Wednesday's Daily Pulse
Florida Trend Exclusive
COVID speeds up financial and tech company relocations to Florida
While Florida has long appealed to wealthy people from colder, more expensive cities and states, the pandemic-induced shift to remote work could be a game-changer, economic developers say. The pandemic also has lowered the opportunity costs of moving from one state to another for families with school-aged children — traditionally the most reluctant to pick up and leave their home states. The migration trend — which extends beyond tech and finance companies — represents a bright spot for some business sectors. [Source: Florida Trend]
DeSantis signs $200 million expansion in Florida for private school vouchers
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed into law a $200 million school choice plan that will pave the way for some 61,000 new students to become eligible for taxpayer-funded vouchers that will help families pay for private tuition and other education expenses. The measure is a continuation of a decades-long push to expand school choice in Florida, a move Republicans support and most Democrats have fought as they advocate for more oversight and accountability for private schools that get state-funded vouchers. [Source: Tamap Bay Times]
Florida suit challenging federal cruise-liner rules on deck Wednesday
Alaska and Texas have joined Florida’s lawsuit seeking to overturn a federal conditional sail order and allow cruise ships to resume sailing immediately. “We don’t believe the federal government has the right to mothball a major industry for over a year based on very little evidence and very little data,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said on April 8, the same day Florida sued the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) contending its October conditional-sale order is outdated and has devastated the state’s $8.1 billion cruise industry. [Source: The Center Square]
Florida should remain well supplied with gas after Colonial Pipeline hack, AAA says
The recent ransomware attack on a critical East Coast pipeline has drivers wondering if it will impact gas prices and fuel supply. Colonial Pipeline said Saturday it was hacked, causing them to halt all pipeline operations to deal with the threat. The Georgia-based company transports gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and home heating oil from refineries along the Gulf Coast through the South up to New Jersey. However, AAA says drivers should be aware that Florida is not largely dependent on the Colonial Pipeline for gasoline. [Source: WPTV]
Most long-term care facilities meet Florida's backup power requirements
Headed into the 2021 hurricane season, the vast majority of Florida nursing homes and assisted living facilities are in compliance with rules requiring them to have emergency backup generators and 72 hours of fuel on-site. The state Agency for Health Care Administration website shows that 17 nursing homes and eight assisted living facilities have not fully complied with the backup power requirements. [Source: News Service of Florida]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› OUC's clean energy plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 [Florida Trend]
Clint Bullock has worked at the Orlando Utilities Commission — Florida’s second-largest municipal utility — for more than three decades. He became CEO and general manager in 2018 and has been focusing on creating a clean energy roadmap for OUC’s next 30 years. The plan aims to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
› Fort Myers cybersecurity company Cigent takes off with funding, urgency to stop hackers [Fort Myers News Press]
An early 2020 hack of the Texas-based information technology company SolarWinds created widespread repercussions, creating an urgent need for solutions that are happening in Fort Myers. The repercussions included the opportunity for a Fort Myers-based cybersecurity company to increase its reach in preventing the next big cyberattack on governments and private companies.
› Orange County to get $39 million in aid to help tenants as eviction moratorium nears end [Orlando Sentinel ]
Orange County tenants struggling to pay rent may get another lifeline to help them stay in their homes. The county will get $39 million more in federal aid for eviction relief, Mayor Jerry Demings announced Monday. “That’s good news for our community,” he said. The plan for how to distribute the money could be revealed to Orange County commissioners as early as today. The board must approve any spending plan. The new program will be the county’s third to help struggling renters.
› Planning underway to add botanical gardens and transform Jacksonville Aboretum into 'destination' [Florida Times-Union]
In February 2020, Dana Doody landed her "dream job" as executive director of the 120-acre Jacksonville Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. The next month the city — and the arboretum in Arlington — shut down. "My dream job, then a pandemic," she said. "It was crazy." Doody worried about the impact COVID-19 might have on visitation and donations. After a month-long closure, the arboretum reopened. And Doody was pleased to find that the open space's natural social-distancing capability drew visitors desperate to get fresh air and outdoor exercise.
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› Florida Coastal suspended from federal student loan program [Jacksonville Daily Record]
Florida Coastal School of Law says a “procedural matter” resulted in its termination from the federal student loan program, triggering the process for closing the school. By direction of the American Bar Association, Florida Coastal submitted a teach-out plan May 7 that would allow the school to maintain its accreditation while its students are allowed to transfer to other accredited law schools to complete their education.
› Zoo Miami welcomes endangered baby Orinoco crocodiles [AP]
Officials at Zoo Miami have been welcoming critically endangered baby Orinoco crocodiles over the past week. The mother laid 45 eggs on Feb. 5 at the South Florida park, and they began hatching last week, the zoo announced on Facebook. To prevent any loss due to predation or extreme weather, zoo staff collected the eggs several days after they were laid and placed them into incubators.
› Orlando jury awards $2 million to Burger King employee fired for having a trachea tube [Orlando Sentinel]
A jury awarded more than $2 million to a former Orlando-area Burger King employee who sued after claiming she was fired solely because she had to use a trachea tube to breathe. Ashley Merard, of Orlando, sued franchisee Magic Burgers LLC in the U.S. District Court in Orlando. About a year before working for the company in 2017, she was in a car accident that led to her needing the tube, according to the lawsuit.
› Feds say UM hid inflated charges from patients in $22 million settlement over Medicare fraud [Miami Herald]
The University of Miami fraudulently billed millions to the Medicare program for unnecessary transplant lab tests and inflated doctors’ fees even after federal regulators had caught UM hiding the higher charges from patients, the Justice Department said as it released a settlement agreement with the school.