With the Tallahassee area bracing for the possibility of snow and ice, Florida House and Senate leaders on Monday canceled committee meetings scheduled this week.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, sent memos to lawmakers canceling meetings slated for Wednesday and Thursday. But they said lawmakers will return to Tallahassee on Jan. 27 because of a special session that Gov. Ron DeSantis has called.
“Weather forecasts predicting snow and ice in Tallahassee on Tuesday night and into Wednesday have not improved over the weekend, and schools in Tallahassee are closed on Wednesday in anticipation of severe winter weather,” Albritton wrote in his memo. “I am concerned with senators, staff, and visitors being out on the roads traveling to and around the Tallahassee area in these conditions. Out of an abundance of caution, Senate offices in Tallahassee will be closed on Wednesday.”
Perez said House meetings that had been scheduled Wednesday and Thursday will be shifted to Jan. 28 and Jan. 29 “with some slight adjustments.”
Lawmakers are holding committee meetings in the run-up to the regular legislative session, which will start March 4.
They were not scheduled to be in Tallahassee next week, but DeSantis called a special session about a series of issues, including making changes to help carry out President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Perez and Albritton balked at holding the special session, saying it would be premature and pointing to the upcoming start of the regular session. But Perez noted in Monday’s memo that lawmakers are “constitutionally required to be in Tallahassee” on Jan. 27 after DeSantis called the special session.
It remains unclear what lawmakers will address during the special session. In addition to immigration enforcement, DeSantis has said he wants to use the special session to address issues such as providing aid to hurricane victims; replenishing money for the My Safe Florida Home hardening program; revamping rules for ballot initiatives; and revising condominium-safety laws.
Lawmakers had been scheduled to hold about 40 committee and subcommittee meetings this week, though the meetings largely involved presentations and overviews of issues — not actual legislation. Perez and Albritton said in their memos that they consulted with each other before deciding to cancel the meetings.
“Weather forecasts continue to predict snow and ice in North Florida beginning Tuesday night and into Wednesday, creating conditions that would make holding committee meetings impractical and travel to and in Tallahassee unsafe,” Perez’s memo said.
Lawmakers also are scheduled to hold committee meetings during the first three weeks of February.
