Bucking Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida lawmakers won’t strike vaccine mandates for kids or create new guardrails on artificial intelligence, House Speaker Daniel Perez declared Tuesday morning.
The only topic the Florida House will address during the four-day special session is redrawing the state’s congressional maps.
“There were no bills filed on these policies prior to the start of this special session [in the House],” Perez told his members minutes after opening House proceedings. “Consequently, we will not be taking up those issues.”
After the House votes Wednesday on redistricting, “Our work here will be finished, and all of you will be free to return home tomorrow afternoon.”
This is only the latest break between DeSantis and Perez, two powerhouse Florida Republicans. The two have feuded since Perez took over the lower chamber last year, insisting on asserting the House’s independence from the executive branch.
READ MORE: Florida’s ‘AI Bill of Rights’: What happened, what’s in it, and what’s next?
For most of the previous six years, the House mostly gave the governor anything he asked for.
Vaccines and AI are top priorities for the governor and he has promised to continue to push for their passage before he is term-limited out of office in January.
In harsh messages posted to social media, DeSantis accused House Republicans of catering to the “Big Tech cartel” and “the medical industrial complex” for killing his bills.
“Typical political shenanigans,” he wrote.
The Senate passed both measures during the regular session, but the House didn’t touch either.
During a conference later with reporters, Perez said he felt “uncomfortable” about children going to school with measles, mumps, or chicken pox.
He added that it’s important to defer to the federal government on AI regulation, referencing Trump’s executive order preempting most AI state restrictions.
“This is bigger than just one state or one part of the country,” Perez said.
The AI bill would have banned companion chatbots for minors, and required bots to frequently remind users they aren’t human. It would have added sweeping AI-related restrictions on using the tools in elementary school, allowing parents to opt out their children from using the software.
The Senate, despite the House’s refusals, passed the measure Tuesday with overwhelming support. The only detractor was Sen. Erin Grall, a Vero Beach Republican, who took issue with the opt-out provision and the measure’s lack of a private cause of action.
“This bill weakens protections for parents and for consumers when it comes to AI,” she said. “We have done a terrible job in the regulation of technology. … We deserve better.”
The vaccine bill would have made it easier for parents to opt out of school vaccine requirements, although it didn’t allow for a full repeal on all vaccine mandates the way the governor’s office wanted. The bill also would have allowed the sale of ivermectin without a prescription.
The Senate temporarily postponed considering the bill on Tuesday.
Update: This story now includes the Senate’s actions on AI, vaccines.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
