Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
The House and Senate tightened some gaps between their spending plans Wednesday, but many issues were still lingering as of last call (for us, not them).
The day’s action included an agreement to boost funding for My Safe Florida Home, a grant program that assists Florida homeowners in paying for storm-hardening improvements.
Applications have outpaced funding for much of the program’s lifetime, and it’s already seen budget bumps since being enacted in 2023. The boost lawmakers agreed on for the 2025-26 fiscal year is $100 million.
Meanwhile, the major development from the AEG negotiations is a deal to direct $104.5 million toward citrus research, including $100 million in non-recurring general revenue.
The total reflects the Senate’s initial position in its proposed Agriculture budget. The House, meanwhile, opened budget conferences with a slim $8 million allocation for Florida’s signature crop, and one that has had a tough go of it in recent decades.
While nine-figure closeouts on the side-by-sides are welcome, there are scores of issues still up in the air through nearly two days of conferencing.
One not-so-small discrepancy: Food bank funding. The Senate wants to give Feeding Florida $38 million and Farm Share an $8 million apportionment in the 2025-26 budget. In its first cross-rotunda offer on the line items Wednesday, the lower chamber offered nothing in response to the Senate’s earmark proposal.
An even larger gap exists between the chambers on nursing home reimbursement rate adjustments, where the Senate is offering to set aside $62.75 million and the House is stuck at zero.
Read Florida Politics’ latest budget conference stories here.
Evening Reads
—”A federal court’s novel proposal to rein in Donald Trump’s power grab” via Ian Millhiser of Vox
—“Meet Elon Musk’s puppet master: Russell Vought” via Timothy Noah of The New Republic
—”How the FBI sought a warrant to search Instagram of Columbia student protesters” via Shawn Musgrave of The Intercept
—“What happened when the FBI asked for dirt on docs treating trans kids: ‘F-ck off Nazi dickheads’” via CT Jones and Asawin Suebsaeng of Rolling Stone
—“No one can offer any hope” via George Packer of The Atlantic
—”Hurricane season is no joke” via Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims of Popular Information
—“Ron DeSantis aide Anastasios Kamoutsas named next Florida Education Commissioner” via The Associated Press
—“House looks to cut Hope Florida staffing as lawmakers scramble to set budget” via Alexandra Glorioso and Lawrence Mower of the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times
—”Budget conference: Senate, House miles apart on food bank funding” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics
—“Budget conference: Senate, House divided on Sheriffs Youth Learning Center funding” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics
—“‘Karma’: Santa Ono’s rejection mocked by University of Michigan community” via Samuel Dodge of MLive
—”Aging CEOs, ambitious nepo babies and a tech revolution: Succession in the music biz” via Ethan Millman of The Hollywood Reporter
—”She reviewed a Tampa restaurant on Yelp. Then came a lawsuit.” via Helen Freund of the Tampa Bay Times
Quote of the Day
“Shevaun Harris didn’t realize she’d hired the Hope Florida Executive Director, and the Governor’s office can’t decide if the program is a ‘philosophy’ or a ‘movement.’”
— Rep. Alex Andrade, on potential cuts to Hope Florida.
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.
Raise a Teacher-tini to Anastasios Kamoutsas, who is stepping in as Florida’s next Education Commissioner.
Prep your applications and grab yourself a Welcome Home, because lawmakers have agreed to a $100 million boost for the My Safe Florida Home program.
There’s no better garnish for an Orange Crush than a whopping $104.5 million in citrus research funding.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Panthers open Stanley Cup Finals
The Florida Panthers open the Stanley Cup Finals with the first game of the best-of-seven series in Edmonton against the Oilers (8 p.m. ET, TNT).
The series is a rematch of last year’s finals, won by the Panthers in seven games.
Florida earned a third-straight visit to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Panthers lost the 2023 finals to the Vegas Golden Knights. Florida is one of only eight franchises to earn three consecutive NHL finals.
During the regular season, the Panthers won both meetings between the teams. On Dec. 16, Florida won a 6-5 shootout in Edmonton. On Feb. 27, Florida topped the Oilers 4-3 in Sunrise.
Interestingly, neither team dominated in the regular season. Edmonton finished third in the Pacific Division with 101 points, trailing both Vegas and the Los Angeles Kings. They had the sixth-best record in the Western Conference.
Florida also finished in third place in the division, trailing the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division. The Panthers were fifth in the Eastern Conference.
If Florida repeats as champions, it would be the ninth team in NHL history to do so. The Oilers seek the organization’s sixth Stanley Cup. They won five championships between 1984 and 1990, featuring stars such as Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.
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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.
