With Special Session Next Week, Jeff Atwater Wants a Second One on Oil Spill

With the Legislature going into special session next week to consider backing a constitutional amendment to ban oil drilling in state waters, Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, is now ready for a second one to be held at the end of summer.

Atwater, who is the Republican nominee for state CFO, sent a letter to House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, asking for a second special session to tackle the economic impact of the oil spill still plaguing the Gulf. Atwater wrote that he wanted the second special session to be held in the last week of August or the first week of September--after the August 24 primary elections.

We must ensure our actions assist, not impede, Floridas response and recovery from this disaster, wrote Atwater. Floridians will not be well served by hastily drafted legislation designed more for political consumption than meaningful economic relief. Instead, I firmly believe that we should be dedicating every resource at our disposal, sparing no effort, to deliver substance for the citizens of Florida.

Atwater added that he hoped a second special session could focus on how Floridians hurt by the oil spill could be compensated by BP.