Senate backers of a motion that would have let voters decide whether to put an oil ban in the Florida Constitution said they were ready to go, primed for Tuesday's special session -- only to have the Senate follow the House's lead and adjourn without a fight.
We are ready, willing and able to go, said Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, who sponsored the measure in the Senate.Villalobos said that he had the votes to get the measure through the Senate. The House is not here. I cant prevail because they left.
Im disappointed we did not have the opportunity to act, said Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, who was a co-sponsor of the resolution. Were missing a golden opportunity today.
Senators expressed scorn for the House adjourning and ending any chance the amendment had of being on the November ballot, and undermining the special session
This is not a partisan issue, said Dan Gelber of North Miami Beach, who is running for the Democratic nomination for attorney general. There are plenty of Democrats and Republicans who wanted to vote on this but it has become a political issue.
Floridians want the chance to vote their beliefs on this issue, added Gelber, who took a shot at Republican leaders in the House, opining that their contempt for the governor outweighed their concern for their constituents.
These comments were echoed from the other side of the aisle by Republicans led by Mike Fasano of New Port Richey. While Fasano is a Republican, he remains a staunch ally of Crist, who left the GOP in April to continue his bid for the U.S. Senate without party affiliation.
The members over in the House are working so hard to embarrass the governor that they are ignoring their constituents, said Fasano. They leave today not embarrassing the governor but embarrassing themselves.
Because the House has left they have ignored their responsibilities, they have ignored the cries across the state, said Fasano who noted that he used to back drilling off the Florida coast. What a lesson Ive learned. What a lesson weve all learned. Sadly, the House did not learn that lesson.
Fasano was backed by other Republicans, including Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland.
We have a responsibility to act, said Dockery, who urged the Senate not to adjourn and vote on the amendment regardless of what the House did. This is not a knee-jerk reaction. This happened in April; the vote will happen in November.
Ultimately, the Senate voted to adjourn on a close vote, 18-16.
We have a three-legged stool here, said Nancy Detert,R-Venice, who supported the motion to adjourn due to the Houses actions. We have no chance but to sine and die since we cannot pass laws by ourselves.
Lets not just point at the House and say its all their fault, said Don Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach,who took aim at Crist for not expanding the call of the special session. There was a selfishness to the agenda which is unfortunate and unforgivable.
Gaetz said the governor was very inconsistent on the issue of oil drilling, saying that Crist backed it in 2008.
Those were the days when the governor was in favor of offshore drilling, back when he wanted to be John McCains vice-presidential nominee, said Gaetz.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com, or at (850) 727-0859.
