DeSantis says Florida House speaker did not speak with him before pushing ‘weak’ immigration bill

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis (R) is taking his ongoing battle with GOP leadership in the state Capitol to the rest of Florida to explain that the legislature’s immigration bill is not only “weak” but “destructive.”

DeSantis said during a roundtable on Thursday that one of the main problems with the legislature’s bill is making the commissioner of agriculture, not the governor, the sole person who would coordinate with the federal government to address illegal immigration in the state. DeSantis said not only that he believes the bill is unconstitutional, but also that there was a Democrat commissioner of agriculture during his first term.

House Speaker Daniel Perez (R) told Florida’s Voice on Wednesday that he has not spoken to DeSantis during this ongoing controversy.

“If the governor were to call me today … I’d pick it up. He’s the governor of the state of Florida; he’s a co-equal branch of government. That hasn’t happened, and if he would’ve called after the special session, I’ve made it known I would have answered,” Perez said.

‘Our office has not declined any effort to discuss policy.’

When Blaze Media asked DeSantis during Thursday’s roundtable to confirm that his office had reached out to Perez’s office, he said his office reached out to the speaker’s office before the special session was convened but did not hear back.

“These are small, petty things. I had reached out prior to the session, especially, and didn’t get a response. I don’t need [Perez] to show up to my office. … I just need to get the job done for the people, right? I don’t need to get any attention. I don’t need to get any fanfare. I don’t need to get any credit for this,” DeSantis explained. “I hope that the legislature would listen to the [constituency].”

DeSantis added that he thinks there has been too much attention on who does or does not call or talk to whom during the debate over the bills.

“Honestly, who cares about any of that? What you care about is we’ve got a mission; voters charged us with it. Are we putting their issues and interests first, or are you worried about other diversions? We are laser-focused on this,” he said, reminding the audience that the legislature did not want to have the special session in the first place.

“We sent proposals to all members of the Florida Legislature and even published them on our website to invite discussion and feedback. Our office has not declined any effort to discuss policy. Indeed, we have been and are open to any legislative member that would like to sit down and talk policy,” DeSantis chief of staff and soon-to-be state Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a statement.

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