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

— First Shot —

Looking for a budget update? Try rereading Friday’s updates — slowly.

As the Senate President said heading into the weekend, “it takes time to reorganize after the bump.” Apparently, that means Monday is a wash on the budget news front.

Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Attorney General James Uthmeier stepped up to fill the Tallahassee news vacuum with a pair of arrest announcements.

Ingoglia announced the arrest of five suspects accused of staging a Miami-Dade crash and filing fraudulent insurance claims for injuries investigators say never existed. According to the Department of Financial Services, the scheme involved a one-car crash into a tree and allegedly bogus physical therapy billing tied to a Miami clinic. Investigators say the operation netted more than $30,000 in fraudulent claims. One suspect was identified in the release as an undocumented immigrant.

Meanwhile, Uthmeier announced the arrest of a 21-year-old Cudjoe Key man accused in a sprawling child sexual abuse material investigation stemming from a cyber tip submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Authorities allege Jacob Rookey possessed, distributed and solicited CSAM through Snapchat while also trafficking in animal sexual abuse material. Prosecutors say he faces up to 100 years in prison if convicted.

Not exactly budget conference fireworks, but at least somebody had a Monday agenda.

— Evening Reads —

—“Donald Trump’s approval sinks amid unpopular war, darkening GOP prospects” via Lisa Lerer, Ruth Igielnik and Camille Baker of The New York Times 

—“A different kind of fading President” via Jonathan Lemire of The Atlantic

—“Seven charts that explain why the job market is so tough right now” via Rachel Lerman and Luis Melgar of The Washington Post

—“Massive $67B NextEra-Dominion deal faces federal, state scrutiny” via Kelsey Tamborrino, Benjamin Storrow and Adam Aton of POLITICO Pro

—“Elon Musk loses landmark lawsuit against OpenAI” via Paresh Dave and Maxwell Zeff of WIRED

—“Gov. Ron DeSantis goes on road to sell homestead property tax abatement” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics

—“Budget conference: Controversial Schools of Hope funding divides House, Senate” via Gabrielle Russon of Florida Politics

—“Poll shows vast majority in CD 20 want Black representation in Congress” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics

— Quote of the Day —

“We’ve totally passed the Rubicon now on antisemitism, and we’re not going back.”

— U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, saying antisemitism in America is the “new normal.”

— 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.

Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was one of two members of Congress to back Ron DeSantis’ doomed presidential campaign, but now they could be Mistaken for Strangers.

Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson is lending a Farmer’s Punch to Republican state Rep. Kevin Steele as he seeks to flip Florida’s 14th Congressional District.

DeSantis took a Road Trip down to Melbourne to continue trying to sell Floridians on his long-teased plan to eliminate some or all of Floridians’ homestead property taxes, even without details.

— Breakthrough Insights —

— Tune In —

Marlins welcome league-leading Braves to town

The Miami Marlins open a four-game home series against the first-place team in the National League East, the Atlanta Braves this evening (6:40 p.m. ET, Marlins.TV).

The Marlins (21-26) just completed a three-game series against the top team in the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays, dropping two of three at Tropicana Field. Miami has lost four of the last six games entering the series and is in danger of slipping further down the National League wild card standings. Only the New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies have worse records than the Marlins in the National League this season.

There have been some bright spots for Miami. Shortstop Otto Lopez leads the league with a .344 batting average, and catcher Liam Hicks has hit nine home runs and driven in 40 runs, second-most in the National League, a little more than a quarter of the way through the season.

The Braves (35-15) have cruised to the league’s best record with a balance of hitting, pitching, and defense. Atlanta has outscored the opposition by 98 runs so far this season, the best run differential in the Major Leagues. Atlanta has succeeded wherever they have played, posting a 16-8 record at home and a 16-7 mark on the road.

The series continues through Thursday.

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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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