Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Applications are open for the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson announced.
The program safeguards working, economically significant agricultural lands by partnering with farmers and ranchers through conservation easements. Simpson, himself a farmer has championed the program both as Agriculture Commissioner and as Senate President, which saw him secure more than $300 million for the program in the 2022-23 budget.
The Trilby Republican has also pushed for the state’s food supply to be recognized as a matter of national security — that’s how he framed his push for the ultimately unsuccessful “Freedom to Farm” bill last Session, and he hit the same notes when highlighting the application window.
“Food security is national security, and Florida’s agricultural lands are the backbone of our economy and the foundation of our food and fiber production. The Rural and Family Lands Protection Program plays a crucial role in preserving these vital resources for future generations,” Simpson said.
Since it was established in 2001, the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program has acquired conservation easements on nearly 69,000 acres of working agricultural land to date. The total includes $57.6 million in easements the Governor and Cabinet recently approved for about 18,000 acres of farmland — the most ever approved in a single Cabinet meeting.
Conservation easements are voluntary legal agreements between the state and property owners that require lands to be preserved for a given purpose, such as agriculture, as a safeguard from future development. In exchange, property owners receive compensation from the state.
Landowners may submit Rural and Family Lands Protection Program applications online.
Evening Reads
—”Pulse nightclub shooting: Remembering the victims of June 12, 2016” via Roger Simmons of the Orlando Sentinel
—“In Miami, Donald Trump’s ardent backers are a sign of the city’s rightward shift” via Adriana Gomez Licon and Joshua Goodman of The Associated Press
—”Ron DeSantis finds a new set of laws to ignore” via David Firestone of The New York Times
—”HBO Max becomes Max, DeSantis becomes … Rhonda Santis?” via Zach Helfand of The New Yorker
—”DeSantis says his SCOTUS picks would be ‘better than’ Trump’s” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—“The Congressman telling Trump supporters to ‘buckle up’” via Jeff Sharlet of The Atlantic
—“Why Supreme Court voting rights decision shocked legal, political worlds” via Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post
—“Will voters get smarter as fake AI photos are used by candidates?” via Douglas Soule of USA Today Network-Florida
—”Trump needs white suburban women. His indictment splits them.” via Catherine Lucey and Annie Linskey of The Wall Street Journal
—“The Great Grift: How billions in COVID-19 relief aid was stolen or wasted” via Richard Lardner, Jennifer McDermott and Aaron Kessler of The Associated Press
—”Florida homeless people duped into Affordable Care Act plans they can’t afford” via Daniel Chang of KFF Health News
—”The little-noticed court decision that changed homelessness in America” via Rachel M. Cohen of Vox
—”Dave Aronberg won’t seek a 4th term as Palm Beach County’s top prosecutor” via Anne Geggis of Florida Politics
—“A star reporter’s break with reality” via Elaina Plott Calabro of The Atlantic
Quote of the Day
“These are the sort of things that you see in the Caribbean and Latin America, where you have the party in power persecuting the opposition. This community, what it sees is injustice being committed.”
— Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera, on pro-Trump demonstrations as the former President makes his first appearance in federal court.
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
