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Tuesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
The Top 10 big issues in the approved 2022 Florida legislative session
— BUDGET: Lawmakers passed a $112.1 billion budget and a tax package that were bolstered by federal stimulus money and higher-than-expected state tax collections. The budget includes such things as funding increases for public schools and pay raises for state employees, while the state is slated to hold a series of sales-tax “holidays.” More from WJXT.
Pandemic continues to take a toll on mental health for children and teens
Last fall, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children’s Hospital Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health. They called for several things like increased funding in mental health resources and better care for students with mental health concerns in schools. More from WFTS.
Hillsborough’s disputed sales tax refund inches toward compromise
Hillsborough Commissioner Stacy White, whose lawsuit derailed the 2018 voter-approved transportation sales tax, has some ideas on spending $521 million escrowed during the ongoing legal fight over refunds. White wants some of the money spent on new road lanes in his own eastern Hillsborough district with the leftovers earmarked for the county’s ongoing road repaving program. His proposal notably sweeps all sales tax proceeds from the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, which was promised 45 percent of the revenue under the 2018 referendum. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Florida is national leader in business startups
Nearly six million applications for new businesses were filed from January 2021 through January 2022, according to business formation data from the U.S Census Bureau, compiled by 24/7 Wall Street. That’s 1,772 for every 100,000 Americans. Florida had the most new business formation among any state, with 683,680, the report shows. More from the Buiseness Observer.
Stacked 'Mega Moon rocket' is ready to roll, NASA says
NASA's upcoming lunar mission Artemis I is about to roll a little closer to getting an official launch date. The stacked spacecraft and rocket have been cleared to trundle out to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday (March 17) for prelaunch tests, NASA representatives announced on Monday (March 14) at a press briefing. More from LiveScience.
Profiles
‘We were just going to handle it’: How this Florida doctor became a public face of COVID-19
Anticipating the coronavirus would run its course, much like H1N1 had done a decade earlier, she said she wasn’t worried. “I thought we were just going to handle it,” she said. Dr. Alina Alonso spent months working 23 hours a day, seven days a week, assuaging people’s fears and advising public officials on the best ways to protect the 1.5 million residents of the county on Florida’s southeast coast.
» More from the Tallahassee Democrat.
Innovation
Entrepreneurs use Virdee app to operate their Old Florida-style hotel like an Airbnb
Entrepreneurs Leila and Adam Bedoian have added a digital twist to their Old Florida-style hotel. Located on Anastasia Island near the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, The Local is a 21-room “modern boutique” hotel with a retro feel. Through an app called Virdee, the Bedoians operate the property like an Airbnb — Guests can book a reservation, complete an ID verification process and get a digital key on the day of check-in.
» Read more from Florida Trend.
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