Politics
Last Call for 9.2.26 – 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 —
Florida TaxWatch has announced the winners of this year’s Government Productivity Awards, which highlight state employees and programs that improve public services while saving taxpayers money.
This year’s honorees range from a Florida Department of Corrections effort to reduce the cost of HIV treatment for incarcerated patients to a Florida Turnpike project that reduced manual license-plate image reviews by more than 76 million.
“It is our pleasure to present Florida TaxWatch’s Government Productivity Awards, recognizing and honoring the incredible work, innovative ideas, and ingenuity of our state workers that save millions in taxpayer dollars each year,” Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Jeff Kottkamp said.
“Congratulations to these dedicated and hard-working award winners whose accomplishments benefit all Floridians and will influence future government professionals to strive for excellence.”
FTW said that over its 30-year run, the Government Productivity Awards have drawn more than 16,000 nominations, with state employees credited for saving or maximizing nearly $10 billion in state funds.
Among the most substantial claims in this year’s class:
— FDOC’s streamlined HIV drug formulary has produced more than $14 million in cost avoidance over seven months and is projected to save as much as $33 million annually.
— The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services received an award for efficiently managing Florida’s disaster block-grant relief program by sparing producers from navigating multiple overlapping federal disaster programs and instead creating a single application process, which is estimated to have saved $30 million.
— University of Florida facilities initiatives, including lighting modernization, chilled-water optimization and occupancy-based HVAC controls, contributed to $9.3 million in annual utility cost avoidance. A separate UF project was recognized for halving the amount of insecticide used in citrus pest management.
Other winners included projects at the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Department of Health in Brevard County, Florida International University, the Florida Institute for Child Welfare and Florida State University.
View the full winners list here.
— Evening Reads —
—“After 286 days at sea, 5,000 sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln get a break in Thailand” via Gabriele Steinhauser and Mike Cherney of The Wall Street Journal
—“The logistics nightmare facing U.S. warships” via Simon Ducroquet and John Ismay of The New York Times
—“Inside a conservative operation to hijack your social-media feed” via Ali Breland of The Atlantic
—“Scams in the U.S. are at a record high. Yet most victims get no help and some end up losing even more” via Martha Mendoza, Juliet Linderman and Erika Kinetz of The Associated Press
—“Moderates have one goal: Make Hasan Piker a 2028 liability” via Astead Herndon of Vox
—”Two Florida Democrats join every Republican in Congress in voting to condemn socialism and the DSA” via Mitch Perry of the Florida Phoenix
—“Pangram has emerged as the gold standard of AI detection. Should you trust it?” via Lexi Pandell of WIRED
—”Erika Donalds wants more AI in Florida classrooms and fewer laws slowing it down” via Austin Horn of the Miami Herald
—”Florida Democrats push to mobilize Haitian American voters ahead of midterm elections” via Anthony Man of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
—“Orlando held a fight in its city-owned arena. Then came the Nazi salutes.” via Olivia George of The Washington Post
— Quote of the Day —
“I’m ready to come home. And this state is home to me”
— U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, brushing off the suggestion of a White House run.
— 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.
With nearly 5.7 million eggs heading to Florida, there should be plenty of surplus to serve James Uthmeier a Pisco Sour.
The bipartisan anti-Flock pile-on continues unabated, with CFO Blaise Ingoglia and Tallahassee Commissioner Jeremy Matlow earning Wednesday’s round of Camera Obscuras.
Pour yourself a Jägermeister Jaguar and peruse the new renderings of Jacksonville’s “Stadium of the Future.”
— Breakthrough Insights —
— Tune In —
Gators volleyball continues high-profile start of season
The Florida Gators’ volleyball team plays on national television as they continue the Big Ten-SEC Challenge against No. 5 Wisconsin tonight (8 p.m. ET, FS1).
Florida, ranked 17th in this week’s poll, earned the second win in as many matches with a three-sets-to-one win over 11th-ranked Minnesota yesterday at UW Fieldhouse in Madison, Wisc.
Taylor Parks recorded her 1,000th career assist, becoming the 18th player in Gators history to reach the milestone.
Florida’s season has already been highlighted by a match against top-ranked Nebraska at AT&T Stadium. The exhibition on Aug. 27 was broadcast on TNT. The match was the first college or professional volleyball match in an NFL stadium and the first volleyball match broadcast live on TNT. The event drew a reported 40,000 fans.
Wisconsin has opened the season with one win in four matches, losing to third-ranked Kentucky before beating No. 7 Louisville. The Badgers followed that up with losses to fifth-ranked Stanford and No. 4 Pitt. Florida will be the lowest-ranked team to face the Badgers so far this season.
The Gators are next in action on Saturday in Waco, Texas, against No. 20 Baylor and then the following day at North Texas.
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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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