Anthony Talcott, Digital Journalist
Published:
Anthony Talcott, Digital Journalist
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With the primary elections right around the corner, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis echoed a call for a special session by one of the candidates running to replace him.
That candidate — former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner — took to X on Friday to call on state lawmakers to come together for another special session to once again consider a couple of legislative proposals that were championed by DeSantis.
[RELATED: News 6 sits down to interview governor candidate David Jolly]
“I’m calling on the Legislature to return for a special session and get two major priorities across the finish line: health freedom and an AI Bill of Rights,” he wrote. “The Senate has acted. Governor DeSantis supports it. It’s time for the House to get it done.”
In fact, Renner’s campaign website states that if elected governor, he will call a special session “on Day 1″ to get lawmakers to reconsider the proposals.
The FL House needs to take a mulligan and get right with the voters. https://t.co/mtVzT6yplW
WHAT ARE THESE PROPOSALS?
Medical Freedom
Earlier this year, the Florida Senate approved a “medical freedom” bill that was backed by DeSantis, which would have made the following changes to state law:
[RELATED: Florida surgeon general talks measles vaccine amid spread]
Despite passing the Senate, the bill ultimately died after failing to get approval in the House.
A.I. Bill of Rights
Another proposal would have implemented an “Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights,” which would have done the following:
Like the medical freedom bill, this legislation also passed the Senate, though it failed to make it through the House this year.
[RELATED: Florida governor calls for artificial-intelligence bill of rights]
While DeSantis hasn’t explicitly endorsed any of the gubernatorial candidates running this year, he did say during a news conference this month that Renner would make for a “really good” governor.
Renner spoke with News 6 late last year after initially announcing his bid for Florida governor, though he notably lacked DeSantis’ endorsement.
In fact, DeSantis said at the time that he wasn’t supporting Renner, calling it an “ill-advised decision to enter the race.”
“When he ran, I said I didn’t advise him to run. It wasn’t because I didn’t think he’d be a good governor,” DeSantis explained on Thursday. “I think he’d be really good. He’s got a great record of policy, but… what’s your strategy to get known? How do you get known to people, right?”
[RELATED: 6 issues with Florida candidate for governor Paul Renner]
His explanation tied to a larger theme of how effective gubernatorial candidates may have a difficult time getting recognition.
“Being governor is different than winning governor,” he stated. “And honestly, what goes into winning it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be a good governor. Because a lot of it is recognition, and the way to get recognition in a really big state is you either have to pay for it by buying advertising or you have to generate a lot of free media, which is hard in a state this big.”
Renner is only one of several Republican candidates running in the Florida governor’s race this year. You can find a list of these candidates and their positions here.
[RELATED: Jay Collins discusses property tax relief, insurance reform and immigration]
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Anthony, a graduate of the University of Florida, joined ClickOrlando.com in April 2022.
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‘Needs to take a mulligan:’ DeSantis echoes call for new Florida special session – WKMG
