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Reopening the Sunshine State; Florida's Flawed Unemployment System

PBS NEWSHOUR
Gov. Ron DeSantis at his Wednesday, April 29, news conference in Tallahassee.

 

This week Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his Phase One reopening plan, which will take effect across most of the state (with tighter restrictions remaining in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, where over half the confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths are located) on Monday, May 4.

We took a closer look at the plans with Bill Galvano, president of the Florida Senate and a member of the executive committee of the governor’s Re-Open Florida Taskforce; and John Kennedy, the Florida Capitol reporter for Gannett newspapers.

Florida’s unemployment system continues to be plagued by huge issues. Thousands of residents across the state report they’ve been declared ineligible for benefits or can’t get through to apply at all. We talked about what’s being done to rectify the situation with the Florida Senate minority leader, Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, and John Kennedy.

Heather Schatz can be reached at hschatz@wjct.org or on Twitter at @heatherschatz.

 

Heather is the senior producer of WJCT 89.9 FM talk shows including First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross, the Florida Roundup and What's Health Got to Do with It?