Last Call for 4.10.25 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida

Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

No more property taxes in Florida? It could happen, Ben Albritton says.

The Senate President just detailed a plan to study and establish a framework to reduce or eliminate property taxes for Floridians’ primary homes.

At the end of the study, based on its findings, lawmakers would then craft a constitutional amendment for voter consideration during the 2026 General Election.

The plan is part of a tax relief package (SPB 7034) Albritton unveiled this week. It also includes a permanent end to sales taxes on clothing and shoes and a renewal of several annual sales tax holidays, freezes, and credits.

Those two provisions won’t require voter approval. But Albritton said the massive impact of nixing property taxes calls for a broad consensus, and a vote by the people is a must.

Albritton said he agrees with Floridians frustrated with rising property taxes and those who argue that property taxes unjustly charge homeowners perpetually for a home they “bought and paid for long ago.”

“The whole concept doesn’t sit right with me either,” he said. “However, I believe we need to accept the fact that unwinding the State’s largest source of revenue that funds local emergency response, public safety services, and education should not be taken lightly.”

SPB 7034, among other things, would direct the Office of Economic and Demographic Research to study and establish a plan to reduce or eliminate property taxes on homestead property.

The study would have to include analyses of the potential impact of eliminating property taxes on public services — including education, infrastructure, public safety and emergency services — and how the change would affect the housing market, including homeownership and property value fluctuations.

Read more on Florida Politics.

Evening Reads

—”What Donald Trump’s tariff pause can’t solve” via Nicole Narea of Vox

—”Why Trump blinked on tariffs just hours after they went into effect” via Annie Linskey, Josh Dawsey and Meridith McGraw of The Wall Street Journal

—”Wall Street execs privately credit Jamie Dimon and Bill Ackman for swaying Trump on tariffs” via Hannah Levitt, Todd Gillespie, Sridhar Natarajan and Max Abelson of Bloomberg

—“Inside Elon Musk’s gleeful destruction of the government” via Miles Klee, Andrew Perez, Asawin Suebsaeng and Meagan Jordan of Rolling Stone

—”With many career lawyers gone, Justice Dept. hires Trump loyalists for court” via Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck of The Washington Post

—”At the Supreme Court, the Trump agenda is always an ‘emergency’” via Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times

—”What RFK Jr. told grieving Texas families about the measles vaccine” via Tom Bartlett of The Atlantic

—”Ron DeSantis defends $10 million donation to charity as part of a ‘good deal’” via Lawrence Mower of the Tampa Bay Times

—”Senate ‘closely watching’ UWF board of trustees; Scott Yenor resigns” via Jay Waagmeester of the Florida Phoenix

—”A fiscally responsible approach to K-12 funding and flexibility in Florida” via Danny Burgess for Florida Politics

Quote of the Day

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, if you don’t stand for something, then you’ll fall for anything.”

— Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, on UWF appointees’ denying knowledge of Scott Yenor’s past statements.

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.

If they follow the Senate Prez’s roadmap, Florida homeowners will enjoy a Payoff in a couple of years.

Send an Ignorance is Bliss to the UWF trustee nominees who were somehow unaware of Scott Yenor’s misogynist and bigoted comments.

Lawmakers may pitch it as a funding boost, but after looking at the proposed K-12 budget, the Florida Education Association is ordering a Death By A Thousand Cuts.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Masters culminates this weekend

The final round of The Masters is scheduled to tee off on Sunday with the hunt for the Green Jacket and the season’s first major (2 p.m. ET, CBS).

Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion. Sheffler won the tournament for the second time last season, winning comfortably by four strokes. Sheffler has played well this year but has not won a tournament. He finished tied for second in his previous tournament, the Houston Open. He has two other top-10 finishes this season. Sheffler tied for ninth at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and tied for third at Torrey Pines. In all six tournaments in which he has played in 2025, Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked player, has finished in the top 25.

The #2 ranked player in the world, Rory McIlroy, is also in the spotlight this week at Augusta National. McIlroy can complete a career grand slam if he wins the Masters. McIlroy has won the PGA Championship twice, and the US Open and British Open once each. Only five players have won all four major tournaments, and the list is a who’s who of golf history: Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Gene Sarazen. In 1930, Bobby Jones won the world’s four biggest tournaments, the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, British Open, and British Amateur.

McIlroy has finished in the top 10 at the Masters seven times, including a second-place finish in 2022. He has not won a Major championship since 2014, when he won both the British Open and the PGA Championship. However, he won The Players Championship twice in that span, including this year’s tournament. 

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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.