TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The final legislative session for Gov. Ron DeSantis got off to a rocky start when he snubbed House Speaker Danny Perez on his way to deliver his final state-of-the-state address.

On the Legislature’s opening day Tuesday, DeSantis shook hands with Senate President Ben Albritton and slapped him on the back but ignored Perez, who was standing next to the podium as DeSantis launched into a 30-minute review of his record.

The snub sent a shock wave through a House chamber packed with hundreds of lawmakers, guests and reporters.

The rude behavior underscores the friction between DeSantis, finishing his second term as governor, and the House as they hammer out plans during the 60-day session that ends March 13.

Experts expect DeSantis still will get most of what he wants from the Legislature, including some action on property tax cuts and a pro-Republican Congressional redistricting plan. After all, DeSantis and most members of both the House and Senate are Republicans and aligned on most issues.

The governor’s final session, however, comes at a time when his political clout is waning, said Kyle Kondik, the managing editor of Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan election forecasting newsletter published by the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

“DeSantis is going to go down as a very powerful governor … but his peak power is in the rearview mirror,” Kondik said. “Florida politics is moving forward.”

There may be animosity between DeSantis and House leaders — maybe even more than there was last year — but that isn’t likely to affect the final outcome, said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University.

The Legislature will deliver bills DeSantis can take credit for, Jarvis said, which the governor wants, as he seems to be looking beyond the current session and Florida to future national political goals.

“This will all work for DeSantis,” he said.

But he added, “That snub of Perez was foolish.” It likely exacerbated existing tensions and showed DeSantis as arrogant and ill-equipped for retail politics, he said.

Floridians are used to seeing DeSantis bristle at his political foes, vetoing their projects and threatening to “primary” them — back a challenger against them in a GOP primary election— if they don’t toe the line. But the brazen nature of Tuesday’s beef shocked onlookers, with one legislative veteran calling it a sad day for the state.

Perez, who had a falling out with DeSantis last year over immigration laws and an investigation into the first lady’s favorite charity, Hope Florida, took the cold shoulder in stride.

“His personal opinion of me doesn’t change the mission of the House, which is focused on the membership representing their constituency,” said Perez, a Miami lawmaker. “Whether the governor wants to be petulant and not shake hands of a partner, that’s on him. That is not going to change our direction.”

Two of the biggest issues facing GOP leaders in Florida — cutting property taxes and redrawing political districts to help Republicans win elections — may not be resolved during the regular session.

DeSantis anticipated as much by calling a special session in late April for redistricting and floating the possibility of holding an additional special session on property taxes if necessary.

The governor kick-started the property tax debate last year by suggesting he wanted all such taxes abolished. But his administration since then has not proposed anything specific, and he doesn’t have the power to directly change the tax structure.

DeSantis can recommend action, and the Legislature can put constitutional amendments abolishing or altering taxes on the ballot. But it takes at least 60% of voters to make that change.

Perez said what the Legislature winds up delivering to DeSantis is uncertain, noting that like the governor’s office, the Senate also has no current proposals for redistricting or property tax reforms while the House has held committee hearings on both.

The House has four plans for property tax reform moving forward. One plan — to gradually phase out property taxes — was approved by the full House on Thursday along party lines.

DeSantis has criticized the House’s multipronged approach, saying it will confuse voters.

While the house and governor are not on the same page on property taxes, it won’t matter that much in the end, Jarvis said.

DeSantis doesn’t have veto power over constitutional amendments proposed by the Legislature, Jarvis said, but will likely point to any property tax relief measure and say, “I got it on the ballot.”

Besides the clashes with DeSantis, disagreements between the two chambers left several measures on the table in 2025, including a proposed sales tax cut by Perez.

Both leaders shrugged that off as this year’s session started.

Perez said that while he and Albritton have their political differences, their personal relationship is good and he looked forward to working together despite past frustrations.

Albritton, a citrus grower from Wauchula, concurred, saying “disagreements are a normal part of of the way the process works.”

During his speech, DeSantis touted what he viewed as his administration’s accomplishments since he took office in 2019 but offered little insight into what he wants passed in 2026.

Albritton had only praise when it was done. The governor “did a very good job reiterating what I think have been excellent policy and appropriations strategies over the last several years,” Albritton said. “I am going to do everything in my power to work with the governor and speaker to build wins for the people of Florida.”

There are a lot of accomplishments DeSantis can point to during his two terms as governor, including fiscal solvency, environmental improvements and, for his conservative supporters, “anti-woke” legislation such as a law that ended diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education, among others.

But Democrats say that some of the things he’s accomplished — notably spending $250 million on an internment camp in the Everglades for immigrants dubbed Alligator Alcatraz — have come at the neglect of Floridians’ deeper needs. Affordable housing, health care and decent wages remain critical areas of concern, they say.

House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said it is clear DeSantis “has been focused on making his mark politically” while ignoring what really matters to most Floridians.

“Working people are being squeezed while the Governor chases headlines and his own ambitions,” Driskell said. “Next year, Ron DeSantis will be gone, but the working families and seniors of Florida will still be here trying to make ends meet.”

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