More than seven in 10 Florida voters favor legislation that would protect the state’s businesses from being sued by people who claim they contracted COVID-19 after visiting a commercial enterprise, new poll results show.
A Florida Chamber of Commerce survey of likely voters conducted earlier this month found that 71 percent of the respondents favor such liability protection for Florida business owners, according to David Hart, the chamber’s executive vice president. Respondents supported such legislation provided a targeted business was following state and federal safety guidelines, Hart said.
The consensus for coronavirus liability protections stands in contrast to some of the other survey results, however. On the question of whether Florida was headed in the right direction generally, 44 percent said yes, but 42 percent disagreed.
A split was also seen in respondents’ answers to how Florida has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty-six percent said the state’s response was about right, but 44 percent responded that state policies were not restrictive enough. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
“I suspect some of that’s a function of what we’re seeing play out nationally,” Hart told the Florida Record, noting that there have been contests between Republicans and Democrats in Congresses, as well as competitions between governors of different parties, over how best to respond to the coronavirus.
Whether any potential divisions within Florida’s electorate lead to a gridlock on certain policy issues will depend on the outcome of state legislative elections in November, he said. But the consensus on litigation protections during the coronavirus situation shows voters can come together on some key issues, according to Hart.
“I’ll share that as one example of where, even though you might see some partisan splits on some of the other questions … this one was a good example of how you do see on some public policy issues sort of an across-the-board support,” he said.
Other key findings in the survey include 55 percent of voters saying the state’s economy will be on the upswing six months from now and 58 percent approving of how Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is doing his job, according to Hart. The poll found independent voters continue to support the governor’s job performance.
“The No. 1 issue not surprisingly was jobs,” he said, noting that a plurality of respondents said job creation and the economy were the top concerns.