Florida Lawmakers in Special Session, But May Get Nowhere

Gov. Rick Scott issued a proclamation Wednesday to expand the ongoing special session to include medical marijuana.

But the override votes, which were the first for the Republican-led Senate since Scott took office in 2011, will not be successful without the House’s support.

“I expect those two issues to be before us later today”, he told senators.

That is down from an original $75 million for 19 projects that were vetoed by Scott when he signed the new $82 billion state budget last week.

House Speaker Richard Corcoran has so far refused to go along with an override of Scott’s vetoes or set aside more money for hospitals.

In the House, Rep. Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, defended the House’s bill, HB1A, against complaints from Democrats that the money allows the governor and his staff control over spending without legislative oversight. Find me that example.

“I wasn’t part of what was occurring here”, Negron said.

Scott wants the dike project completed by 2022, he said – and thanked President Donald Trump for promising federal money for the project.

The Legislature concluded its special session with about an hour and 20 minutes to spare Friday, after voting to improve funding for public schools, colleges, and universities, and revamping the way the state encourages economic growth. The House also voted 111-4 for a separate bill that would provide money for economic development and tourism marketing programs.

At the time, the House pushed a more generous measure, proposing Florida allow an unlimited number of dispensaries.

Corcoran and House Republicans, who had earlier derisively called the state’s existing programs under Scott as “corporate welfare” insisted that they had not flipped their stance because the money can not be paid to one company. The Senate also wants to restore some budget cuts to hospitals.

State lawmakers on Wednesday reached agreement on how to put medical marijuana – passed overwhelmingly by voters in November – into effect in Florida. And his logic echoes a House move from the regular session this year-offering to pass a so-called continuation budget when initial spending talks reached an impasse.

State Sen. Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican who often thinks differently than many of his GOP colleagues, filed legislation that would take an approach that’s exponentially more friendly to patients and encouraging of competition and innovation. Instead sick patients eligible to use the drug would have to consume it by vaping, or ingest it in a pill form or in something edible.

However, supporters were not happy that the bill still bans smoking despite amendment supporters saying it is already written into the language. Sen.

“I don’t know what their problem is with smoke but that’s clearly the intent of the amendment”, Orlando attorney John Morgan, who crafted the Amendment, told Sunshine State News Tuesday.

Edwards said proponents are using social media — including a #nosmokeisajoke Twitter campaign — to pressure lawmakers to approve smoking, but the question of what the amendment actually requires remains unanswered.