House Speaker Perez Delivers Brief Opening Day Session Speech Short On Details

By Christine Sexton, Florida Phoenix

January 13, 2026

“Difficult doesn’t mean impossible and hard isn’t an excuse for cowardice,” Speaker Daniel Perez told members of the state House of Representatives Tuesday in a short speech on the opening day of the 2026 session of the Legislature.

During his remarks, Perez briefly touched on an array of topics ranging from taxes to the economy to affordability and insurance to the costs of “public benefits.”

“We have been summoned here to the Capitol by the Constitution of the State of Florida. We have been called to spend the next nine weeks conducting the business of the people. And that is what we will do — with all the energy, determination, and creativity we can muster. We will approach this task with an open hand, an open mind, and an open heart. The Florida House stands ready to work with anyone who is willing to put the needs of our state first,” Perez said.

“We must ensure Florida stays at the center of our planet’s race for the stars, and that our infrastructure keeps pace with our growth. Every child in Florida, from the unborn to our college graduates, deserves a fair shot at finding their own American Dream.”

Perez delivered his second and final opening day speech of his two-year term as House speaker — a stint marked by quarrels with Gov. Ron DeSantis over state spending levels, homeowners insurance, the elimination of homestead property taxes, and immigration.

DeSantis vetoed Perez’s a priority bill from the 2025 session, which would have revamped a long-standing law that bans parents of single childless adult children and adult children of single parents from suing physicians and hospitals for wrongful death stemming from medical malpractice.

Perez did not, however, mention those skirmishes with the governor and instead focused his speech on the chamber’s ability, he said, to celebrate triumphs and in the face of adversity to “come together” and “find our way through.”

“We stand here today ready to write together the second half of our story. And I can’t tell you how many reporters and lobbyists and others in the process have asked me, ‘What is going to happen this session?’ It’s like they want me to give away the ending.

“Honestly, I don’t know what is going to happen. That’s okay, because the journey is the best part. I would not have traded any of the moments we have shared together — the friendships and the fights, the laughter and the tears. I would not have traded this experience just for a little more peace or a little more quiet.”

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