State Legislature still waiting to take action on choosing electors

By LUCY MORGAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 2, 2000

TALLAHASSEE -- Senate President John McKay says he is reluctantly looking at a recommendation to call a special session and get in the middle of a presidential election.

McKay, a Republican from Bradenton, said he will spend the weekend conferring with lawyers and reading a report compiled by a joint committee that met earlier this week and recommended a session "as soon as practicable."

"I'm doing this very reluctantly," McKay said. "It was not my plan to do this and it is not an easy way to begin my last two years in public office."

McKay said he definitely wants to see George W. Bush elected and is very concerned about a Florida Supreme Court decision that he believes "grossly overstepped their bounds" and changed a law that required votes to be certified on Nov. 13.

That decision, appealed by George W. Bush to the U.S. Supreme Court, came in the first of a series of election lawsuits filed by Vice President Al Gore.

McKay may be reluctant, but the other legislative house is eager to go into session and select a slate of electors that would vote for Bush on Dec. 18.

House Speaker Tom Feeney has his staff preparing a proclamation to call the session as early as Monday. He repeatedly has said he wants the special session, and a number of other Republican lawmakers agree.

Because of all the pending legal challenges to the election and the possibility they may not be completed by Dec. 18 when electors meet to vote, Feeney said he is "fully persuaded" that legislators must act.

McKay and Feeney were both selected by the Florida Republican Party to serve as Bush electors. Feeney's spokeswoman said she is uncertain what he will do. McKay said he is considering recusing himself from the Electoral College but has not decided.

"I haven't drawn any conclusions," McKay said. "I just think we should watch the whole process as it evolves."

He compared the call for a special session to a Rubik's Cube, the brightly colored puzzle that was popular some years ago.

"As you expose one possibility, you expose another possibility. Everything is unfolding," McKay said.

It will probably be Monday, if then, before he decides, McKay said. And if he agrees to join Feeney in the call, legislators will take up a joint resolution instead of a bill.

McKay said lawyers advising the Senate think the action should be wholly the Legislature's and not involve a decision from a governor. If a bill were passed, it would require review by the governor, who could veto or sign it or, after a waiting period, allow it to become law without his signature.

"We'll do everything as we normally do," McKay said. "It's an issue of grave importance. If we do anything, we'll do it by the book."

McKay said he's getting a lot of e-mail from citizens all over the country -- evenly divided between those who want the Legislature to intervene and those who don't.

McKay said he has not talked to Gov. Jeb Bush in the last few days and has not talked with anyone from the George W. Bush campaign.

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