Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) will submit Florida’s application to participate in the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) Program.

This program, authorized by a memorandum from President Trump, provides additional temporary benefits for individuals who are eligible for Reemployment Assistance for weeks of unemployment ending on or after Aug. 1, 2020.

“On behalf of Floridians who are continuing to face challenges finding employment, I would like to thank President Trump for providing additional funding while they get back on their feet,” said Governor DeSantis. “We appreciate the opportunity to provide this temporary assistance through the Lost Wages Assistance program.”

Pending federal approval, this will allow Florida to offer an additional $300 per week to eligible Reemployment Assistance claimants. To be eligible for this benefit, claimants must be currently receiving at least $100 in an approved Reemployment Assistance program weekly benefit amount and must certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to the disruptions caused by COVID-19. Pending approval of Florida’s application, payments will be retroactive to August 1, 2020.

Floridians who are currently receiving Reemployment Assistance benefits, are unemployed or partially unemployed due to COVID-19 and are currently receiving at least $100 per week in Reemployment Assistance benefits will be eligible to receive the additional $300 benefits from the LWA funds funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This includes individuals receiving:

• State Reemployment Assistance, including Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) and Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service members (UCX);
• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC);
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA);
• Extended Benefits (EB);
• Short-Time Compensation (STC);
• Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA); and
• Payments under the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) program.

The LWA program will be administered similarly to the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program. No additional application will be necessary. Eligible Floridians who are currently receiving Reemployment Assistance will receive their LWA benefits the same week they receive their weekly Reemployment Assistance benefits. DEO highly recommends that Reemployment Assistance claimants select direct deposit as their means of receiving benefits to ensure payments are received as quickly as possible.

Funding for this program comes from FEMA disaster relief funds. Guidance from FEMA and the U.S. Department of Labor indicates that states should be able to receive approximately three weeks’ worth of benefits upon approval, with additional weekly approval being granted on a weekly basis, depending on the remaining balance of the fund. However, funding could end at any time, and is contingent upon a required state match based on state re-employment assistance paid out during the period.

DEO is currently preparing to implement the LWA program to ensure eligible Floridians receive the additional benefits as quickly as possible.

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FLORIDA SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AND EMPLOYEES SAY: BALLOT AMENDMENT 2 HURTS YOU

Small and family-owned businesses barely hanging on during COVID will be devastated by mandatory minimum wage hikes

Tallahassee, FL — Florida small business owners and workers launched today the “Amendment 2 Hurts You” campaign to fight the mandatory minimum wage ballot initiative that will kill jobs, reduce workers’ income and destroy Florida’s economy.

“Ballot Amendment 2 is a job killer. It will hurt businesses, and it will destroy Florida’s economy,” said Carol Dover, President & CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “We are putting more than 2 million potential jobs at stake here in Florida. This is a bad amendment. In an effort not to hurt your local restaurants and hotels and some of your favorite places to visit, we are asking you to please vote no on Ballot Amendment 2.”

Coupled with the long-term effects of COVID-19 on Florida’s economy, Ballot Amendment 2 will have catastrophic impacts on small businesses, which are the backbone of our state.

“I’ve been in the restaurant business in Florida for almost 25 years. I’ve put my heart and my love into my business and my community. This mandatory wage increase is bad for business, and if it’s bad for my business, it’s bad for my employees,” said John Horne, owner of Anna Maria Oyster Bar in Bradenton. “It’s a vicious spiral that I really don’t want to see. We don’t want to be forced to increase our minimum wage, cutting jobs, cutting hours, raising prices. COVID has already devastated us, I can’t imagine my business going through this. I’ve invested my blood, sweat and tears into my business over the past 25 years. I know the large companies can absorb this, but a small business like mine, we will be crushed.”

This scheme has already been passed in liberal cities across the United States: Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C. It has killed jobs, closed businesses and expanded the income gap. Their streets are covered in poverty, riots, crime and unrest.

Simone Barron, founder of the workers’ advocacy group, the Full-Service Workers Alliance Seattle, knows this firsthand.

“Soon after the $15 minimum wage was implemented in Seattle, we started seeing the negative consequences of that wage hike,” Barron said. “Our tips were diminishing…. and that impacted my pocketbook. Then our employers decided to cut back on hours. I ended up working six days a week between two different jobs as opposed to four days a week just to make the same amount of money. Perhaps large, multinational corporations that have valuations on Wall Street can absorb an arbitrary wage increase, but where you will really feel the pain is on Main Street, with small businesses. They can’t absorb a wage hike like this and be able to support workers like me. It just doesn’t work.”

Ballot Amendment 2 will crush local businesses in Florida. These businesses have suffered significantly in recent months due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Before COVID-19, Florida’s restaurant, lodging and tourism industry generated more than $112 billion in annual economic impact and provided jobs for more than 1.5 million Florida families.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many were forced to close. Nearly 100,000 of these jobs were furloughed or eliminated. Now, Ballot Amendment 2 could force businesses to do even more with less.

For more information about Ballot Amendment 2 and its devastating impacts on small businesses, workers and Florida’s economy, visit www.amendment2hurtsyou.com.

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Paid Political Advertisement by Save Florida Jobs Inc.

230 South Adams St., Ste 200

Tallahassee, FL 32301

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) has released Frequently Asked Questions for restaurants and food establishments in response to recent Executive Orders and to provide additional guidance and clarification.

