Florida House Speaker fights back after governor's string of attacks

The relationship between state republican lawmakers and the governor seems to once again be deteriorating after six years of a symbiotic partnership. 

On Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis used almost an entire press conference to lash out at members of the House of Representatives and its leadership. 

“It's really a pathetic agenda,” DeSantis said of the House of Representatives, among other things, to include harsh criticism over the proposed budget he argued defunds the Florida Highway Patrol. 

Speaker of the House Danny Perez, who represents District 116 in Miami-Dade County, fought back in a one-on-one interview with NBC6 Politics Reporter Hatzel Vela. 

“It seems that the Governor's having temper tantrums, and he's emotional simply because someone disagrees with him,” Perez said. 

Perez went on to accuse the governor of being dishonest. 

“He is traveling the state, lying about the bills that the House is moving, lying about the House's budget, and not taking the time to actually look at the bills and understand them,” Perez said. “Instead, he gives these one-liners that he thinks he's going to get a round of applause on, when in reality, what he should be doing is speaking the truth. That’s what the people deserve.”

Publicly, it seems, the relationship between House and Senate leadership and the governor started deteriorating in January when both houses defied DeSantis by ending the legislative session the governor called and starting their own, which sent a clear message of their autonomy. 

A month later, the relationship did seem to improve when both branches came together and collaborated with DeSantis on an immigration bill that eventually was signed by the governor. 

But in recent days, things have soured again, perhaps because of an ongoing controversy with the governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis, and the non-profit she founded, Hope Florida. 

Lawmakers accuse the non-profit of getting $10 million from the state’s largest Medicaid managed-care provider. 

The provider, Centene Corporation, was fined millions of dollars by the state for Medicaid overbilling. 

Perez weighed in on the ongoing controversy. 

“All we're asking for is testimony from those that were involved with $10 million, subverted from the state treasury and into a nonprofit, and eventually into political committees,” Perez said. “These are taxpayer dollars that should have gone to the state treasury and eventually gone through the general revenue process like any other Medicaid dollar.”

In Wednesday’s press conference, DeSantis called the investigation a “manufactured hoax.”

For six years, DeSantis has enjoyed a cozy relationship with the GOP-dominated legislature until now. 

“We are not going to be treated as employees of the governor's office. We are not employees. We are partners, and together, hopefully, we can continue the successes of the state,” Perez said. 

Perez reminded the governor that the legislature is an equal but separate branch of government, adding they write the laws, handle the state’s budget, and the governor has the power to either veto or accept what they do. 

Perez emphasized his door is always open for the governor.