Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis has filed lawsuits against the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Biden administration in an effort to get cruises sailing out of Florida.
The announcement came after major cruise lines like Carnival, considered moving their ships out of the state. For more than a year, cruise ships have not been permitted to sail in or out of Florida, the world’s largest cruise port.
Economic concerns persist in Florida. The concern being that if cruise companies leave and sail out of countries that have allowed them to resume, countless jobs will be going with them. Businesses that rely on the cruise industry to stay afloat, will also be impacted indefinitely. This would then lead to a potential loss of billions of dollars in revenue for the state.
DeSantis said once the CDC released guidelines for cruise sailing but did not set dates for when it could resume, he decided it was time to go to court. The lawsuits were filed on April 8, 2021 according to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
