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Florida News That Impacts You – October 15th, 2021
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- Today is the day the new Seminole Compact is in effect in Florida. As part of the compact sports betting is now legal in the state, however no sports betting operations are currently available. The Seminoles have taken a cautious approach to sports betting as the plan outlined by the Compact would have the tribe facilitating sports betting for all operations statewide. With lawsuits pending resolution at the state and federal level, commonly challenging the legality of the plan due to 2018’s Amendment 3,the tribe appears to be angling for a potential launch of sports betting operations exclusively on their properties in the near future.
- Florida’s weekly trend for new COVID-19 cases has fallen below 3,000 daily for the first time since the onset of the Delta surge in cases in early July. The last time new COVID-19 cases were as low as they are today, July 8th.
- Medicare enrollment begins today. A record 4.8 million Floridians, or 21% of the state’s population are Medicare eligible this year. Open enrollment extends through December 7th.
- Digital Driver’s Licenses are likely coming to Florida next month. Officials from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles updated the state legislature on the state’s Smart-ID app which has been tested in beta (though not publicly available) in recent months. Once made public you’ll be able to download the app to your phone and use the app in lieu of a physical driver’s license. According to officials, the digital IDs can’t be faked. In addition to the state’s app, they’re currently working with Apple for a version which could be added to the AppleWallet which wouldn’t require a separate app for iPhone users.