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

First Shot

A bill making it easier for public schools to be converted into charter schools is one vote from passing in the House after clearing its final Committee hurdle.

Members of the House Education and Employment Committee voted 11-4 for an amended version of HB 123, which would change the standard for municipalities to turn over public school property to private education companies.

The bill, sponsored by Pensacola Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, would exclude School Boards, teachers, and administrators from voting on the matter. Instead, the decision would fall solely to the parents of a given school, provided their children have been enrolled there for at least two years. Approval would require 50% support.

The charter school would have to be a “job engine,” meaning it would train students to fill local workforce needs and attract related businesses to the area. Municipalities could also apply to convert a public school within their jurisdiction into a job engine charter if it earned a grade below an “A” from the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) for five consecutive years.

The Florida Citizens Alliance, Foundation for Florida’s Future and Americans for Prosperity signaled support for HB 123, which Andrade amended to remove proposed limitations on land banking by school districts.

Andrade said in the bill’s prior Committee stop that his proposal shifts decisions about a school’s future from its employees and administrators to those he considered its most important stakeholders. “Who cares more about that child than that child’s parents?” he said.

Over 40 people, including representatives of the Florida AFL-CIO and State Innovation Exchange, attended Tuesday’s Committee meeting to oppose the measure.

Read more on Florida Politics.

Evening Reads

—”Donald Trump and DOGE are ‘trying to get around’ privacy laws to gather your personal info” via Justin Glawe of Rolling Stone

—”Wall Street bursts with anger over tariff ‘stupidity’” via Rob Copeland, Maureen Farrell and Lauren Hirsch of The New York Times

—”What happened the last time the U.S. went all-in on tariffs?” via Nicole Narea of Vox

—”The Democrats won’t acknowledge the scale of Trump’s tariff mess” via Jonathan Chait of The Atlantic 

—“Marco Rubio said he’d protect lifesaving aid overseas. DOGE disagreed.” via Annie Gowen of The Washington Post

—”‘Total uncertainty’: Cuban migrants left in legal limbo under Trump’s new policies” via Maykel Gonzalez of the Miami Herald

—”Americans have $35 trillion in housing wealth — and it’s costing them” via Veronica Dagher and Anne Tergesen of The Wall Street Journal

—”Ron DeSantis officials assigned $10 million to his wife’s charity. Was it legal?” via Lawrence Mower and Alexandra Glorioso of the Tampa Bay Times

—”UF student arrested, sent to immigration detention facility” via Bea Lunardini of Fresh Take Florida

—”Gators are National Chompions once again and Gator Nation is back” via Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel

Quote of the Day

“In a time when public pressure often seeks to silence rather than engage, New College of Florida is reaffirming its role in creating space for open inquiry — not eliminating it.”

— New College Public Policy Events Director Alexandra Nicole Islas, on platforming accused rapist Russell Brand.

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.

Order a Speed Rail to celebrate the last committee stop for a transportation bill that could boost Florida’s speed limits.

Enjoy a Power Drill while you can, because legislation to ban drilling in environmentally sensitive areas has cleared its second and final House committee. 

Get a round of Keep It Locals now that the Senate Rules Committee approved a measure building on the 2023 Live Local Act.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Magic host Hawks with postseason looming

With four games remaining in the regular season, the Orlando Magic host the Atlanta Hawks with postseason implications (7 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Network-Florida). 

Orlando (38-40) has clinched a spot in the play-in tournament but could finish anywhere between seventh, their current position, and 10th in the Eastern Conference standings. Orlando is a game ahead of Atlanta entering tonight’s contest. If the regular season ended today, the Magic would face the Hawks in the first round of the play-in tournament, with the winner advancing to the main playoff draw. 

With so few games remaining, the Eastern Conference seeding is extremely fluid. The margin between Orlando, the seventh-place team, and Miami, the 10th-place team, is just 2.5 games. The Magic will face the Hawks again in the regular season finale.

Orlando has played good basketball over the past few weeks, winning six of their last eight games. Paolo Banchero has been the offensive force, scoring 30 points or more in five of the last eight games while recording three double-doubles. 

The team split two games in February, with both teams winning on the road. The Hawks beat the Magic 112-106 on Feb. 10, and the Magic won in Atlanta 10 days later, 114-108.

___

Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.

Post Views: 0