The Florida House and Senate are scheduled to meet in Tallahassee at high noon on Tuesday for the special legislative session called for by Governor Charlie Crist. The Senate appears poised to work all week – but that seems predicated in part on how long the House will be in session.
The Governor's call would be for both houses to work through this Friday, but there is nothing coming from Speaker Larry Cretul's office to indicate that the House is prepared to work that long.
Cretul and company's reluctance comes as a new poll by a progressive group – Progress Florida – says that 71% of Floridians want to at least have a vote in November on whether or not to ban offshore drilling in state waters.
Republicans have denounced the special session as a glorified photo op for the Governor – particularly in the House – where there is absolutely no love lost for Crist. One Representative – Oviedo's Sandy Greene- has gone as far as calling on Crist being censured for the act of calling the session together.
This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2010.