The decision, announced jointly by Senate Speaker Wilton Simpson and House Speaker Chris Sprouls, comes two weeks after DeSantis vetoed a congressional bill approved by the legislature and called on state lawmakers to return to special meeting to draw up a new plan that would be to his liking. Historically, the Legislature has pioneered the redrawing of congressional district lines. But DeSantis will take the lead in drafting congressional maps for the special session scheduled to begin next Tuesday. In a note to state lawmakers, Sprowls and Simpson said lawmakers are not drafting or producing a map to present next week. They will wait in the governor’s office to give them a map to support. “Our intention is to provide opportunities for the governor’s office to present this information to Parliament and Senate restructuring committees,” they wrote. DeSantis’s office did not immediately respond to a request from law enforcement. He contacted some of the current members of the Florida congressional delegation, but no one commented on this development in setting new boundaries for their constituencies. The National Republican Committee of Congress declined to comment. However, state lawmakers and other groups have called the move “undemocratic” and “dangerous.” “What happened to the separation of powers?” said Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando. “The fact that the Florida legislature is just leaning back to do what the governor wants. That is, why are we elected? At this point, we may well give the governor a pen and a piece of paper and he will redesign the maps himself. “ State MP Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, said letting DeSantis draw up his own congressional charter meant “the legislature has completely relinquished its power as a separate and equal branch of government.” Abel Iraola, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the party’s main arm for the U.S. House of Representatives, shared those concerns. “The decision by the Florida Legislature to hand over the restructuring to Governor Ron DeSadis is an unprecedented and shameless resignation from office as an elected body,” Iraola said. “Based on his public comments, there is no doubt that any proposal by Governor DeSantis would be a non-start and an attack on the representation of blacks in Florida.” Matt Isbell, founder of MCI Maps and a Florida redistributor working with Democrats, said Monday’s announcement was rare in the history of the Florida redistribution, but not unexpected.
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Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s start. Explore all your options “It’s extremely unusual in a historical context. “I am not really surprised by what has been happening for the last two weeks,” said Isbell. “More and more, we hear that Ron (DeSantis) has made it clear to the leadership … that, ‘If you defy me on the map, I will support the main opponents, I’re going to veto your budget.’” “It’s the worst secret in this city. “Everyone knows what’s going on,” Isbell added.
An early map from the governor’s office
While DeSantis has not created a new congressional charter since the legislature finalized it, its chief adviser, Ryan Newman, had earlier offered a charter that experts said would reduce the power of black and Hispanic voters. in the congressional district, and this raised new questions about DeSantis’s commitment to the Florida Fair Constitution standards. Now that lawmakers have put DeSantis on the map, some groups are expressing similar concerns. “The legislature cannot abdicate its responsibility to adopt constitutional charters that comply with the Fair Districts amendments,” Amy Turkel, the interim executive director of the ACLU in Florida, said in a statement. “This is a dangerous and unprecedented move.” For two months during the legislature, the governor tried and failed to persuade lawmakers to agree to his legal approach to restructuring, which is that the protection afforded to black voters in Jacksonville and Orlando was “illegal.” criminal ”because he says that the courts have after ruled that race should not prevail over the provisions of the 14th Amendment on equal protection. But also for months, legislatures advising the House and Senate have been telling lawmakers that they are legally required to design Jacksonville and South Florida constituencies that give black voters the opportunity to vote for candidates of their choice, though agreed to disband a black majority district in Orlando. In an effort to appease the governor, lawmakers passed a two-card package. The governor vetoed this plan. In a letter, DeSantis referred to the 1992 and 1995 case law and said that the charter of the US Congress was unconstitutional “because it confers on voters mainly on the basis of race, but is not closely adapted to achieve a compelling state interest”. . “Republican lawmakers should have rejected the governor’s blatant attack on black representation in our democracy. “On the contrary, they fully capitulate to 100% of his claims for fear of retaliation,” Smith said. He referred to DeSantis’s recent approval of Blaise Ingoglia by Tampa Bay State Senate for Ralph Massullo, whom DeSantis approved two days later for re-election to Parliament, instead of facing Ingoglia. Many Republican lawmakers were reluctant to talk about the leadership’s decision Monday. But not all. Sen. Joe Grutters, a Republican from Sarasota who doubles as president of the Florida Republican Party, said in a text message that the plan to put the governor on the maps was a “good plan.” Senator Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, he said that he is looking forward to the Legislature “doing its job and putting in front of the members maps that comply with the Constitution”.
There is little time to do this
In addition to the success of the constitutional merger, there are some significant time constraints on the Florida redistribution process. As a new congressional seat was awarded as a result of the 2020 Census, there is a requirement for a completely new map to house the 28th district. Therefore, returning to the existing map for the 2022 elections is not an option. The last day for an eligible candidate to run for Congress in Florida is June 17, and the primary is August 23. At a press conference in Monticello last week, DeSantis said he understood the maps were likely to be challenged in court and said he wanted the legislature to produce a “cleaner product” that would not be as “vulnerable” as the plan veto. “I think it will work,” DeSantis told reporters. “But at the end of the day, we were not going to just let a court draft the map of Congress. “I mean, this is the requirement of the legislature obviously and they have to create a charter that can get my signature and I think they will be able to do that.” “But stay tuned. “It should be interesting in the coming weeks,” he added, possibly announcing Monday’s news. The Miami Herald reporter Bianca Padró Ocasio in Miami and the Miami Herald White House and Congressional Correspondent Bryan Lowry in Washington, DC contributed to this report. You can read it full note below:
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