and these guys know people will forget about this in two years. Every one of these weasels should be primaried. Unfortunately, many will seek Trump’s endorsement to ward off any challengers, and he’s likely to give it based on his history.
Keeping WHO out of Florida
Stand for Health Freedom has a petition to your state legislators to let them know you want them to support SB 6011/HB 340, which would remove the WHO from having any jurisdiction in FL. https://standforhealthfreedom.com/actions/sb340/