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Last Call for 3.17.25 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida

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

First Shot

Two proposals from Sen. Blaise Ingoglia that could cap the tenures of long-standing legislators in Tallahassee and throughout the state have cleared the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee.

First, the committee approved SJR 536, which proposes a constitutional amendment on the 2026 General Election ballot asking voters to block legislators who served two full terms in the Senate and four years in the House (16 years total) from returning for more time in the legislative branch.

An amendment from the temporarily absent Sen. Erin Grall, presented by Jenn Bradley, would have relaxed the cap to 24 years. However, the sponsor deemed it unfriendly, and it failed by a 3-3 vote.

Bradley is concerned by the “lifetime ban” that could result from Ingoglia’s measure, though she acknowledged the “ping pong” of legislators between one office and the other.

“If you serve and years later you want to come back and serve your community, I think that’s the most American thing you can do,” the Clay County Republican said.

Ingoglia is open to adding a “time certain” element to the language that could potentially yield returns for legislators after a certain point. This could theoretically be seen at a future Committee stop.

Monday’s committee also approved SJR 802, a separate amendment seeking to set eight-year term limits for County Commissions and School Boards. Under this proposal, terms of office that started before the 2022 General Election would be off the clock.

Read more on Florida Politics.

Evening Reads

—“The call that made U.S. automakers realize Donald Trump was serious about tariffs” via Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and Ana Swanson of The New York Times

—“Trump has a plan to remake the economy. But he’s not explaining it very well.” via David J. Lynch of The Washington Post

—“Trump wants to build homes on federal land. Here’s what that would look like.” via Rebecca Picciotto and Drew An-Pham of The Wall Street Journal

—“The ultimate Trump story” via Quinta Jurecic of The Atlantic

—“The collateral damage of Trump’s firing spree” via Lindsay Ellis of The Wall Street Journal

—“What can be done if Trump is openly defying the courts?” via Ian Millhiser of Vox

—“‘Righteous revolt’: Are Democrats finally tired of surrendering?” via Andrew Perez and Asawin Suebsaeng of Rolling Stone

—“Squeezed from left and right, Pam Bondi is Trump’s most besieged Cabinet member” via David Catanese of McClatchy

—“James Uthmeier says Andrew and Tristan Tate keep digging themselves ‘deeper into a hole’” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics

—”How Florida avoided California’s insurance crisis — and why it must stay the course” via Jeff Brandes for Florida Politics

—“Lawmakers: Drop rule that high schoolers pass algebra, English exams to get diplomas” via Steven Walker of the Orlando Sentinel

Quote of the Day

“Every time these guys open their mouths, it gets them deeper in a hole.”

— Attorney General James Uthmeier, on Andrew and Tristan Tate.

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.

First Lady Casey DeSantis probably wouldn’t mind sending U.S. Sen. Rick Scott an Et Tu? now that he’s thrown his support behind Byron Donalds for Governor.

Perhaps the Tates would enjoy a Grave Digger or a Dirt Cup since they seem to love digging holes.

Unfortunately, there are more Floridians sipping on Pink Slips this week than there have been in months. On the bright side, the state’s labor force is at a record high.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Heat looks to snap losing skid

The Miami Heat will visit Madison Square Garden tonight to face the New York Knicks (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) and look to improve their playoff chances.

Miami (29-38) is ninth in the Eastern Conference standings. If the season ended today, Miami would have to play their way into the postseason. The Heat have lost seven straight games, including Saturday’s 125-91 loss in Memphis against the Grizzlies. Kel’el Ware scored 19 points in the game, while Bam Adebayo added 18.

Since Feb. 7, when the Heat traded Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors, Miami has won four of 18 games. The Heat was a game over .500 when the trade was made, bringing Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, and Davion Mitchell to South Florida.

Since joining Miami, Wiggins, who is questionable for tonight’s game with a lower leg injury, has scored in double figures in all but one game in a Miami uniform and averages 18.2 points per game with the Heat. Anderson averages 5.2 points in 12 games and Mitchell averages 8.7 points in 16 games since the trade.

New York (42-24) has already clinched a postseason spot. With 16 games remaining in the regular season, the Knicks trail only the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference standings. New York has won more overtime games than any team in the NBA (6-1).

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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.


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Gov. DeSantis urges local governments to play ball with Florida DOGE audits

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Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging counties in Florida to follow Bay County’s lead and “step up and ask” for audits from the state-level DOGE his administration established.

