TALLAHASSEE—Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo issued a rebuttal Monday to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' State of the State Address where he bluntly laid out his concerns on the direction of the state, including its hardline focus on social issues and misteps on illegal immigration.
However, Sen.Pizzo, considered a moderate Democrat, didn't exactly come to his party's defense for its lack of offense over Gov. DeSantis' grip on the Florida GOP since he assumed office in 2019.
It also could be another signal that his run for governor is starting to gain more validity.
"No Republican, certainly no serious Democrat, sought to expand any of the policies or positions Republicans claimed were so rampant and so necessary to defeat," Pizzo said in his speech. "I have never pushed to install or even expand CRT [Critical Race Theory], ESG [Environmental, Social and Governance], DEI [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] or wokeism. For none of these will lower your property insurance, your rent, nor will they result in your kids' GPAs getting higher, or their test scores going higher."
Sen. Pizzo expressed that the state Republican platform for years was to "be bold" by championing issues of economic opportunity, protecting Florida's environment, improving education, and defending the safety of its communities.
He instead argued that was nothing of the sort, and contended the governor's reign has had a "crippling effect" on the executive branch.
Pizzo also wondered, despite its abundance of problems, how Florida Republicans have held legislative and executive control for decades in the state while seizing on mundane issues instead of tackling its real problems.
For context, Republicans have held the governorship and legislative control in Florida since 1999. The last time Florida had a Democratic governor was Buddy MacKay, and that was for 24 days after Democratic Governor Lawton Chiles died unexpectedly in 1998.
Pizzo argued Florida's more pressing problems were "failing infrastructure, plummeting test scores, spikes in homeowners insurance and housing costs." He also mentioned the Florida National Guard being called in to fill critical staffing shortages at state prisons.
The 48-year-old is a former state prosecutor and pragmatic thinker on public safety.
"The only rankings we've held steady on during the last six years are nearing the bottom in law enforcement salaries and near the top in insurance premiums and human trafficking," Pizzo said.
Pizzo also addressed recent Republican infighting on illegal immigration, which eventually culminated in DeSantis signing a package of anti-illegal immigration measures into law earlier this month.
Pizzo argued his strong policy against illegal immigration was the rightful way to go.
"I, the Democratic minority leader, was the first to file the bill requiring E-Verify for all employers because you are not serious about curbing illegal immigration if you continue to coward to donors and not listen to our citizens," Pizzo said.
Despite his concerns, Pizzo played a bit of a political seesaw by praising DeSantis over his handling of disasters from hurricanes and other storms, including in his district in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
"The governor has been a good executive when performing executive functions. My own district has truly benefited and appreciated disaster responses after storms, direct assistance following the tragic loss of 98 lives in my district, and the shift from legislators having to beg for dollars to bring home each session, to objective criteria applied to infrastructure project applications direct to state agencies," Pizzo said.
He also expressed optimism over Senate President Ben Albritton's and House Speaker Daniel Perez's legislative agenda for the impending term. After all, Pizzo could soon find himself competing in a state Republicans have dominated for decades, perhaps against Trump-endorsed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds.
"Senate President Ben Albritton presented an agenda, a legislative agenda, that is robust and real to feed families, to foster economic growth, to protect our children, our homes, demand efficiencies with your tax dollars, and the right to course the years of neglect and indifference, Speaker Perez expressed much of the same," Pizzo said.
