Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
The drawing for highly coveted liquor licenses is upon us.
The entry period for the 2021 Quota Beverage License Drawing opened this week and has a strict ending date of Sept. 29 at 5 p.m.
A lot of people want these licenses. The 2020 entry period garnered more than 23,600 entries for 62 licenses in 30 counties.
Quota alcoholic beverage licenses are distributed based on population size, so the opportunity to snag one only comes up when a county’s population shows a certain amount of growth. Florida Beverage Law only allows one license for every 7,500 residents within a county.
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s (DBPR) Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco runs the alcohol licensing process. Each year, the DBPR analyzes population data for each of Florida’s 67 counties to determine which counties are eligible for more licenses and how many.
The 2021 drawing entry period will include 49 new quota beverage licenses available for issuance in 27 counties, including Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Dade, Duval, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia.
With a quota beverage license, the license holder can sell beer, wine and distilled spirits in packages or directly for consumption on and off the licensed premises, depending on the license series elected.
Winners are announced during a public drawing, the date of which has not been set. Drawn winners only win the right to apply for the license.
It costs $100 to enter the drawing.
Evening Reads
“Parents are losing their minds over masks in schools” via Olga Khazan of The Atlantic
“School districts’ masks rebellion continues to spread, despite state’s threats” via Danielle J. Brown of the Florida Phoenix
“The nation’s challenged roads, bridges, rails and ports: 10 projects showing the big-ticket needs” via Ian Duncan and Michael Laris of The Washington Post
“Are you ready for sentient Disney robots?” via Brooks Barnes of The New York Times
“‘Better to stay ahead of it.’ Why the White House COVID-19 strategy now involves vaccine booster shots” via Alice Park of TIME
“What all those House retirements mean for Democrats so far” via Geoffrey Skelley of FiveThirtyEight
“The two-decade delay in Lyme-disease vaccines” via Sue Halpern of The New Yorker
“The long road to India’s unparalleled pandemic catastrophe” via Smita Sharma of Vox
“Is your oven stuck on 350 degrees? It’s not broken; it’s in sabbath mode.” via Tripp Mickle of The Wall Street Journal
“Battered but not broken: movie theaters anxiously hold out hope for late box office rebound” via Rebecca Rubin of Variety
“The man who broke the R. Kelly Story — twice — on whether this time will be different” via Nitish Pahwa of Slate
Quote of the Day
“It’s a real honor and privilege for me to have earned the support of my colleagues in the Senate. Sen. Manny Diaz is a valued colleague and a friend who puts people above politics. We share a vision for the future of Florida, and we’ll work together in the years ahead to advance policies that are in the best interest of the state of Florida.” — Sen. Ben Albritton, after winning the 2024-26 Senate President race.
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