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Wednesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida leaders look for revenue (but don’t call them tax hikes) to fill $2.7B budget hole
Facing a $2.7 billion budget shortfall, legislative leaders are searching for ways to raise new revenue, although not through tax hikes, along with cuts to education and health care to fill the gap when they return to the Capitol in March. The shortfall for the budget year that begins in July was caused by a series of falling dominoes, starting when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the tourism industry in the spring and early summer. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Don’t make us go back to the office: Floridians say they like working from home
This just in: people in Florida really like working from home. One would think that everybody loved working from home, considering that the COVID-19 pandemic has now lasted longer than the Miami Dolphins Super Bowl drought. But not every state is as enthusiastic about the home office as Florida, according to a new survey. [Source: Miami Herald]
Chicken of the Glades: Can we eat pythons? Mercury levels studied to see if snakes could be the new other white meat
Florida is considering a new strategy to cull its Burmese python population by making the invasive snake what's for dinner. An initiative between the state’s wildlife conservation commission and Department of Health is looking at mercury levels in pythons with the possibility of issuing advisories on safely eating the Everglades scourge. [Source: Naples Daily News]
Florida, companies wrangle over opioid profits
Cardinal Health, one of the country’s major drug distributors, is fighting Florida’s attempt to glean how much profit the company has made distributing pain medications, as the state tries to recoup money spent combating opioid addiction and overdoses. The wrangling over Cardinal’s profits comes in a lawsuit, filed more than two years ago by the Florida attorney general’s office, seeking unspecified damages against drug manufacturers, retailers and distributors. The case is one of myriad similar legal challenges throughout the country about the devastation wrought by opioids such as oxycodone. [Source: WJXT]
Workers' comp rates drop 6.6%
There’s some good news for Florida businesses struggling to keep afloat during the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic: Workers’ compensation insurance rates will decrease by an average of 6.6% effective Jan. 1. It will be the fourth consecutive year that workers’ compensation premiums have been reduced. Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier issued an order Nov. 12 quietly approving a statewide average 6.6% reduction. [Source: News Service of Florida]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Florida's Natural saw 12% sales revenue growth in 2019-20, grower-members benefited
Buoyed by the boom in grocery sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida’s Natural Growers saw a 12% increase in total sales revenue for its 2019-20 fiscal year. But the surge in grocery sales came at the expense foodservice sales, which plunged 25% after the pandemic hit as schools, hotels and other foodservice customers shut down, the Lake Wales juice processing cooperative reported at its annual financial report.
› DeSantis says Disney layoffs ‘mostly in California,’ despite 18,000 terminations in Orlando
As Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the Walt Disney Co. for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, he asserted that most of the theme park giant’s 32,000 layoffs have occurred at its California parks. But state records and reports from Disney union leaders reveal that at least 18,000 Disney World resort employees in Orlando have been let go, primarily in the theme parks division, which also includes the cruise line and merchandising. That’s 56% of the layoffs and nearly a quarter of the 77,000 people Disney World employed as of last year.
› Cocktails-to-go may become a permanent option in Florida
High balls to go, draft beer on the run, and mimosas delivered to your door could remain part of Florida life if it were up to one Florida lawmaker. State Sen. Jeff Brandes says he has a bill ready to go for the 2021 legislative session that would make a coronavirus-inspired change in Florida law permanent: alcohol by the drink to go.
› JAA approves $12 million hangar project at Cecil Airport
The Jacksonville Aviation Authority board voted 6-0 Nov. 30 to approve a $12 million hangar and office facility at Cecil Airport to support ManTech Advanced Systems International Inc.’s U.S. Navy contract. According to a news release, JAA intends to complete construction of the 39,000-square-foot hanger by the first quarter of 2022.
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