AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today filed a motion to intervene in Florida’s case against the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for their series of unlawful orders that brought the cruise industry to a halt, a press release states.
The CDC issued a series of “no-sailing” or “conditional-sailing” orders that crippled the Texas passenger cruise industry and the many Texas businesses that support it.
“The pandemic showed us that the need for stable and predictable law has never been greater. Government policy should not have the ability to destroy industries and eliminate workforces with the stroke of a pen,” Attorney General Paxton said. “The cruise industry needs clearly defined expectations for safe operations and protection from baseless COVID-related claims while the country is reaching new vaccination records.”
In 2019, tourism-related businesses like travel agencies, airlines, bars, restaurants, entertainment venues, and hotels received around $816 million in direct cruise industry expenditures in Texas. In total, direct expenditures from the cruise industry created almost 29,600 jobs and generated $1.8 billion of income in just one year alone. The Port of Galveston is the fourth largest cruise port in the country.