Florida Legislature rejects oil drilling ban vote, adjourns

TALLAHASSEE -- Moving with extraordinary speed, the Florida Legislature took just two hours Tuesday to reject Gov. Charlie Crist's proposal to give voters the chance to amend the state Constitution and ban offshore oil drilling.

In a brief special session, Republicans carried out a plan to block Crist from scoring political points by leading the charge for what they see as a symbolic ban on near-shore drilling, something already barred by state law.

The referendum is strongly supported by Democrats and independents whose votes Crist covets as an independent U.S. Senate candidate.

Lawmakers said they would work on another special session in September, one focused on long-term measures to provide economic relief to people affected by the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf.

A fired-up Crist heaped scorn on lawmakers, criticizing them for an ``arrogance of power'' and urging voters to throw them out of office in November.

``They are the do-nothing Legislature,'' said Crist, who called the special session in hopes of beating the Aug. 4 deadline to add a referendum to the Nov. 2 general election ballot.

``I can't believe that this Legislature has shirked their duty so badly,'' Crist said. ``How arrogant can a Legislature be? I can't believe that they would have that much of a lack of respect for the people of Florida.''

Neither the House nor the Senate debated the issue itself. Instead, both chambers debated whether the drilling ban proposal should be debated.

As scores of drilling opponents looked on wearing ``Let the People Vote'' stickers, the House voted 67-44 to curtail debate after 10 minutes, and senators followed with a vote of 18 to 16.

Two Democratic senators who sided with Republicans played key roles in blocking a vote on the measure: Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, and Gary Siplin, D-Orlando. Their influence was magnified by the absences of three Democrats and two moderate Republicans who are both Crist allies.

Eight Republican senators, four from the Tampa Bay region, voted against ending the session prematurely. They were Lee Constantine of Altamonte Springs, Victor Crist of Tampa, Paula Dockery of Lakeland, Mike Fasano of New Port Richey, Dennis Jones of Treasure Island, Evelyn Lynn of Ormond Beach, Steve Oelrich of Gainesville and Alex Villalobos of Miami, who sponsored the drilling ban, and who threw in the towel when the House adjourned after 49 minutes.

``I can't prevail because they left,'' Villalobos said.

In the House, four Republicans sided with Democrats in support of debating the ban. They were Reps. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa and three Miami lawmakers: Reps. Marcelo Llorente, Julio Robaina, and Juan Zapata. One House Democrat, Rep, Leonard Bembry of Greenville, voted with Republicans to block debate.

House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, pounded his gavel at 12:02 p.m., quickly rejecting Crist's call for a constitutional drilling ban and criticizing the governor for calling lawmakers to work on short notice.

``The fact remains that he has called us here at the last possible moment to consider a constitutional amendment for which he never proposed any language and permitted far too little time for reflection and review,'' Cretul said. ``This is a terrible way to propose constitutional changes.''

Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said he tried to persuade Crist and Cretul to expand the scope of the session to discuss tax relief and creation of a claims advocate, but got no takers: ``Unfortunately, I did not receive a receptive audience.''

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