Thursday s Afternoon Update | 3/11/2021 Who’s bailing out Florida’s depleted unemployment fund? You, if you shop online State leaders have unveiled a plan to shore up the state’s unemployment trust fund by having Floridians pay sales taxes on their online purchases, a unique idea that amounts to roughly $1 billion in annual tax breaks for Florida businesses. The idea, proposed by the leaders of Florida’s House and Senate, would require nearly all out-of-state companies to start collecting online sales taxes in Florida. Florida is one of the few remaining states that doesn’t require online companies, aside from large ones like Amazon, to collect sales taxes. State economists estimate it would add $1 billion in annual revenue to state coffers. More from the Miami Herald.
Wednesday s Afternoon Update | 3/10/2021 Carbon farming could soon be new cash crop for Florida growers President Joe Biden wants to reward farmers for using climate-friendly practices on their lands. Big agriculture companies are already paying growers in the Midwest to plant crops that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and use techniques to keep that carbon in the soil. Those developments and others have spurred hope that the business of carbon may soon come to Florida. More from WJCT. Spouses of foreign workers in Florida, nationwide seek help with visa process The H-4 visa for spouses and children, and the primary H-1B visas, were designed for foreign workers on temporary stays in the U.S. The H-1B visa, which allows employers to hire highly skilled, college-educated foreign workers, lasts for three years and can be renewed for another three years. The renewal can continue past those six years if the employer sponsors the H-1B visa holder and his or her H-4 dependents for legal permanent residence, or green cards. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Wednesday s Daily Pulse | 3/10/2021 Florida vaccine supply to rise again with Moderna, Pfizer while next shipment of J&J uncertain Continued increase in the Pfizer vaccine means Florida will once again see a jump in supply next week. The data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday nearly 20,000 more doses of Pfizer over this week’s allotment. An equal number of second doses for each of the two vaccines has also been allotted, with first doses usually arriving from Monday-Wednesday each week. [Source: Orlando Sentinel] See also: Florida strawberry farmers rebound after Covid lockdown caused financial devastation
Tuesday s Daily Pulse | 3/9/2021 Cash Crunch: Lawmakers challenge will be to balance the budget Florida lawmakers returned to Tallahassee this month for a 60-day session that will focus in large part on the economic fallout from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Their biggest chore is filling a $2.75-billion budget gap driven largely by declines in sales tax dollars related to tourism and recreation. “The budget picture will be bleak, and funding will have to be more carefully prioritized around helping people recover and doing things that are most likely to re-stimulate the economy,” says Dean Cannon, a former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and president and CEO of GrayRobinson, one of the state’s largest law firms. [Source: Florida Trend]
Tuesday s Afternoon Update | 3/9/2021 Judge tosses out lawsuit against the state, Deloitte over flawed unemployment website A Leon circuit court judge has dismissed a potential class-action lawsuit against the state and Deloitte Consulting stemming from the meltdown of Florida’s online unemployment compensation system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Judge John Cooper, for the second time in less than six months, said plaintiffs could not overcome legal hurdles to pursue the case against the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and Deloitte, a contractor that helped put in place the CONNECT online system in 2013. More from the News Service of Florida. See also:
Florida inspector general report injected into lawsuit over unemployment system Plaintiffs in a potential class-action lawsuit about Florida’s troubled unemployment-compensation system are trying to use a new report by the state’s chief inspector general to bolster their case. Hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office released the draft report Thursday by Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel, attorneys for the plaintiffs filed a copy of the report in their lawsuit against the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and Deloitte Consulting, a contractor that helped put in place the state’s CONNECT online unemployment system in 2013. Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper last month held a hearing on motions by the department and Deloitte to dismiss the case, which stems from the system becoming overwhelmed last year when economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic caused massive job losses.
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Who said that? | 3/8/2021 Julio Ligorria It took more than five hours of waiting in the sun with her 6-month-old baby and being rejected by five different staffers at Florida City’s federal vaccination site for Yanira Vázquez to finally get her COVID-19 shot. Vázquez, who is a caregiver for a patient with Down Syndrome, said she was turned away because the note she had from her patient’s pediatrician confirming her eligibility for a vaccine was on her phone and it was not printed. According to a Miami Herald reporter who witnessed it, Vázquez was screamed at by at least one volunteer at the site.
Monday s Afternoon Update | 3/8/2021 Florida state tax revenues slow a bit in January but continue trend of beating forecast Florida tax revenues slowed somewhat in January from the final months of 2020 but continued a trend of beating a forecast issued as the state phased out COVID-19 lockdown efforts in the summer. And while tax collections from the battered tourism industry continue to hamper monthly revenue totals, the numbers for January should further help lawmakers as they patch together a budget for next fiscal year while facing a potentially large shortfall caused by the pandemic. More from the News Service of Florida.
Community college enrollment plummeting During the last recession, enrollment at community colleges jumped up by 33 percent. Adults flocked to the two-year institutions in hopes of attaining the skills necessary for more secure jobs after the economy stabilized. This time around, community colleges aren’t so lucky. Some experts initially thought the pandemic would lead to an increase in students pursuing their degrees at community colleges. If enrollment numbers continue to decrease, colleges like Santa Fe and the College of Central Florida in Ocala are potentially in danger of budget cuts. [Source: WUFT] It s definitely not fair : Parents, students concerned about effort to cut Bright Futures funds