With six more weeks of committee meetings before the 2023 legislative session starts in March, rumors are swirling in the Capitol that lawmakers could hold a special session or two.

Abortion. Gun regulations. Reedy Creek. Environmental, social and governance investing standards. Those are just some of the issues drawing discussion.

After a special session ended Dec. 14 on issues such as property insurance, House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, said "there's certainly an opportunity."

"We always look at, what is the timeline," Renner told reporters. "Is this something that can be addressed in session? Or is this something that we need to do in a special session?"

Renner wouldn't offer specific issues that could come up in a special session, other than to say there will be conversations with "our partners in the Senate."

"I can tell you this, we're going to be busy this session," Renner said of the 2023 regular session, which will begin March 7.

Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, brushed off talk of more special sessions when asked Tuesday, after the Senate wrapped up its work in this week's session.

"Honestly, to quote the governor, 'Chill,'" Passidomo said. "We just finished a big one, that we haven't really thought about what's going to happen [or] come down the road. There may be."

In November, DeSantis said he was working on a "robust" agenda with legislative leaders that could mean more special sessions.

"We may even end up doing one or two in January, February potentially," DeSantis said at the time. "We're talking with the legislators, seeing what's there. But I think we're going to have a very robust agenda."

JUST IN CASE YOU FORGOT

Two ads from Florida's U.S. Senate race were among the five most-aired during the 2022 elections, according to NBC News.

Democrat Val Demings' campaign ad called "Not a crime" about women's rights ran more than 6,300 times, third-most.

In fifth place, with more than 4,400 appearances, was a piece titled "Most" by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's campaign. The ad called Demings "Florida's most liberal senator ever."

Rubio defeated Demings by 16.4 percentage points in the Nov. 8 election.

OpenSecrets.org put spending on the contest at $128.97 million, including $79.6 million spent for Demings.

North Florida residents who get Georgia ads saw two of the other most-run political commercials.

Running more than 8,500 times was a piece called "Double Down" by Georgians First Leadership Committee, which backed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp against Democrat Stacey Abrams.

One Georgia, which backed Abrams, ran a piece 5,300 times called "Extreme and Dangerous," which was critical of Kemp's stance on abortion. Kemp handily defeated Abrams.

Meanwhile, the other most-run ad, which was on more than 6,000 times, was called "Never Gave Up," as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's successful reelection bid.

NEVER TOO EARLY

With the paint still wet on the 2022 general elections, polling is ramping up on the 2024 presidential contest.

And the polls are giving a boost to Gov. Ron DeSantis, as he continues to raise money and confab on whether to enter the presidential race.

A Wall Street Journal survey, released Wednesday, put DeSantis up over former President Donald Trump among likely Republican voters by a margin of 52% to 38%.

A USA Today-Suffolk University poll released a day earlier indicated DeSantis was up by 23 points over Trump.

Suffolk also had DeSantis up by 4 percentage points on President Joe Biden, while Biden was up by 7 percentage points in a head-to-head with Trump.

"DeSantis out polls Trump not only among the general electorate, but also among these Republican-leaning voters who have been the former president's base," Suffolk University Political Research Center Director David Paleologos said in a statement. "Republicans and conservative independents increasingly want Trumpism without Trump."

However, Paleologos warned that Trump's path could resemble 2016 when Trump emerged from a crowded field of candidates in the GOP primary.

Jim Turner reports for the News Service of Florida.

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