Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
Ed. Note — The clock is ticking … and the Florida Politics team is not waiting until the last minute to finish our Christmas card list.
That said, Sunburn will be taking tonight off. Never fear; the daily read of what’s hot in Florida politics will be back in your inboxes on Thursday morning.
Thanks for your support; stay safe, and have a Merry Christmas!
First Shot
House Speaker Daniel Perez on Tuesday announced the top brass for the chamber’s two dozen subcommittees alongside the full roster for the rank-and-file Committee seats.
Leading the Budget (née Appropriations) subs: Rep. Tiffany Esposito for Ag. & Natural Resources; Rep. Demi Busatta for Higher Education; Rep. John Snyder for IT Budget & Policy; Rep. Patt Maney for Justice; Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka for PreK-12; Rep. Vicki Lopez for State Administration; Rep. Jason Shoaf for TED; and Rep. Alex Andrade for Health Care.
“I know how important our health care system is to Speaker Perez and its impact on all Floridians. It’ll be an honor to learn and work through the challenges of our health care system alongside great leaders like Chair (Josie) Tomkow and Chair (Lawrence) McClure,” said Andrade, namechecking the lawmakers tapped to lead the Health & Human Services Committee and overall Budget Committee, respectively.
Perez announced his picks for the chamber’s nice principal Committees in November. In addition to McClure and Tomkow, the South Florida Republican tapped Wyman Duggan for Ways & Means, Sam Garrison for Rules & Ethics, Chuck Brannan for Judiciary, James Buchanan for Commerce, Jennifer Canady for Education & Employment, Will Robinson for State Affairs, Tyler Sirois for Security & Threat Assessment.
A noteworthy detail in the roster: Rep. Susan Valdés is listed as the Vice Chair of the Budget Committee.
Valdés landed the plum Committee post just days after announcing she had changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. It’s a safe bet that if Valdés had remained a Democrat, such an assignment wouldn’t have been in the cards.
The Tampa Democrat-turned-Republican was also named to the Education and Employment Committee and Subcommittees for Government Operations, Education Administration, Industries and Professional Activities, and Insurance and Banking.
Read more on Florida Politics.
Evening Reads
—”The 37 must-see lines from Donald Trump’s 1st news conference” via Chris Cillizza of So What
—”Trump’s for-profit presidency” via Nicole Narea of Vox
—”‘Your poll made Trump mad’ is not a valid basis for a lawsuit ” via Philip Bump of The Washington Post
—”After Trump’s victory, Republicans trust the election system again” via Charles Homans of The New York Times
—”The battle against Trump 2.0 begins in the states” via Tim Dickinson of Rolling Stone
—“The housing affordability crisis is going global” via Josh Mitchell of The Wall Street Journal
—”RIP, the Axis of Resistance” via Arash Azizi of The Atlantic
—”Giant companies took secret payments to allow free flow of opioids” via Chris Hamby of The New York Times
—”Save Daylight Saving Time” via Nate Silver of the Silver Bulletin
—“Sunrise set time in Miami” via David Catanese of Too Close To Call
Quote of the Day
“The fact that they’ve chosen to shut down instead of complying to ensure that children aren’t accessing their site tells us exactly who their real target audience is.”
— Rep. Chase Tramont, on Pornhub’s decision to shut out Floridians ahead of HB 3 going into effect.
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.
Drive to Total Wine and grab every bottle of Espadín you can get your hands on because the Governor’s and Cabinet’s latest conservation deal calls for 62,000 Acres.
This might not be the Doc’s style of rock reference, but we’re giving him a pour of Pogues Irish Whiskey for pledging to end the “ghost” candidate loophole.
Nature lovers are enjoying a twofer Tuesday with the North Florida Land Trust picking up a 400-acre donation for coastal conservation. Queue up an Amelia for their second round.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Rattlers tipoff first of two in Utah
Florida A&M travels across the country to face Utah in a men’s basketball game tonight (9 p.m. ET, ESPN+).
The Rattlers (3-5) have only faced Utah once in program history, exactly six years ago, on Dec. 17, 2018, when the Utes won 93-64 in Salt Lake City.
FAMU is coming off consecutive home wins over Presbyterian and Trinity College. In the win over Trinity College, the Rattlers scored 130 points, as three players scored 20 points or more. Sterling Young scored 25 points in 15 minutes of play, making six three-pointers. Kaleb Washington scored 22 points and Shaqir O’Neal added 20 points in 18 minutes of play.
All 13 of the Rattlers who played in the game scored. Combined, the team made 17 three-pointers and made 59 % of their field goal attempts.
Tonight’s matchup will be a much tougher test. Utah (7-2) leads the nation in assists per game (20.6) and rank sixth nationally in scoring margin, winning games by an average of 21.8 points. The Utes are led by fifth-year senior guard Gabe Madsen, who averages 21 points per game. He has made 37 three-pointers in nine games. His twin brother, Mason Madsen, has made 26 threes off the bench.
FAMU will remain in Utah to face Brigham Young on Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
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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.
