Florida鈥檚 Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is travelling the state visiting restaurants and their owners to push for COVID-19 liability protections for small businesses. It鈥檚 a part of growing calls to shield businesses from COVID-19 lawsuits ahead of the state鈥檚 2021 legislative session.
Sen. Keith Perry joined Patronis on the first stop of what the the CFO has dubbed the 鈥淩estaurant Business Liability Tour.鈥�
鈥淲hen I grew up in Gainesville, 40, 50 years ago, you鈥檇 drive down a road in Gainesville and every single business was owned by a 鈥榤om and pop,鈥欌�� the hometown Republican senator reminisced about how business has changed.
Perry spoke alongside the CFO earlier this week at Gainesville restaurant Blue Gill Quality Food.
鈥淲e had a J.C. Penny and we had a Sears, outside of that everything was owned by individuals. Now, almost everything is owned by large corporations,鈥� Perry said. 鈥淎nd while they need protection too, we鈥檙e not out to protect the Publixes and the Wal-Marts, we鈥檙e out to protect the small businesses.鈥�
Patronis is a former restaurant owner himself. And the tour is his push to get lawmakers to sign off on COVID-19 liability protections for small businesses, who have struggled since the start of the pandemic:
鈥淚n October, the Florida Chamber of Commerce did a survey of their businesses, and the single largest concern at businesses in Florida had is whether or not they were going to be able to reopen after COVID-19,鈥� Patronis said Monday.
Blue Gill owner Bert Gill says customers still coming through his doors are buoying the restaurant for the time being. Yet, times remain tough.
鈥淭he idea for us is that we need some help. We need some help from our local government, our state government, our federal government. Some has been given, and we鈥檙e enormously grateful for it. We鈥檙e enormously grateful for the guests who still support us, my coworkers who show up every day, the people who had to be laid off and we brought back, and the sacrifices they made,鈥� Gill said.
Senate President Wilton Simpson is going into his first legislative session leading the chamber, and he鈥檚 made protections for businesses a priority. Still, he鈥檚 warning those protections shouldn鈥檛 be overly broad.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you ever in any condition, put a blanket statement that no one would have any liability associated with COVID, but I think if you鈥檝e made the right attempt to follow the CDC guidelines, then I think that鈥檚 something we should take a look at,鈥� Simpson told press following the legislature鈥檚 November organization session.
Threading the needle on the issue will likely generate debate over how far lawmakers should go.
During a stop in Orlando Tuesday, Patronis noted some large corporations are seeing lawsuits come their way, with what he described as 鈥渟ue-and-settle tactics.鈥�
鈥淭hese suits will ultimately cause insurance rates to go up, and the flood of attorneys that will then pursue litigation, closing small businesses. We can鈥檛 let that happen, not in Florida 鈥� so we must get tourism back up and running, we must improve overall consumer confidence,鈥� Patronis insisted. 鈥淎nd that means Tallahassee must lead. We must provide small business owners the confidence to be able to reopen without the fear of litigation.鈥�
And Blue Gill owner Bert Gill says if he were to get hit with a lawsuit, it could tank his already struggling small business.
鈥淟itigation is just another threat that hangs over my head,鈥� Gill said. 鈥淭he piggy bank鈥檚 empty. You know, we鈥檝e drained everything to keep going, to make payroll. It goes on a credit card sometimes. It鈥檚 really, really tough.鈥�
Patronis says even if they get added protections, businesses should still do everything they can to protect their customers and employees from COVID-19.
Florida this week surpassed one million recorded cases of coronavirus. Governor Ron DeSantis has said no further business restrictions or lockdowns will be put in place.
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