The Florida House of Representatives has scheduled a special session to discuss rail transit on December 3rd and 4th, but those dates conflict with the annual Conference of National Black Caucus of State Legislators in Fort Lauderdale, and minority legislators are crying foul.
Members of the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators say they would be forced to choose between attending the long-standing annual Conference or remain in Tallahassee to participate in the special session.
So, Franklin Sands, Leader of the House Democratic Caucus and Geraldine Thompson, Leader Pro Tempore have written Speaker Cretul of the Florida House of Representatives expressing their alalrm and requesting that the dates of the special session be changed.
“The scheduling conflict presents an unfair choice to members of the House of Representatives and threatens to injure Florida’s reputation on matters of importance to the National Black Causus of State Legislators,” the letter stated.
The letter goes on to state that Black State legislators wish to participate fully in the special session on rail transit and urges that, rather than the Florida House of Representatives be seen as exclusionary or “racially insensitive”, steps should be taken by the Speaker to promptly rectify the scheduling mistake.
Sands and Thompson have requested that the Speaker respond to their communication today.
See Full Letter to Florida Speaker Cretul Below
“Dear Speaker Cretul:
Upon reading the call for a special session on rail transit, we bring urgent concerns about the decision to conduct House committee meetings and floor sessions on Thursday and Friday, December 3 and 4.
As we informed you last week, your plan to hold meetings and possible floor votes in Tallahassee on these days will conflict with an important and long-scheduled national event being held elsewhere in our state — the annual legislative conference of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. The conference takes place tomorrow through Saturday in Fort Lauderdale and is expected to draw the attendance of a significant number of Florida legislators.
Florida House Democratic Caucus members recognize the significance of the upcoming special session and look forward to opportunities to be meaningfully involved in the legislative process, including making important decisions about the future of our state’s transportation system. But our caucus also recognizes the role that many of our members serve as hosts to the National Black Caucus of State Legislators’ conference.
There is no apparent reason that you have given for convening House floor sessions this week rather than in conjunction with the Florida Senate on Monday. Without urgent rectification, the current scheduling conflict presents an unfair choice to many members of the House of Representatives and threatens to injure Florida’s reputation on matters of importance to the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.
Members of the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators wish to fully participate in considering, discussing, debating or amending any bill before it is brought to the floor for a vote, which would be facilitated by beginning the special session on Monday, December 7.
Rather than allowing the Florida House of Representatives to be admonished as exclusionary or your leadership being criticized as racially insensitive, we urge you to take action now to minimize the blowback from the scheduling mistake.
Further, it is not sufficient to our caucus members to be given excused absences by you from attending legislative business so that they may attend long-planned events of importance, especially when those events are ones that many of our constituents will expect our members to attend. It is simply not appropriate – and it is plainly unnecessary — for Republican leadership to create a scenario that could sever many minority legislators from fully participating in their legislative duties and their other responsibilities as elected representatives.
The legislative process involves more than just voting. It also involves deliberation and debate, and to simply disinvite a large portion of the body of the Florida House of Representatives shows disrespect to those members and the process.
We look for your response today.
Respectfully,
Franklin Sands, Leader
House Democratic Caucus
Geraldine Thompson, Leader Pro Tempore
House Democratic Caucus”
