TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Re-open Florida task force held its fourth round of meetings Thursday.
Panel members painted a bleak picture for Florida’s Agriculture business, which is the top industry in the state right now since tourism is all but shut down.
But there was better news on the healthcare front, where administrators say we’ve done a good job flattening the curve in Florida.
That’s left plenty of hospital beds available and a far lower rate of death than some had predicted.
Most Florida farmers have been devastated by COVID-19.
They say there are plenty of trucks to move product, but with their restaurant and cruise ship business wiped out, the transition to grocery and food banks has been slow and difficult.
Citrus is doing well. People see it as a health booster.
But vegetables, meat and dairy have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in business.
Without state assistance, growers wonder if it’s worth planting new crops this summer.
“There’s no demand out there right now for these products. Or a little demand,” said Mike Joyner, President of the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association.
On healthcare, the governor wants elective surgery to resume as quickly as possible.
His healthcare secretary, Mary Mayhew, says hospital beds set aside for a COVID-19 surge have not been needed, and made the case to let hospitals start making money, “Because of the concerns around their future economic viability,” said Mayhew.
At a second committee meeting dealing with education, manufacturing and utilities, there was again, a clear intent to get schools reopen by this fall - allowing parents to get back to work.
There’s a stated presumption that the health of students and teachers must be ensured, but there have been few suggestions or answers on how to accomplish that.
Questions were raised about personal protection equipment. Different needs, for different industries.
“And, obviously, not all businesses are the same,” said Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran.
“Obviously, a restaurant is going to be a lot more difficult than a dry cleaner.”
A third meeting dealt with food, tourism, transportation and real estate.
Construction is continuing. Highway projects have been sped up. New housing projects have slowed, but sales continue.
“Things are still happening,” said Dev Motwani, CEO of Merrimac Ventures. “You’re seeing a shift towards virtual showings.”
At times, when listening to the meetings, there’s a sense that the lengthy presentations of bleak facts and figures are laying the groundwork for a forgone decision to re-open parts of Florida’s economy as quickly as possible.
When a member of the agriculture panel tried to make some suggestions at Thursday’s meeting, he was told to submit them in writing.
“Will there be some point during this call or in future calls to add input on how we can possibly make recommendations to fix some of these issues?” asked John Hoblick, who heads the Florida Farm Bureau.
Still, DeSantis insists there is no timeline, promising any plan must first instill confidence.
“Because even if it is safe, if they don’t have the confidence it’s safe,” said DeSantis, “People are not going to want to go you know, to the store or go to some of these things like we used to do.”
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