Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
The state’s economic outlook may be shaky right now, but Florida TaxWatch says there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic.
“As we close out a tumultuous year for Florida, defined by COVID-19 and its resulting disruptions to everyday life, we consider what may lie ahead. Overall, Florida’s economy in 2021 will be uncertain, influenced largely by pandemic changes, but there is reason to believe next year will be a hopeful year of growth for a state on the road to economic recovery,” FTW President and CEO Dominic Calabro said.
“With several promising vaccines on the horizon and gradually improving labor market conditions, Florida looks poised to undergo the slow but steady process of economic rebuilding over the coming year.”
On Wednesday, FTW released a report predicting solid growth in state gross domestic product and the labor force alongside a decline in the unemployment rate, which it expects to hit 5.5% — down from a high of 13.8% amid early pandemic lockdowns.
The sectors expected to grow fastest are leisure and hospitality (11.9%), education and health services (8.1%), and financial activities (8.1%), the latter of which FTW said will be the fastest-growing economic sector in Florida between 2020-2023 due to those jobs being work-from-home friendly.
But the report, “2021 Economic Preview: An Uncertain Yet Hopeful Year of Growth,” warns that most of the hospitality industry’s growth will be making up for the jobs shed during the pandemic.
The report also predicts Floridians’ real personal income — how much income an individual makes from salaries, wages and transfer payments — will dip 3.2% next year, partly due to falling stimulus and unemployment payments for many families, which initially offset some of the recession’s impacts in 2020.
And on housing, FTW says the robust seller’s market will continue in 2021 with declining inventory and strong demand driving home prices to new highs.
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases:
— 1,283,701 FL residents (+13,638 since Tuesday)
— 22,422 Non-FL residents (+233 since Tuesday)
Origin:
— 11,022 Travel related
— 490,112 Contact with a confirmed case
— 13,894 Both
— 768,673 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 62,508 in FL
Deaths:
— 21,857 in FL
Evening Reads
“Donald Trump’s $2,000 checks all but dead as Republican Party Senate refuses aid” via Lisa Mascaro of The Associated Press
“Sen. Josh Hawley announces he will contest certification of Electoral College vote” via John Wagner of The Washington Post
“The Joe Biden administration faces a gargantuan college debt crisis and there’s no perfect solution” via Diane Rado of the Florida Phoenix
“Why Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have a stake in Georgia Senate runoff” via Wendy Rhodes of The Palm Beach Post
“Colorado Guardsman has 1st reported U.S. case of virus variant” via Colleen Slevin and Carla K. Johnson of The Associated Press
“Gov. Ron DeSantis says COVID-19 vaccine distribution will ‘ramp up’ after New Year’s holiday” via Steven Lemongello of the Orlando Sentinel
“Florida becomes first state to vaccinate people 65 and older” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics
“Broward Health says it has reached capacity through February for COVID-19 vaccinations” via Cindy Krischer Goodman and David Fleshler of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“Northeast Florida’s debut of COVID-19 vaccine overwhelms health office, confuses public” via Christopher Hong of The Florida Times-Union
“Nearly 14K new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Florida, 139 deaths” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics
“Imagining a post-pandemic Florida workplace: smaller, cleaner, with fewer co-workers” via Jay Cridlin of the Tampa Bay Times
“Miami schools paid $9M to 5 students raped by ex-teacher, then tried to keep it quiet” via Colleen Wright of the Miami Herald
“The weird world of Disney: Some wild things happened in 2020 at the theme parks” via Gabrielle Russon of the Orlando Sentinel
“How 2020 changed Hollywood, and the movies, forever” via Rebecca Rubin and Brent Lang of Variety
“How the networks will fill airtime on a quiet New Year’s Eve” via Julia Jacobs of The New York Times
Quote of the Day
“You have people who are in the Greatest Generation; you have people who fought in World War II, survived the Holocaust. These are people that we’ve got to stand with and prioritize. Today, we’re seeing that prioritization in practice.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis, on giving seniors vaccine priority.
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