Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
This is it! Last Call is issuing a last call to let us know what you’re grateful for this year.
We will publish the comments in tomorrow’s edition of Sunburn — the final one for the holiday week.
No FOMO here — get your name on the list today.
Please send your responses to [email protected].
Thanks again.
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Floridians have clawed back more than $1.4 billion in unclaimed property since Patronis took office in 2017, but the state’s Chief Financial Officer wants to help them recoup a little more ahead of the Christmas shopping season.
On Monday, Jimmy Patronis announced the “Holiday Money Hunt,” which will see Patronis and the Department of Financial Services publicize the unclaimed property portal on social media and use the Twitter hashtag #FLHolidayMoneyHunt.
“I am excited to kick off the Holiday Money Hunt this holiday season and spread the word about unclaimed property in Florida. During the holidays, everyone can use a little extra cash, and an unexpected check from the State of Florida may help make things a little brighter this year,” he said, adding that one in five Floridians has unclaimed property.
Currently, DFS’ Division of Unclaimed Property has $2.5 billion ready to return to its rightful owners. The Miami media market alone accounts for $905 million of the total, followed by Tampa/St. Pete ($531 million), Orlando ($395 million), West Palm Beach ($296 million), Jacksonville ($162 million) and Fort Myers/Naples ($137 million).
The pot of cash includes dormant bank accounts, unclaimed insurance benefits, stocks, dividends, uncashed checks, deposits, credit balances and refunds. It also includes the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes, pecuniary or not.
Unclaimed assets are typically held by the business or government agency where they were abandoned for five years before being transferred to the Department of Financial Services Division of Unclaimed Property, so those trawling the state database should recall their old addresses and search under maiden names, if applicable.
The Division of Unclaimed Property portal, FLTreasureHunt.gov, has been active for years, but returns have greatly accelerated during the pandemic — the division set a record in the 2020-21 fiscal year with $349 million in returns.
Evening Reads
“The invention of Thanksgiving” via Philip Deloria of The New Yorker’
“Stubborn COVID-19 surges signal bleak winter” via Dan Goldberg of POLITICO
“Slam dunked in the trash: Ron DeSantis predicts demise for Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics
“Former NYPD officers heralded by Gov. DeSantis include fired security guard, defendant in police brutality suit” via Elise Elder of Fresh Take Florida
“Gov. DeSantis rolls out plan to ‘zero out’ gas taxes, lower prices at the pump” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“Teenage UCF student spearheads a sweeping ballot proposal to change how Floridians vote” via Steven Lemongello of the Orlando Sentinel
“Work from home works until you need time off” via Ed Zitron of The Atlantic
“DeSantis vows to fully fund transit programs despite $1B gas tax relief” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics
“Will Thanksgiving’s pandemic-era gratitude last?” via Marco della Cava of USA TODAY
“‘Courageous’ quest brings closure to Groveland Four case” via Scott Powers of Florida Politics
“University of Florida scientists make promising discovery on COVID-19 treatment” via Christine Jordan Sexton of Florida Politics
“For Tallahassee couple, every day is turkey day at Paradise Found Farms” via Marina Brown of the Tallahassee Democrat
Quote of the Day
“I think the 6th Circuit is going to slam dunk this thing into the trash bin and it’s going to be done.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis, on the Biden administration’s employer vaccination mandate.
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