DeSantis Wants Special Session This Year on Condo Crisis

PINELLAS PARK -- Governor DeSantis turned up the heat on the state's crisis with condo repairs at a roundtable in Pinellas Park Thursday.

The governor told participants the legislature "can't punt" the issue of required inspections and fix-ups into next year. DeSantis also said he doesn't want to call a session right now, because he doesn't want a list of "half-baked ideas" that could cause lawmakers to run around "like chickens with their heads cut off." The governor says a date in late November or December would work, as lawmakers are in Tallahassee anyway for committee meetings.

DeSantis says they should consider rolling back deadlines and offer zero-interest loans for inspections and repairs.

DeSantis and others on the roundtable said that many condo residents are seniors and are hard-pressed to cover the cost of new assessments. The governor expressed support for cutting some slack with condo associations that have been "good apples" and kept up repairs.

Governor DeSantis also praises the way local schools and law enforcement are responding to a wave of copycat threats following a school shooting in Georgia. DeSantis says local sheriffs around the state have been "steadfast" in going after threats, and that people who make them will be held accountable. The governor says the state has taken school safety seriously, due in part to the aftermath of the 2018 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland that killed 17.

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