Noting that his administration is “working with the Florida Legislature to get more prescriptive authority to be able to go in and conduct audits of these local governments so that taxpayers get the full picture of what’s going on,” he credits “counties that are willing to step up and ask for these audits” with “really leading by example.”

DeSantis has often said Florida “was DOGE before DOGE was cool.” Yet in the wake of the Elon Musk led Department of Governmental Efficiency taking root, the Governor rolled out a state-level task force via Executive Order 25-44 to “DOGE at the local level,” taking a look at “publicly available” budget records and auditing.

As he has previously, DeSantis painted a picture of local budgets larded by hikes in property taxes.

“We’ve seen property tax assessments go up across Florida at the local level,” he said. “Taxpayers are pinched, they’re paying more than they ever have. Even though we have homestead exemption, it hasn’t been enough to fully protect taxpayers. Shouldn’t you know how this money is being spent, especially in those counties that have seen dramatic increases in their state budgets?”

Higher taxes have “pinched” senior citizens whose home value may have appreciated over the years, he said.

“Now they’re being told it’s worth so much more and they have to pony up more and more money. It’s almost like they have to pay rent to the government just to be able to enjoy their property. and that’s wrong. and we need to do something about it.”

For now, the Governor wants cities and counties to work with his group on a “voluntary” basis.

“We really hope to be able to deliver some serious, serious audits working with the Florida legislature of what’s going on in these local governments. I thank Bay County for what they did and I know there’s going to be other counties that are going to step up to the plate,” DeSantis said.


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Obscene heckler doesn’t stop bill targeting ‘academic boycott’ of Israel from advancing in Senate

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The Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee was the first Senate panel to approve Sen. Tom Leek’s measure (SB 1678) which would defend Israel against its opponents in schools and non-governmental agencies.

That bill suggests anti-Israeli actions undertaken by “an educational institution, a nonprofit organization, an agency, a local governmental entity or unit thereof, or a foreign government” amount to an “academic boycott.”

It urges cessation of state contracts and grants with those entities on the wrong side of the ideological conflict if they don’t change their ways.

These entities would have 90 days to correct their noncompliance and be removed from what would be called the Scrutinized Companies or Other Entities that Boycott Israel List under this proposal. Otherwise, the state would divest itself of contracts with them.

Even before Leek could speak, a member of the crowd called the bill “f****** b*******.” She was immediately excused from the room.

A delete all amendment clarified that public funds, such as the State Board of Administration or State University System, cannot invest in these companies. Additionally, it requires that Arts and Culture grants not go to support antisemitic work.

The bill would also target agreements, like foreign exchange programs, with foreign universities deemed to be supporting antisemitism.

Members of the public complained about the legislation, saying it restricted “academic freedom” and offered support to an Israeli regime they find objectionable.

However, others said the bill was necessary.

Miami Beach City Commissioner David Suarez noted the Boycott Divestment and Sanction movement was targeting cities like his, and the legislation was a way to counter “hateful campaigns from a noisy minority.”

Chair Randy Fine hailed Leek for carrying the bill, saying he’d worried about leaving Tallahassee and having no one carry this kind of legislation,

Leek’s bill has two more committee references.

Rep. Hillary Cassel’s bill (HB 1519) the companion legislation, also has two stops in the House. But it has yet to have a committee hearing.


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Senate bill that could lead to execution of would-be political assassins begins to move

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The bill was inspired by the violence at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

Those looking to harm Presidents, Governors and other heads of state may pay the ultimate price in Florida — even if they don’t succeed in killing their target.

Sen. Blaise Ingoglia’s measure (SB 776) which cleared the Criminal Justice Committee, contemplates adding to Florida law that the death sentence can be issued when a “capital felony was committed against the head of a state, including, but not limited to, the President or the Vice President of the United States or the Governor of this or another state, or in an attempt to commit such crime a capital felony was committed against another individual.”

Ingoglia noted that “the death penalty is reserved for those convicted of heinous crimes” and that his helps to facilitate that by adding aggravating factors of an assassination of a head of state or the killing of another person in attempting to do so. He described the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and the concomitant killing of Corey Comperatore as heinous and worthy of extraordinary sanction in law.

One citizen opposed the bill.

Grace Hannah of Floridians Opposed to the Death Penalty said the bill would fall under federal jurisdiction and that an incident like that contemplated by the bill is “extremely rare.”

The bill is also moving in the House.

Jeff Holcomb’s legislation (HB 653) has one stop to go before the floor.


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