Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
The budget is in its “cooling off” period, which means lawmakers are in a mad dash to get their policy bills across the finish line before passing the budget and dropping the hankie on Friday afternoon.
Wednesday saw a handful of bills clear their final hurdle.
One bill, which preempts food delivery app regulations to the state, cleared the House with a unanimous vote — the Senate passed it last month, so the bill now heads to DeSantis.
SB 676, sponsored by GOP Sen. Jennifer Bradley, would relegate the regulation of “food delivery platforms” that corral orders from multiple restaurants to the government in Tallahassee.
Many influential groups support the legislation, including the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, Grubhub, the Associated Industries of Florida, Uber Technologies, the Florida Chamber, TechNet, and the James Madison Institute. Meanwhile, the Digital Restaurant Association opposes the bill.
The House also gave the greenlight to legislation (SB 1764) by Democratic Sen. Jason Pizzo to enhance criminal penalties for stunt driving and street takeovers.
Notably, it will hike fines for coordinating or participating in those events and street takeovers to up to $2,000 for a first offense and a one-year license suspension. Subsequent offenses would carry much harsher penalties. People who merely watch an event in person would face a $500 fine, up from $65 now.
Another bill on its way to the Governor after ping-ponging between the chambers: A crackdown on psychoactive compounds in hemp that would effectively ban many currently legal products.
SB 1698 cleared the Senate earlier in Session. The House, however, amended the bill before passing it with a 64-48 vote — as the split infers, there are more than a few Republicans who aren’t sold on the policy.
The amendment upped the permissible amount of delta-9 THC in hemp extract to 5 mg a serving or 50 mg a container, up from 2 mg and 10 mg limits in the bill as it was passed by the Senate. The Senate quickly plucked the bill out of returning messages and sent it to the Governor.
Bill Day’s Latest
Evening Reads
—“Republicans just passed up the chance to win a historic landslide” via Eric Levitz of Vox
—”It’s not just that Joe Biden is old” via Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic
—”Biden vs. Donald Trump: A familiar matchup in an unprecedented election” via Aaron Zitner and Annie Linskey of The Wall Street Journal
—“The Trump-Biden rematch is here. Americans are processing.” via Lisa Lerer of The New York Times
—”Biden’s State of the Union address won’t make or break his campaign” via Nathaniel Rakich of FiveThirtyEight
—”Where will Nikki Haley’s supporters go now that she dropped out?” via Derek Hawkins, Dylan Wells, Sabrina Rodriguez, Jenn Ackerman, Matt McClain, Kim Raff and Rachel Woolf of The Washington Post
—“Mitch McConnell just did the most predictable thing ever” via Chris Cillizza of So What
—”Prosecutors decline to charge Christian Ziegler with video voyeurism” via Justin Garcia of the Tampa Bay Times
—”How Taylor Swift took over your local record store” via Ethan Millman of Rolling Stone
Quote of the Day
“Cultured meat is made by man. Real meat is made by God himself. Me and my earthling friends will eat real meat here on Earth.”
— Rep. Dean Black, on the cultivated meat ban.
Put It on the Tab
Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.
Sorry, Fast and Furious fans, we’re clinking Quarter Milers with Sen. Jason Pizzo, whose bill cracking down on stunt driving is en route to the Governor’s desk.
Now that the Senate has accepted the House changes to the hemp bill, Floridians will need to chug as many CBD Spritzers as possible before they’re effectively banned.
Malfeasant condo board members and associations may soon face a reckoning if DeSantis signs the now-passed “Condo 3.0” bill. There are a lot of options for those looking to celebrate. Some of our faves: The Finnie 3.0, the Bananavardier 3.0 and the Peachtree Punch 3.0.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
UCF welcomes top-ranked Houston
The country’s number one college basketball team comes to Orlando tonight as UCF hosts Houston (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+).
The Cougars (26-3, 13-3 Big 12) are not at full strength after losing freshman JoJo Tugler, who broke a bone in his foot. He will miss the rest of the season. Houston is already without sophomore Terrance Arceneaux, who tore his Achilles in December, and reserve guard Ramon Walker, who tore his meniscus in practice last week.
Tugler was not a major force on offense, but he was a big contributor to Houston’s defense off the bench. Houston boasts the nation’s best defense. Houston can clinch the Big 12 regular season title if they beat the Knights and Iowa State loses to BYU tonight. If not, they would have to wait until the regular season finale against Kansas to clinch.
It has been an up-and-down year for UCF (15-13, 6-10). The Knights’ biggest win came on Jan. 10 when they beat then-third-ranked Kansas in Orlando. They have beaten two other ranked teams in conference play since, beating Oklahoma on Feb. 3 and Texas Tech on Feb. 24. UCF is coming off a 60-52 loss to #8 Iowa State on Saturday.
After tonight’s game, the Knights will travel to TCU to conclude the regular season on Saturday.
The Knights enter tonight’s game in 11th place in the 14-team conference. In the Big 12 tournament format, seeds 11-14 play in the first round with seeds five through eight tipping off in the second round. A win over Houston would not only be the biggest win of the season for UCF but also vault the Knights up the conference standings and potentially give them an extra day to prepare for the conference tournament in Kansas City.
Also tonight:
7 p.m. — Orlando Magic @ Washington Wizards
7 p.m. — NCAAM: Boston College Eagles @ Miami Hurricanes
7 p.m. — NCAAW: Florida Atlantic Owls @ Temple Owls
8 p.m. — NCAAM: Florida Atlantic Owls @ North Texas Mean Green
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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.
