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The first day of Florida’s Special Legislative Session proved to be highly productive from the perspective of Governor DeSantis’ agenda. All four bills being considered this session include COVID-19 Mandates, Public Records/Employer COVID-19 Vaccination Policies, Florida Occupational Safety and Health State Plan and Vaccinations During Public Health Emergencies. Advanced in their respective committees in both chambers yesterday. This increases the likelihood that all four will pass mostly as originally written this week.
The Florida Retail Federation said Florida’s businesses are expecting record sales this holiday shopping season. According to the Federation’s member survey, the average retailer is expecting an increase in sales of 10% over last year with the average Floridian spending $998 on gifts.
On Monday, 1,059 new COVID-19 cases were reported statewide. While lower than the weekly average, it was higher than the prior Monday’s total lifting the weekly trend for daily cases. Furthermore, the Mayo Clinic’s highly accurate 14-day projection tool, which provides three different projections for future COVID-19 cases, currently shows the most likely outcome for Florida over the next two weeks would be a continued decrease in cases.