1 day Ago By Politico
Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature on Tuesday solidified its collision course with Gov. Ron DeSantis, sending him a bill the governor staunchly opposed that’s meant to aid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Just hours before the final votes, DeSantis called the legislation “weak, weak, weak” in a social media post, even after GOP legislators made a series of changes they said came after consulting with the Trump administration.
The final votes, however, fell short of a veto-proof majority. Many Republican legislators pushed ahead despite DeSantis’ torrent of criticism, contending the legislation will help Trump carry out his immigration campaign pledges. The discord is yet another sign of how DeSantis’ clout has diminished since he was soundly defeated by Trump in the GOP presidential primary.
“I’m not going to take lectures from someone who a year ago didn’t think Donald Trump should be president,” said state Sen. Randy Fine, a Brevard County Republican. House Speaker Daniel Perez was equally blunt, calling the legislation which sets aside more than $500 million to help the state deal with immigration a “game changer” and adding that legislators should ignore “noise” coming from activists and social media posts.
He didn’t mention DeSantis but noted: “Threatening others to get your way isn’t leadership. It’s immaturity. The people of our state deserve better.
” The vote late Tuesday ended a two-day special session first put in motion earlier this month. With Trump’s inauguration looming, DeSantis called lawmakers to Tallahassee, where he asked them to consider a swath of measures covering not just illegal immigration but several other hot-button topics including making it harder to pass ballot initiatives. But legislative leaders — who had initially called DeSantis’ push for a special session “premature” — rejected his plans and decided to craft their own immigration revamp.
The state Senate passed that bill by a 21-16 measure, with five Republicans joining Democrats in voting no on the bill. The final margin falls short of the supermajority that would be needed to try to override a DeSantis vote. Shortly after the Senate voted, the House voted 82-30.
The bill now headed to the governor repeals a decade-old law that allows undocumented students who attended a Florida high school to pay in-state tuition. Then-Gov. Rick Scott signed the tuition measure into law with great fanfare back in 2014.
Democrats unsuccessfully pushed to amend the bill to give students currently attending college under the law time to complete their degrees before “pulling the rug” out from under them. They contended that raising the cost of tuition would push students away from attending college in the state, including some in the middle of earning degrees. “It’s not the kids’ fault,” said state Sen.
Jason Pizzo, the Democratic leader. “This is an education they’re asking for — not a handout.” These arguments failed to sway Florida’s Republican majority.
Senate President Ben Albritton recently said he supported phasing out the waiver, but the idea was not ultimately embraced by the Legislature, which backed the policy that requires schools to evaluate the eligibility of all students who receive the tuition break starting July 1. “I’m not interested in giving illegal immigrants a discount on our colleges and universities,” said Fine, who led the charge to end the waiver. DeSantis also wanted the in-state tuition break ended, calling it a “relic” and an incentive for people to enter the country illegally.
The law had been sponsored by Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez when she was in the state House, but Nuñez recently said on social media that she too supported repeal.
But the headline portion of the legislation would make Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson — who has an icy relationship with DeSantis — the state’s chief immigration officer and shift control and money away from the governor. DeSantis and his allies openly questioned Simpson’s willingness to enforce immigration laws given ties to the agriculture industry. Another item that DeSantis wanted that didn’t make the final bill was restrictions on who could wire money abroad.
State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R-Spring Hill), a staunch DeSantis ally, also faulted the bill because he said it could allow some local law enforcement officials to wiggle out of cooperating with federal authorities. “I cannot vote for it because it is nowhere near strong enough for my taste,” said Ingoglia, who also questioned if the shift to Simpson was constitutional.
Asked to explain during debate why Simpson was chosen for the job, the bill’s House sponsor, Lawrence McClure (R-Dover), said the agency already had its own law enforcement and noted that other Cabinet offices were currently facing vacancies. He also responded to backlash Simpson faced from the governor and his allies, calling it “a little shocking.” He praised Simpson as “someone that I have known for a very long time and known to be an honorable man.
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Hard to find, quite frankly, anybody who would say anything bad about him,” he said. “Why did we pick him? Because he’s a good man. Why did we pick his agency? Because they’ve got good people.
That’s it.”.
