Florida 2030 at halftime: The momentum is real, but so are the challenges

With five years left on the clock, the Florida Chamber Foundation rolled out a “halftime” report on the Florida 2030 Blueprint^[1], highlighting two goals already met ahead of schedule while acknowledging work remains elsewhere.

Florida Chamber Vice President of Research Keith Richard framed the exercise, unveiled at the Future of Florida Forum^[2], as a quick-turn audit built with input from trustees, agency leaders and community partners. A fuller report is due this Fall.

Bank of America Market Executive Doug Davidson, who chaired the Halftime Task Force, said Florida has already cleared two of its 2030 targets: leading the nation in new business startups and cementing its brand as the best place to “live, work, do business and visit.”

“In 2024 we had more people move here, visit here, relocate a business here, and move income permanently to the state of Florida. … People are choosing Florida,” Davidson said.

On the scoreboard side, Davidson outlined areas “on track,” with more than 60% of residents having a high-value postsecondary education and 95% of each high school class expected to graduate on time.

But he didn’t sugarcoat the gaps: progress on kindergarten readiness, eighth-grade reading and math, and especially housing aren’t chugging along at the same pace.

“We have some work to do,” Davidson said.

Karen Moore, founder of The Moore Agency^[3] and the incoming Foundation Chair, made clear the stakes for Florida employers, telling the crowd of business leaders that a dearth of affordable housing and child care access is already causing some families not to plant roots in the Sunshine State.

Affordable and attainable housing has been a nagging issue throughout the state, especially in major metros, that policymakers have worked to address.

Florida’s twice-updated Live Local Act^[4], a cornerstone of Kathleen Passidomo’s Senate presidency, is delivering affordable units and faster approvals. But analyses show it’s falling short for the “missing middle^[5],” defined as households that earn too much to qualify for affordable housing subsidies, but not enough to comfortably pay market rents in their area.

Lawmakers will undoubtedly address the issue again in the 2026 Legislative Session. Already, Sens. Don Gaetz and Rosalind Osgood have filed legislation^[6] to, among other things, facilitate homeowners building accessory dwellings. The assumption is that a resultant burst in housing supply would lead to lower rents.

Both panelists stressed that facts on the ground have shifted faster than expected since the Blueprint was first unveiled in the late 2010s. Some of the changes wrought by the global pandemic are clear: remote work, telehealth, automation and more have moved forward at breakneck speed.

But while the pandemic accelerated innovation in some areas, it also stalled progress in others, particularly in education where achievement gaps are neither unique to Florida, nor fully understood^[7], yet altogether undeniable.

Moore said that it will take “tens of thousands” of people, including business leaders, working in concert to fulfill the goals outlined in the 2030 Blueprint. But the action plan boils down to two words: “educate and engage.”