Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Florida Politics’ 12th annual list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians continued Wednesday, and the Top 10 begins at 9 a.m. Check them out here and stay tuned this week as the countdown approaches the No. 1 reveal on Friday.
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The organization 1000 Friends of Florida issued a news release Wednesday, taking lawmakers to task for what the group says should have been more money set aside for Florida Forever.
Legislators set aside $268 million for land protection in the 2025-26 budget, but most of that, to the tune of $250 million, is earmarked for the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program (RFLPP), which 1000 Friends of Florida praised. However, only $18 million was allocated for the Florida Forever program.
“Two years ago, legislators pledged to spend at least $100 million a year on Florida Forever, an essential investment to maintain momentum in the program, keep up with the demand to protect high-priority natural land threatened by development, and honor the constitutional obligation to invest in land conservation utilizing Florida’s well-funded Land Acquisition Trust Fund,” the 1000 Friends statement said.
It has been noted that legislators have since slashed funding for Florida Forever, and this year’s $18 million allocation is far short of what is necessary. “Meanwhile, the cost of protecting valuable natural land will continue to increase.”
While 1000 Friends of Florida criticizes the funding as inadequate, another conservation organization, the Florida Conservation Group (FCG), praised the funding earlier this week.
Read more on Florida Politics.
Evening Reads
—”The MAGA coalition has turned on itself” via Jonathan Lemire and Isaac Stanley-Becker of The Atlantic
—“Supreme Court ruling on trans health care for kids may be a gamechanger in Florida” via Romy Ellenbogen of the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times
—”The Supreme Court’s incoherent new attack on trans rights, explained” via Ian Millhiser of Vox
—”The path to record deficits” via Richard Rubin, Anthony DeBarros and Rosie Ettenheim of The Wall Street Journal
—”Images of handcuffed Democrats start to pile up in Donald Trump’s crackdown” via Katie Glueck of The New York Times
—”How the electoral math flipped against Democrats” via Nate Silver of the Silver Bulletin
—”Federal employees celebrate their Oscar night under a shadow” via Meryl Kornfield of The Washington Post
—”ICE-targeted immigrants ‘disappear’ from Orange’s jail, advocates say” via Ryan Gillespie and Silas Morgan of the Orlando Sentinel
—“Board of Governors confirms Marva Johnson as FAMU’s new president, ignoring public outcry” via Tarah Jean of the Tallahassee Democrat
—”Rays in talks to sell to group led by Jacksonville developer” via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times
Quote of the Day
“I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
— President Donald Trump, on whether the U.S. is planning to assist with Israeli strikes on Iran.
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.
Sen. Nick DiCeglie’s district is getting The Rum and Coconut Resilient Life after the Indian Rocks Beach Republican scored millions to fund local resiliency projects in the state budget.
Democratic Rep. Lindsay Cross brought home the bacon for her district — and earned a Bacon Bourbon Maple Old Fashioned in the process.
Next time you’re in MCO, order a Florida 75 — a Sunshine State twist on a French classic — to celebrate the addition of Paris-Orlando direct flights.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Rays continue homestand
The Tampa Bay Rays continue a home series against the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Steinbrenner Field (7:35 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Network Sun).
The four-game series opened on Monday with a 7-1 Rays win. Tampa Bay’s Jake Mangum collected three hits and drove in three runs in the victory. Mangum is hitting .315 with 21 RBIs in his first season in the big leagues.
Baltimore bounced back on Tuesday night, taking the second game of the series 5-1.
Tampa Bay sits 2.5 games behind the American League East-leading New York Yankees, but holds the best record among wild card contenders. If the season ended today, two of the three American League wild-card teams would come from the A.L. East. The Rays and Toronto Blue Jays are the top teams in the wild card standings.
The Rays are scheduled to send Taj Bradley to the mound against Baltimore’s Trevor Rogers. Tampa Bay won Bradley’s last start, a 7-5 victory over the New York Mets, although Bradley completed only four innings for the second straight start. Bradley has not earned a victory since May 21.
With another week to go in the first phase of All-Star voting, Tampa Bay first baseman Jonathan Aranda is third in the voting behind the Yankees’ Paul Goldschmidt and the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Second baseman Brandon Lowe is fifth in the balloting. No other Rays were among the top five vote-getters at their positions as of the last update on Monday.
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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.
