Will this week's special legislative session bring responsible public policy debate or crass political posturing?
The session called by Gov. Charlie Crist isn't convening on a convivial note as leading Republicans pooh-pooh the need to meet at all.
Comments from House Speaker Larry Cretul suggest that the whole thing could be over within a couple of hours after opening Tuesday, with no action taken on Crist's call for a constitutional amendment to ban offshore oil drilling.
Alternatively, the session could become a weeklong brawl between the GOP-dominated Legislature and a governor who bolted the party three months ago to become an independent.
Crist said the House would be "stunningly shortsighted'' not to put an offshore drilling ban on the November ballot.
"Who in their right mind would argue that the people shouldn't have a right to vote on this?'' Crist asked. "It's an unconscionable position.''
State Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Orlando, countered by announcing she was filing a resolution to censure the governor.
Gov. Crist is wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars on an unnecessary special session of the state Legislature, and he should be held accountable for this misuse," Adams said.
With Crist running for U.S. Senate and Adams campaigning for Congress, it is impossible to separate politics from the special-session debate.
"There's a lot of posturing, and everyone has a different agenda," observed Susan MacManus a political science professor at the University of South Florida.
Indeed, a smorgasbord of proposals has surfaced, ranging from GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott's call to enact an Arizona-style immigration law to a University of Florida push for lawmakers to override Crist's veto of $9.7 million in funding for Shands Hospital.
House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, and Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, say they want a second special session to address economic-relief issues stemming from the Gulf oil spill. Atwater, who is running for chief financial officer, is looking for a one-week session during the last week of August or the first week of September. Cretul favors the September dates.
A referendum on drilling would have to be passed by lawmakers before Aug. 1 in order to make the Nov. 2 ballot. But Republicans do not share Crist's urgency.
Marco Rubio, Crist's chief rival in the U.S. Senate race this fall, calls this week's special session "a $200,000 photo op."
What we're getting are Washington-style gimmicks, like a call for a special session to ban what's already illegal in Florida, Rubio, a Miami Republican, said last week. He accused Crist of spending $45,000 a day to haul legislators to Tallahassee to basically hold a campaign event.
Some lawmakers, including Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, have challenged Crist to come up with a comprehensive renewable-energy package that goes beyond a constitutional ban on oil drilling.
But that appears to be a nonstarter as short-term political maneuvering in an election year trumps long-term policy debate.
"The last rumor I heard was that the House may convene, then immediately 'sine die' without taking any action.Cretul (who is term-limited) isnt running for anything," said Lisa Hall, a spokeswoman for Citizens for Clean Energy.
In a letter to Atwater late last week, Cretul wrote:
I am glad we agree that productive legislation addressing the Gulf oil spill cannot be enacted during (this) week's scheduled special session.
Our duty is to dispose of executive proposals responsibly. Rushing to amend the Constitution at the last possible moment because of an accident hundreds of miles from our jurisdiction does not typify deliberation and responsible legislation."
Rank-and-file Republicans seem similarly unmoved by Crist's agenda, with some members privately expressing frustration at the governor's gambit.
And Florida's business community has minimal expectations.
"I think (the session) will go along the lines of what the speaker and the president indicated:They wont deal with any other issue besides the proposed amendment, and they wont be here long," said Adam Babbington, vice president for government affairs at the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
"(Legislators) are not going to do anything, because it's not needed," said Barney Bishop, president and CEO of the Associated Industries of Florida. "Unfortuantely, the governor doesn't care enough to do anything about what's really needed."
Bishop predicted that House and Senate will reconvene in 30 days to address economic-relief programs.
Ever the populist, Crist has garnered support from environmental groups, which plan to rally at the Capitol Tuesday, as well as the governor's hometown newspaper, which urged lawmakers to "let voters have their say."
Another newspaper called it differently. Branding Crist "the son of Arlen Specter," a scathing Wall Street Journal editorial noted Friday:
"Two years ago this summer, Governor Crist felt differently (about offshore drilling). Angling to become John McCain's running mate, he reversed his longstanding opposition to lifting a moratorium on coastal drilling. The new Charlie is against drilling after he was for it after he was against it. All clear now?"
MacManus said Tallahassee's shifting political tides still might be swayed by unforeseen events in the Gulf.
"What happens could even depend on if the cap holds on the BP oil well," she opined.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
