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Gov. Ron DeSantis
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday asked Congress for more unemployment aid to help the tens of thousands of Floridians who’ve been laid off because of COVID-19.
Speaking at Boggy Creek Elementary in Buenaventura Lakes, he said additional federal assistance from Congress is months overdue. Federal lawmakers have not passed major coronavirus relief funding since the $150 billion CARES Act in March.
Central Florida, particularly Osceola County, has the highest unemployment rate in the state because of the unprecedented mass lay-offs at Disney World, Universal, SeaWorld, including another 18,000 at Disney by the end of the year.
DeSantis said Disney World in Florida — which closed in March and re-opened in July — has suffered more because of the tighter coronavirus restrictions at Disneyland in California, which doesn’t plan to re-open until 2021.
Disney closed to the public “because of what these federal experts were saying to do,” he said.
“The reason why a lot of people are unemployed is because of federal policies.” Some members of Congress are working on bills that would include additional funding for the unemployed and another round of stimulus checks for the general public. But less than two weeks remain before Congress breaks for the winter.
Florida and most other states are seeking an extension for spending CARES Act funds. The legislation now requires the funds be spent only on expenses incurred between March 1 and the end of the year.
The governor did not address the state’s beleaguered unemployment system. While Florida extended benefits by 13 weeks, the $275 weekly check for job seekers remains among the lowest in the nation.
It’s a bleak picture in Osceola, where a high rate of poverty, unprecedented growth and an affordable housing crisis existed long before the pandemic obliterated the local economy.
Service workers, like maids, security guards and servers, have gravitated to the county “next to Disney” over the years, where homes and apartments were once among the cheapest in Central Florida until recent years. The cost of living in Osceola has outpaced the $8.56/hr minimum wage, which equates to $16,435 annually. And even many low-wage jobs have disappeared.
Local governments, social service agencies and churches can’t keep up with requests for help from residents behind on rent and bills. Drive-thru food distribution lines abound.
DeSantis said life will get better faster for Floridians if businesses and public schools remain open despite increases in coronavirus infections and deaths. Total cases in Florida are closing in on 1 million and the death toll is nearing 19,000.
He told reporters Monday that he has been working behind the scenes to prepare for vaccine distribution, including a recent trip to Washington D.C.
The governor has prevented local governments from imposing mask mandates in public and said: “I don’t think they work” and “I’m opposed to mandates, period.”
The Governor pointed to COVID-19 surges in states that have mask mandates and tighter restrictions on business operations and large gatherings.
“How has that worked out in the states that have done it?” he said. “Has that stopped an outbreak in Minnesota? Illinois? Michigan? What about New Jersey? What about all the states where you have an explosion in cases?... People in Florida wear them when [they] go out. They don’t have to be strung up by a bayonet to do it. Fining people is, I think, totally overboard.”
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