State lawmakers will be back in Tallahassee Thursday. They've been ordered by a judge to return to work with the sole goal of re-drawing the congressional district map.
For business owners there, the session's an unexpected windfall during one of the slowest months of the year.
Brian Baisch manages the Capitol Café, which is about to become one of the busiest restaurants in town, all thanks to a special legislative session.
“August is our off time, it is a little bit slower, so here, we're actually welcoming this session coming in, so it'll really help our sales,” he said.
Jeff Sharkey owns the Capitol Cafe and a coffee shop upstairs. His biggest challenge has always been making ends meet this time of year.
He said he feels sorry for lawmakers who are being pulled off the campaign trail or have to cut short their vacations, not to mention taxpayers, who have to foot the bill for the special session.
But at least he'll be able to pay his bills and then some.
“There are 300 people coming to the Capitol Monday for something unrelated to this, and so, they're having to deal with that plus this, so it's going to be fun,” Sharkey said. “I mean, they love the activity. They'd rather be doing that than standing around waiting for someone to come in.”
The Special Session will cost Florida taxpayers around $60,000 a day. Most of that money's being spent on travel, food and hotels for lawmakers.