Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said Florida continues to invest with Israel, buying $50 million more of the country’s bonds.
“Florida shares a unique bond with Israel, who serves as both our strongest ally and greatest advocate for peace in the Middle East,” Patronis said in a statement. “Florida and Israel already have deep economic and personal ties, but today we are increasing those ties again by purchasing an additional $50 million in Israel bonds by the State Treasury.”
The move brings Florida’s investment in Israel bonds to $250 million, with $170 million of them purchased since Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed 2,400 people and kidnapped about 200.
Patronis said the Israel bonds have generated $9.4 million in interest so far.
“Israel bonds have proven to be of great value to our state’s investment portfolio, offering consistent and positive returns for Floridians,” Patronis said.
“I am encouraging all state treasurers and CFOs across the country to do their part as well and invest in Israel bonds. Florida continues to stand with Israel, and as long as I’m in Tallahassee, I will continue to stand for Israel and fight against hate and intolerance when it rears its ugly head.”
Florida has long had business and cultural connections with Israel, and Gov. Ron DeSantis even held a Cabinet meeting in the country in 2019.
“Thank you to CFO Patronis and the State of Florida for your continued investment in Israel and the ongoing commitment to Jewish Floridians across the state,” said Israel Bonds Executive Director Mark Ruben.
“Investing in Israel is not only the right thing to do, but it has proven as an extremely sound investment throughout the years, and I have no doubt it will continue to do so. We’re grateful that Florida recognizes this, especially since it serves as a home to so many Jews and Israeli citizens around the world. In purchasing these bonds, Florida has taken a stand against hate, antisemitism and has demonstrated it is a true friend of the Jewish people.”
Evening Reads
—“The ego has crash-landed” via David Frum of The Atlantic
—”The Supreme Court’s dishonest new border decision, explained” via Ian Millhiser of Vox
—“Drone footage raises questions about Israeli justification for deadly strike on Gaza journalists” via Louisa Loveluck, Imogen Piper, Sarah Cahlan, Hajar HARB and Hazem Balousha of The Washington Post
—”Guess which Florida county has the most turnout so far in the GOP Presidential Primary election” via Diane Rado of the Florida Phoenix
—“Cord Byrd likens no-stakes Florida Primary to ‘preseason game,’ urges people to vote anyway” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—“Donald Trump voters show up for today’s Florida Presidential Primary” via Steven Lemongello and Skyler Swisher of the Orlando Sentinel
—“USF will remain diverse despite new Florida laws, university leaders say” via Divya Kumar of the Tampa Bay Times
—”Jail cells? Morgues? Your cruise ship has some surprises for you.” via Ceylan Yeğinsu of The New York Times
Quote of the Day
“Haitians who land in the Florida Keys, their next stop very well may be Martha’s Vineyard.”
— Gov. Ron DeSantis, floating sending more immigrants to Massachusetts.
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.
There are a lot of drinks you could order the Governor, but given his latest statements a Cape Codder is the call for this evening.
Someone order Ashley Moody a Chill Pill and tell her that Spring Break is supposed to be fun, not scary.
It’s the perfect day for some Election Day Shooters, assuming you’re either a Republican primary voter or live in one of the localities with contests on the ballot today.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Lightning look for momentum in Vegas
With a month to go in the regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning will play the Vegas Golden Knights in the desert to make up ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Tampa Bay (36-25-6, 78 points) sits in fourth place in the Atlantic Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs were to start today, the Lightning would not have home-ice advantage in the first round. There is still time to improve their seeding, but it will be a long road. Tampa Bay sits 12 points behind fourth-place Carolina.
In Tampa Bay’s favor is the sudden resurgence of the offense. In the last three games, all wins, the Lightning have outscored their opponents 18-6 and it has been coming from different players. Victor Hedman scored two goals and assisted on another in a 7-0 win over Philadelphia on March 9. In Tampa’s 6-3 win over the New York Rangers last Thursday, Brayden Point scored three goals and assisted on the other three. And in the 5-3 win over Florida on Saturday, Steven Stamkos scored two goals and assisted on two more. Not to mention, Nikita Kucherov is second in the league in points. It’s been a total team effort.
Vegas (36-24-7, 79 points) sits in a more precarious situation. The Golden Knights are currently the eighth seed in the Western Conference with a four-point cushion over ninth-place St. Louis.
The two teams met earlier this season with Tampa Bay taking a 5-4 win on Dec. 21.
Also tonight:
7 p.m. — Charlotte Hornets @ Orlando Magic
7 p.m. — Miami Heat @ Cleveland Cavaliers
9 p.m. — NCAAM: South Florida Bulls @ UCF Knights
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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.
