TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – Gov. Ron DeSantis is postponing the redistricting special session while adding proposals on AI protections and medical freedom to the agenda.
His order delays the redistricting special session and includes proposals on AI protections and medical freedom.
“It’s going to happen one way or another,” DeSantis said.
Senate President Ben Albriton set the committee path during the special session in a memo to senators.
The Senate’s largest committee, Senate Rules, will hear a proposal from the governor’s office on potential congressional maps. The Senate is then expected to pass an AI bill of rights and a medical freedom bill that changes vaccine requirements.
The two bills will be the same as the ones passed during the 60-day regular session. Their fate in the House remains to be seen, as the lower chamber has never taken them up, and the governor cannot force lawmakers to pass anything.
Florida Politics:
House Speaker Daniel Perez said in March that he agrees with President Trump, arguing that a patchwork of state rules could hurt innovation.
“If we address it on a state-by-state level, you’re only going to cover some states from stopping future generations from being in a position that child was in,” Perez said.
House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell said she expects that to have changed with the special session expansion.
“That lets me know that there’s political horse trading that’s happening behind the scenes and that this has nothing to do with what’s in the best interest of the people of Florida,” Driskell said.
Driskell said Republicans are still missing the mark for Floridians.
“As I look at this expanded call to special session, what I see are more distractions, trying to distract away from Donald Trump’s failed record on the economy, the Republicans in Tallahassee’s failed record on affordability,” Driskell said.
Lawmakers still do not know when they will pass a state budget, which is their only constitutional obligation. The new fiscal year begins July 1.
Copyright 2026 WCTV. All rights reserved.