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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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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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Linda McMahon says school choice expansion is ‘a continuing process,’ but will be up to states

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Education Secretary Linda McMahon says she and her boss in the White House are both “strong proponents” of school choice, but the federal government’s role in expanding it will be limited under President Donald Trump.

“It’s a continuing process” that must be pursued at the state level, not mandated by Washington, she said.

“The rub is that teacher unions say it’s going to bankrupt the public schools (and serve only students with no other options). I think we’re clearly proving that is not the case.”

McMahon’s comments came Tuesday afternoon during a roundtable discussion on education at the Kendall campus of True North Classical Academy, a charter network operating in Miami-Dade’s unincorporated Kendall neighborhood. It was one of multiple school visits she had planned in the county that day.

Other roundtable participants included, among others, Interim Florida International University President and immediate past Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, Miami Dade College President Madeline Pumariega, Miami-Dade School Board member Monical Colucci, former state Rep. Michael Bileca, charter school magnate Fernando Zuleta, and former Collier County School Board member Erika Donalds, a pro-charter education activist whose husband, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, is the presumptive GOP front-runner in the 2026 Governor’s race.

Zuleta, the founder and President of for-profit charter school management company Academica, said that while Florida has been a leader on school choice, many places in the U.S. remain “choice deserts.”

He urged McMahon to look into the matter. McMahon nodded while he spoke, but made no commitment to do so.

While the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDOE) role in implementing school choice policies will be limited, Donalds hinted that the agency isn’t taking a passive stance on the matter. She said people should “be on the lookout” in the coming days for federal guidance on further empowering parents.

McMahon, a 76-year-old former professional wrestling promoter, past Administrator of the Small Business Administration and ex-member of the Connecticut State Board of Education, reiterated that she has a “mandate” from Trump to abolish the USDOE. Last week, the Department announced it was cutting its staff from some 4,100 employees to 2,200.

That was a “first step” toward fulfilling the President’s wishes of shutting down the agency, she said. She referred to the layoffs as “trimming.”

McMahon said she’s tasking the remaining staff at USDOE staff with assembling a set of guiding principles from which state and local governments can take cues.

“We really want to leave best practice in place to provide states with the right tools,” she said, adding that if she is indeed America’s last Education Secretary, “I will have been successful at my job.”


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Derelict vessel bill requiring increased registration sails through second committee

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The proposals would stipulate long-term anchoring permits issued by FWC.

Owners of boats adrift in Florida waters will have to be more careful about keeping their vessels moored if a bill moving through the Senate floor gets approved.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government gave preliminary approval to legislation (SB 164) that calls for increasing regulations on vessels. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Anna Maria Rodriguez, a Doral Republican, would require new registrations for long-term anchoring of vessels through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The bill proposes “requiring the commission to issue, at no cost, a permit for the long-term anchoring of a vessel which includes specified information; requiring the commission to use an electronic application and permitting system; requiring that a vessel subject to a specified number of violations within a 24-month period which result in certain dispositions be declared a public nuisance, etc.”

The bill has one more stop before the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee. There is also a companion bill (HB 1149) moving through the House. Rep. Fabian Basabe, a Miami Beach Republican, is sponsoring that measure, which still needs to navigate its first stop, the House Natural Resources and Disasters Subcommittee.

Derelict vessels have long been the bane of many local waterways. Along the Intracoastal Waterway or any one of hundreds of tributaries that run through the state, errant boats can go adrift and be found aground.

Some municipalities have already taken matters into their own hands. Indian River County, for instance, has a derelict vessel removal program that partners with the FWC to get those boats out of the way and allows residents to report such disabled watercraft.

And municipalities within that county have gotten increasingly aggressive about removing derelict boats, in cities such as Vero Beach and Indian River Shores.

The Senate measure also intends that those boat owners whose vessels go adrift during storms or natural disasters round up those vessels afterward. The FWC issued multiple advisories about derelict vessels in the Fall of 2024 due to hurricanes.


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