Jason Delgado
Former House Speaker Will Weatherford forecasted a slow economic turnaround on Thursday for Florida’s COVID-19 battered budget.
Weatherford’s prediction came during the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s 2020 Virtual Insurance Summit. There, he cautioned economic-minded attendees against holding their breath.
“We can all pretend that this is going to go away sometime soon,” Weatherford said. “It’s not. We’ll probably have a vaccine in the near future. But my crystal ball tells me we should all buckle down for the next year or two and be prepared for challenging circumstances.”
He continued: “That probably means that budgets in Florida will be impacted because we’re so contingent on tourism and sales tax revenue.”
Weatherford, now a managing partner at Weatherford Capital, cited recent COVID-19 trends to support his prophecy.
“We had 100,000 COVID cases in Florida yesterday,” he added. “We’re surging across the country.”
Despite the former House Speaker’s sobering suggestion, early signs indicate the state will draw in more revenue than state budget experts originally predicted.
The most recent memo from Senate President Bill Galvano reported that the state beat out its September expectations by $230.2 million. That report came after the September update showed August beating its expectations by $177.3 million.
Nevertheless, Weatherford suggested budget concerns should be front-of-mind.
“They would be wise to make the budget a focus,” Weatherford said.
The Florida Legislative Session will launch on March 2. Until then, lawmakers will periodically return to Tallahassee for an organization session in November, Legislator University in December, and committee weeks in January and February.
Senate President-Designate Wilton Simpson on Thursday unveiled the newly established COVID-19 protocols for the upcoming Organizational Session.
Notably, current House Speaker Chris Sprowls on Thursday announced the creation of the Pandemic and Public Emergencies Committee. The committee will explore COVID-19 related issues, emergency management and future threats. Rep. Tom Leek will chair the committee.
State health officials on Thursday reported 827,380 COVID-19 cases, marking a 6,257 increase since Wednesday.
Health officials also reported 16,961 total COVID-19 deaths in Florida, noting 36 more deaths since Wednesday.
