Florida CFO Launches Tour Pushing COVID-19 Lawsuit Protections For Businesses

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is traveling to restaurants across Florida to push for COVID-19 liability protections for small businesses, according to a report in WJCT.  The tour comes as part of growing calls to shield businesses from COVID-19 lawsuits ahead of the state’s 2021 legislative session.

Patronis, a former restaurant owner is using the tour as part of 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:

“These suits will ultimately cause insurance rates to go up, and the flood of attorneys that will then pursue litigation, closing small businesses. We can’t let that happen, not in Florida – so we must get tourism back up and running, we must improve overall consumer confidence,” Patronis insisted. “And that means Tallahassee must lead. We must provide small business owners the confidence to be able to reopen without the fear of litigation.”