Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
Ed. Note — Now that Session is over, Sunburn will be taking Friday off for a much-needed respite. Don’t worry, our Takeaways from Tallahassee newsletter will be in your email boxes on Saturday. Sunburn, the daily read of what’s hot in Florida politics, will return Monday morning. Thanks again for your loyal readership and support. Have a great weekend, and please stay safe.
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Happy early birthday wishes to Joseph Salzverg of GrayRobinson and Samantha Sullivan, chief legislative aide to Rep. Shane Abbot. Cheers!
First Shot
St. Patrick’s Day is on the horizon and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis says the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is in his office.
The second-term Republican uses the holiday to push Floridians toward the Department of Financial Services’ “Treasure Hunt” website, which houses a database with nearly $3 billion in unclaimed property.
For the unaware, unclaimed property is CFO jargon for cash and its accouterments. A non-exhaustive list of the state’s unclaimed property account: dormant bank accounts, insurance proceeds, stocks, dividends, uncashed checks, deposits, credit balances and refunds, or even inheritances.
Playing into St. Patrick’s Day, Patronis offered stats for names that align with the holiday’s theme — the name Green, for instance, turns up more than 100,000 listings worth a combined $12.9 million; Gold has 61,571 accounts worth a combined $9.3 million.
“If any of these words are in your name or business name, I encourage you to start your search today for unclaimed property at FLTreasureHunt.gov. Treat yourself this St. Patrick’s Day to some extra cash and search now,” Patronis said in a news release.
Anyone who thinks they may have some cash waiting for them — and even those who don’t — can run a quick search on the state’s unclaimed property database. If there’s a hit, claimants need only fill out a few forms and provide some proof they’re the rightful owners of a given pecuniary holding. If everything checks out, Patronis’ office will drop a check in the mail.
Since Patronis took office in 2017, more than $2.2 billion in unclaimed property has been returned to Florida citizens.
Evening Reads
—“Judge says tossing out Espionage Act in Donald Trump case would be ‘extraordinary step’” via Perry Stein and Devlin Barrett of The Washington Post
—”These lawmakers aren’t buying Joe Biden’s argument for going after TikTok” via Andrew Perez, Adam Rawnsley and Asawin Suebsaeng of Rolling Stone
—“It’s not just Gen Z. Here’s what TikTok’s user base tells us about a potential ban’s impact.” via Christian Paz of Vox
—“A new surge in power use is threatening U.S. climate goals” via Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich of The New York Times
—”Florida set to spend $1.5 billion in variety of health care programs; here’s where the funds would go” via Jackie Llanos of the Florida Phoenix
—“Securing public records in Florida can take cash, patience and lawyers” via Skyler Swisher of the Orlando Sentinel
—”Florida lacks affordable housing despite building boom, UF report shows” via Rebecca Liebson of the Tampa Bay Times
—”Florida free speech advocates say they killed several censorship bills this year” via Jeffrey Schweers of the Orlando Sentinel
—“Of course America fell for Liquid Death” via Jacob Stern of The Atlantic
Quote of the Day
“Securing our borders in a legal and humane way requires real governance, not political posturing.”
— Rep. Dotie Joseph, on DeSantis’ response to a potential influx of Haitian refugees.
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.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott thinks U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer was out of pocket for calling for a regime change in Israel. If the pair were sharing some bar space, Florida’s junior Senator would likely order the Majority Leader a No Way Rosé.
If you know a Realtor in Polk County, you probably know someone who had an amazing year. Help them celebrate the mass migration to the nation’s citrus capital with a refreshing Grapefruit Paloma.
Rep. Dotie Joseph is slamming the Governor for mobilizing the State Guard to turn away refugees rather than addressing the issues fueling violence in Haiti. For that, she gets a Haitian Punch.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
The Players culminates this weekend
The biggest tournament on the PGA Tour runs through this weekend as the world’s best golfers compete at The Players Championship (final round Sunday 1-6 p.m. EDT, NBC).
Scottie Scheffler, the world’s number-one ranked player, is the defending champion. He also won last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. No player has defended his championship at The Players.
“I just think it’s a golf course where you don’t see a lot of repeat winners in general. There’s not a guy that you have seen win on this golf course a bunch,” Sheffler said. “I think it’s just the nature of the course, it doesn’t really suit one type of player. It really is a Pete Dye, just kind of genius design, where you have to hit all different kinds of shots, and it tests you in a lot of different ways. That’s why I think it’s one of the best places we play on TOUR, just because it really doesn’t suit one type of player.”
This is the 50th anniversary of the tournament, which began at Atlanta Country Club in 1974 and moved to TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, in 1982.
If it’s not Scheffler, the next best bets are Rory McIlroy, the 2021 winner of the event and Xander Schaufele, who both started hot on Thursday. 2023 winner Justin Thomas is also a top pick. Don’t count out Viktor Hovland or Will Zalatoris, who have games well suited to The Players Stadium Course.
The cut comes after tomorrow’s second round concludes. The top 65 and ties will advance to the weekend to play for the largest purse on the PGA Tour and the $4.5 million first-place prize.
Also tonight:
7 p.m. — New York Rangers @ Tampa Bay Lightning
7 p.m. — Florida Panthers @ Carolina Hurricanes
9:30 p.m. — NCAAM: Georgia Bulldogs @ Florida Gators
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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.
