Governor DeSantis Extends Emergency Order

Governor DeSantis issued Executive Order 21-94, which extends Executive Order 20-52, the Governor’s original State of Emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous order, which had been extended several times before, was set to expire at midnight tonight.

Here are a couple of ways this affects Florida’s hospitality industry. First, it extends the allowance of alcohol-to-go. As FRLA continues to work through the Florida Legislature to codify alcohol to go and make it permanent – a top FRLA legislative priority – this EO extension permits operators to continue their practices with alcohol sales for off-premises consumption. Secondly, the EO temporarily extends the waiver of workforce search requirements for re-employment benefits. While FRLA continues to provide data to the Governor and other state leaders and discuss the historic labor challenges facing our industry, the new order includes language that highlights Florida’s ability to manage COVID cases, increased vaccinations, and improving state economy as reasons to suggest the state will soon resume non-emergency operations. We are hopeful that we will soon be able to move forward and get our industry and our staffs back to work and on the road to recovery.