View the FAQs here.

ALERT 8/14/20: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is currently tracking an unknown malicious cyber actor who is spoofing the Small Business Administration (SBA) COVID-19 loan relief webpage via phishing emails. These emails include a malicious link to the spoofed SBA website that the cyber actor is using for malicious re-directs and credential stealing.

For more information, visit the CISA webpage here.

Learn More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                
August 11, 2020

FORT MYERS – On Thursday, August 13, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) Lee County Chapter will launch the regional distribution of 50,000 complimentary reusable cloth masks to local hospitality employees at a giveaway event in Fort Myers. Events in Collier and Charlotte Counties will follow in the coming days; specifics will be announced at the Fort Myers event.

The event is part of an effort to provide masks to hotel and restaurant workers across the State of Florida and is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. To date, HHS has donated nearly one million masks for distribution to hospitality employees across Florida.

What:    FRLA mask giveaway event for local hospitality employees

When:   August 13, 2020 – 1:00 p.m.

Media should arrive no later than 12:45 p.m. to ensure socially distant set-up.

Where:  Global Restaurant Superstore*

10880 Metro Parkway

Fort Myers, FL 33966

Who:     Lee County Commissioner and Chairman Brian Hamman

Lee County Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass

Jay Johnson, President, FRLA Lee County Chapter President and Owner of Bubba’s Roadhouse & Saloon

Lois Croft, Southwest Florida Regional Director, FRLA

Bob “Smitty” Smith, Owner of Global Restaurant Superstore

President Donald Trump signed four Executive Orders this weekend to help students and families struggling because of COVID-19. The action follows a breakdown in negotiations this week between Congress and the Administration. The actions include an extension of unemployment benefits through the end of year, which come down from $600/week to $400/week.

The four Orders include: 

1. Defer payroll taxes for Americans earning less than $100,000 a year.
2. Implement a moratorium on evictions and give financial assistance to renters.
3. Add $400 per week in extra unemployment benefits through the end of 2020, requiring states to cover 25% of the additional benefits.
4. Postpone student loan interest and payments through the end of 2020.

Learn more and read the Executive Orders here.

This morning, Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 20-192. This Executive Order rescinds the previous employee screening requirements for restaurant employees. This means employees who have previously tested positive do not need to receive two negative tests before they can come back to work. Employers are required only to implement screening protocols pursuant to CDC guidance.

Click here for the CDC FAQs for businesses.

This Executive Order also removes the requirement that employees who have traveled through an airport in the last 14 days be prohibited from working in a restaurant.

Further, Executive Order 20-192 rescinds the travel restrictions for the tri-state area – New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Read EO 20-192

[Palm Beach, Fla] – Today, the Palm Beach Chapter of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA) awarded $27,500 in college scholarships to 14 Palm Beach area culinary and hospitality high school students. Scholarship funds were raised during the annual Palm Beach E.A.T.S. (Education, Agriculture, Together, Showcase) event held earlier this year.

2020 Scholarship Winners
Hospitality & Tourism Management Program (HTMP) Students

• Faith Underwood – Palm Beach Gardens HS will attend Tallahassee Community College
• Carolyn Von Werne – Palm Beach Gardens HS will attend St. John’s University
• Jylene Velez – Palm Beach Gardens HS will attend University of Central Florida
• Falencia Aulbrice – Palm Beach Gardens HS will attend University of Central Florida
• Stephany Escobar – Palm Beach Gardens HS will attend Palm Beach State
• Emily Loomis – Forest Hill Community HS will attend University of North Florida
• Clarvens Philosthene – Olympic Heights HS will attend Barry University
• Anterica Benyard – Palm Beach Gardens HS will attend Florida Atlantic University
• Jaden Walker – Palm Beach Gardens will attend HS Rollins College
• Nathanael Jolteus – Palm Beach Gardens will attend HS Wake Forest University
• Serena Boggs – Palm Beach Gardens will attend HS Bethune-Cookman University

Culinary/ProStart Students

• Jade Kelley* – Palm Beach Gardens HS will attend Palm Beach State *FINK WINNER
• Jasmin Pickens – Wellington will attend Valencia Community College
• Mia Rideau – Palm Beach Gardens HS will attend Clark Atlantic University

“We had a tremendous increase in scholarship applications this year, and we realize the need is greater than ever,” said Nick Velardo, FRLA Committee Chair for Education and Vice President of Food and Beverage for The Breakers. “By providing scholarship support to students who are interested in the culinary and hospitality field, we strengthen the future of the industry.”

“FRLA is committed to investing in the future of the hospitality industry, and I am pleased that we can support these students’ efforts for continuing their education,” said Jodi Cross, Palm Beach County FRLA Regional Director. “I want to extend a special thanks to Tom and Lynn Fink for their ongoing generous support and contribution in honor of their son. This year, the Brian Fink Memorial Scholarship Fund contributed $4,000 to one lucky student winner.”

About the Brian Fink Memorial Scholarship
The Brian Fink Memorial Scholarship is given by Brian’s family. Brian was a career technical student who brought joy and laughter to those who knew and loved him. Brian’s family has endowed this scholarship in hopes that the recipient of this award will pass on this celebration of life to others.

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