Florida House Democrat Caucus Leader-Designate Driskell Reacts to DeSantis Special Session: ‘We Will Need to See’

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – Leader-Designate of the Florida House Democratic Caucus, State Rep. Fentrice Driskell, issued a statement following Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement that he will be calling a Special Session to address property tax obligations and provide needed economic relief for Southwest Florida residents.

The statement says in part:

We’re glad Governor DeSantis is finally on board with what Florida Democrats have been saying the whole time: our property insurance market is in crisis and Floridians are suffering. I’m just sorry it took a hurricane to get him to act.

Obviously, we will need to see what they propose. Our last special session was specifically about property insurance, and it didn’t even come close to solving the problem. We’ll need to see specific plans and how they’ll actually help the people of Florida. This is not the time for half-measures.

State Rep. Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa)

This week, DeSantis signed an executive order to extend deadlines for payments of property taxes at locations that were destroyed or determined to be uninhabitable from Hurricane Ian.

DeSantis noted he does not have the authority to eliminate the payments as governor but said the order will buy the state legislature time to approve legislation during a special session this year. The governor said he spoke with incoming House and Senate leadership.

The exact date of the special session will be announced at a later date. The governor said the legislature will look into additional appropriations for communities affected by Ian, noting that many services rely on property taxes.

DeSantis said he also spoke with the leadership about addressing the homeowners insurance industry in Florida. He pointed to “positive” reforms that were approved back in May.

“But there were also things that we wanted to do that the legislature at that time was not willing to do,” DeSantis said. “I think we will be able to do that in this special session.”

“Obviously, we will need to see what they propose. Our last special session was specifically about property insurance, and it didn’t even come close to solving the problem. We’ll need to see specific plans and how they’ll actually help the people of Florida. This is not the time for half-measures,” said Driskell.