According to reports, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist called for a special state legislative session to debate a constitutional amendment to ban drilling off the state's coasts.

Crist's office has said that the July 20-23 session would reinforce and entrench an existing state ban on leasing and drilling within 10 miles of the Florida coast, making it harder for legislators to overturn the ban.

A Crist spokesman also said that it would also give Florida citizens, watching oil drift onto their beaches despite longstanding protection of their drilling waters, a say in the matter.

Press Secretary Sterling Ivey told the Daily Caller, an online political journalism publication in Washington, "The difference is simply in the fact that the constitutional amendment would be from a majority vote of Floridians. And depending on how language is structured, the (10-mile) distance may change."

Crist, who broke with the Republican Party on economic and environmental policy, is running as an independent to fill the U. S. Senate seat to be vacated by Republican Mel Martinez.

The Miami Herald has reported that Marco Rubio, Crist's Republican opposition for Senate, called the special session a "political sideshow."

Democrats praised Crist's move as overdue. (With Inputs from Agencies)