Last Call for 2.16.26 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida

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

First Shot

A proposal to license and regulate naturopathic doctors in Florida cleared Committee despite pointed warnings about “scope creep” and parallel medical regulation.

HB 223 would establish a regulatory framework within the Department of Health, define the scope of naturopathic medicine, set licensure requirements tied to accredited naturopathic medical colleges and the National Board of Osteopathic Medicine (NBOME) exams, and create a Naturopathic Board of Medicine with two medical doctors serving on it.

Supporters argued that the measure would provide oversight of an estimated 2,500 practitioners currently operating in Florida without licensure standards. They emphasized that naturopaths do not perform surgery, prescribe narcotics or deliver babies. They also pointed to 26 states that already license and regulate naturopathic doctors.

But opposition centered less on the current bill and more on the future implications.

Rep. Karen Gonzalez Pittman, Vice Chair of the Health Care Budget Subcommittee, argued the measure is a “structural foothold” that would allow a new Board to define its own standards and eventually seek expanded authority.

It puts the camel’s nose under the tent, creating a separate Board of naturopathy, a Board that will, over time, regulate its own standards, define its own scope and return to this Legislature seeking broader authority when a profession regulates itself,” she said.

“Scope expansion is not hypothetical. It’s predictable. We have seen this pattern repeatedly. Establish a board, normalize the title, build institutional legitimacy, then come back for injections, prescribing authority and increasingly complex medical care.”

Despite her concerns, the bill moved forward on a 7-4 vote. It now heads to its final stop in the Health & Human Services Committee.

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A bill that would reshape how hospitals and other providers are reimbursed for inmate medical care sailed through the House Justice Budget Subcommittee on Monday despite pushback from hospitals.

HB 913, sponsored by Rep. Chad Johnson, would cap compensation for inmate medical services and emergency medical transportation at 110% of the Medicaid allowable rate for providers without a contract with the Department of Corrections.

However, certain hospitals that reported a negative operating margin may receive up to 125% of the Medicare allowable rate. Providers may also negotiate rates above the cap if they enter into agreements to treat inmates in secure units, within correctional facilities, or via telehealth.

The measure further directs that funds in the Contractor-Operated Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust Fund be used exclusively for inmate reintegration programs and environmental health upgrades and repairs at contractor-operated facilities, subject to legislative appropriation. It also requires Medicaid community providers to provide inmate patients reasonable access to emergency and specialty care.

Hospital groups opposed the bill, warning it could worsen financial strain on facilities already facing rising costs and negative margins. Johnson argued the proposal aims to reduce Department of Corrections medical expenditures and redirect savings toward staffing and operational improvements. While imperfect, he said the solution was a step in the right direction.

“For the crowd in my house, the term fair was only a noun, and that that’s where we went to ride rides and show livestock, that there was nothing about fair as an adjective,” he said.

The bill cleared the Committee 13-0 and now moves to the Health & Human Services Committee, which is its final stop before a potential floor vote.

Evening Reads

—“Aliens are ‘real,’ Barack Obama says, as Washington shrugs” via Dan Diamond of The Washington Post

—”The disappointment of young Donald Trump voters” via Sarah Longwell of The Atlantic

—”Anti-system voters are turning on Trump over Epstein” via Christian Paz of Vox

—”How much will Trump’s approval rating matter in the Midterms?” via Nate Cohn of The New York Times

—”The Jeffrey Epstein question no one will answer” via Tara Palmeri of The Red Letter

—“Will AI terminate democracy? And why did Gallup terminate its approval ratings?” via Nate Silver of the Silver Bulletin

—”The best presidential biographies for all 45 presidents” via Chris Cillizza of So What

—“Jimmy Patronis warns of unintended consequences from property tax cuts” via Matt Sczesny of WPTV

—”USF Sarasota-Manatee campus transfer to New College could collapse over House’s $22.5M funding proposal” via Jesse Mendoza of Florida Politics

—”Alex Andrade’s public records bill advances with unusual coalition of allies” via Gabrielle Russon of Florida Politics

Quote of the Day

“In plain English, we are considering putting a massive and impossible weight on an institution that doesn’t generate recurring revenue to carry it, then calling it reform.”

— Rep. Daryl Campbell, on the proposed USF-New College transfer.

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.

Send Rep. Tyler Sirois a Blue Bottle Rocket for piloting his bill supporting the space industry through its second Committee.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is boosting Monroe sales in Florida’s southernmost county with the debut of a new statue.

An order of Odd Bedfellows for the bipartisan cohort of lawmakers who greenlit Alex Andrade’s public records bill in the Justice Budget Subcommittee.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Floridian tries for Olympic bobsled medal

It has already happened this morning, but we will remain spoiler-free in advance of prime-time coverage of the Winter Games (8 p.m. ET, NBC).

Lake Mary native Josh Williamson competes in the two-man bobsled heats, the first step toward an Olympic medal. Williamson, a Seminole High School and Florida State graduate, is competing in his second Olympics as a push athlete. Today, he and his pilot, Frankie del Duca, the American flag bearer at the opening ceremonies, will try to advance to the second day of the competition. 

Four heats are run, two today and two tomorrow. Based on the combined times of the first two heats, the third run starts fastest to slowest. Only the top 20 sleds qualify for the final run, which runs from slowest to fastest.

Williamson was a lacrosse player before focusing on bobsled in 2017. He has competed in three World Championships. In 2025, he placed fourth in the four-man bobsled and ninth in the two-man bobsled at the World Championships.

The top teams in the two-man bobsled at the Olympics figure to be the Germans, including the top-ranked World Cup pilot Johannes Lochner and brakeman Georg Fleischhaur. Lochner won the silver medal in 2022 in both the two-man and four-man bobsled competitions. 

Another German team to watch includes the defending Olympic gold medalists, Francesco Friedrich. 

The final two runs are scheduled to begin on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on Peacock.

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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.