RAISE UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS IN FLORIDA

The Unemployment Weekly Max Benefit payout in the state of Florida is $275 and was determined in 2011. It is 2020 and the Unemployment Weekly Max Benefit payout is STILL $275. With the pandemic and hundreds of thousand of furloughed workers in Florida AND the $600 extra relief from the Federal Government expiring many of us now face the harshest time in our lives knowing that our rent or mortgage is more than the WHOLE MONTH of benefits from the state of Florida. The Governor, Ron DeSantis, knows this all to well and when asked about raising unmployment benefits by CBS4 reporter Jim DeFede his response was mind blowing.

Here is an excerpt from that interview on Aug 5, 2020:

DeFede asked the governor if he should raise the state's unemployment wage. Currently, benefits max out at $275 a week, which is one of the LOWEST in the country.

DeSantis: I would look at it. I don't think I can unilaterally do it. I think we would have to have the legislature come in.

DeFede: Why not call a special session to examine it? I mean, people are right now only going to get at most $275.

DeSantis: First of all, there will definitely be more federal assistance, even apart from the unemployment. I can tell you there's going to be another 1,200 dollars, most likely, that's going to go out to folks and there is going to be some form of a federal unemployment supplement. So I'm going to look to see what happens with that. Look, if we need to act in Florida, I'll be happy to do it. But at the end of the day, there is going to be a phase four package from the federal government. I'm not in the Congress anymore, thankfully, but I know that that something's going to come down the pike.

I cannot believe he said he is waiting for the Feds. We all know what happened with the Feds. Governor DeSantis has not even applied with the feds to get us the extra $300 and he already said he doesn't have the money to kick in the extra $100.
Therefore I have decided to start this petition because I know so many of the still furloughed workers in FL who usually earn a GREAT living cannot survive on $275 a week. And let's be honest here, we are furloughed because THE GOVERNMENT SHUT US DOWN and there is a pandemic and people are still afraid to go places. Hell we are still in phase one. Bartenders bars aren't even open yet!

So please sign this petition to force the Governor to call for a special session and RAISE UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS IN FLORIDA to AT LEAST $500 a week. Seems so backwards that a large state like Florida with a HUGE Hospitality industry that has been directly affected by the pandemic max payout is only $275 when a state like Minnesota with a relatively small Hospitality industry compared to Florida gets a max payout weekly of $717. We need to get things fair and up to the standards and costs of living in 2020.

The still furloughed workers in Florida urge Governor DeSantis to RAISE UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS IN FLORIDA to AT LEAST $500 a week as fast as possible. These are unprecedented times and call for unprecedented measures.