Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
The Senate PreK-12 Education Appropriations Committee unanimously advanced an education bill that would make several edits to improve school safety.
Sponsored by Zephyrhills Republican Sen. Danny Burgess, SB 1470 would, in part, ensure school security personnel receive consistent training. The bill was amended during the committee stop to cap training fees to the actual costs incurred by Sheriff’s offices and set up a Florida Institute of School Safety.”
“This strengthens Florida’s school safety efforts by improving training standards and ensuring campus security measures are realistic and effective,” Burgess said, adding the legislation ensures “all personnel responsible for school safety receive consistent, high-quality preparation in firearms efficiency threat response and de-escalation techniques.”
Burgess said many school districts already have similar standards in place but that “there are some outliers,” necessitating a statewide approach.
A $450,000 recurring appropriation to create and maintain a centralized system for panic alerts and digital maps was also added to the bill via amendment.
“There are certain things worth funding and making sure that we’re doing to keep everybody safe and to achieve that goal in the best way possible, and that’s we’re affording the recurring funding into this,” Burgess said.
Read more on Florida Politics.
Evening Reads
—“‘He’s very polite’: The rise and future of Donald Trump’s least Trumpish Cabinet member” via Claire Heddles of NOTUS
—”The Trump administration accidentally texted me its war plans” via Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic
—”There’s a pattern in Trump’s power grabs” via Zack Beauchamp of Vox
—“Why DOGE is struggling to find fraud in Social Security” via Todd C. Frankel and Hannah Natanson of The Washington Post
—”Potatoes, shrimp and Teslas: Exporters vie to shape Trump’s tariffs” via Ana Swanson of The New York Times
—”‘He understands he made a mistake’: Andrew Tate tries to bury hatchet with Ron DeSantis” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—”Inside a Ron DeSantis appointee’s taxpayer-funded spending spree” via Jason Garcia of Seeking Rents
—”Next year’s Orange County Mayor contest could draw big names” via Ryan Gillespie and Stephen Hudak of the Orlando Sentinel
—“A tale of two Leon growth stats: Population up just 4.4% Local government up 42 percent” via Red Tape Florida
—”Lawsuit outlines salacious sexual harassment allegations at Holly Hill Police Department” via Gabrielle Russon of Florida Politics
Quote of the Day
“I have to balance a budget in Florida. Idaho has to balance a budget. Don’t tell me it can’t be done.”
— Gov. Ron DeSantis, during a tour stop pushing for a federal balanced budget amendment.
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.
It’s unclear whether their beef is really over, but if Andrew Tate’s assertion is true, he and Gov. Ron DeSantis get a round of Bury The Hatchets.
It wasn’t a blowout, but the GOP RDBD team earned a round of Red Dog Smashes for bringing in a boatload of cash for a good cause.
Mix up a Full Sail for Sen. Joe Gruters, whose bill officially renaming the Gulf cruised through another committee without opposition.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Magic host Lakers tonight
The Orlando Magic host the Los Angeles Lakers tonight as the Magic try to claw their way up the NBA Eastern Conference standings (7 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Network-Florida).
Orlando (33-38) sits eighth in the conference standings. If the season ended today, the Magic would be placed into the play-in tournament to earn a spot in the playoffs. With 11 games remaining in the regular season, Orlando must make up a six-and-a-half-game gap to reach the sixth place Detroit Pistons, who are in position for the final automatic spot in the conference standings.
The Magic beat the Washington Wizards 120-105 on Saturday, behind 30 points from Paolo Banchero. Orlando has not won consecutive games since Feb. 20 and has lost eight of the last 12 games.
The Lakers (43-27) are in fourth place in the Western Conference standings, two games out of second after losing home games to the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls. Against Chicago, the Lakers gave up a season-high 146 points as LeBron James returned from a groin injury. James is listed as a game-time decision against Orlando.
Since trading for Luka Doncic, the Lakers have won 15 of 23 games. When Doncic and James both play, Los Angeles won 10 of 14 games.
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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.
