Today, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into legislation bills passed through this week's Special Session of the Florida Legislature, what the Governor's office called the "strongest pro-freedom, anti-mandate action taken by any state in the nation."
In Florida, effective upon signing:
Private Employer COVID-19 vaccine mandates are prohibited
‣ Employees can choose from numerous exemptions, including but not limited to, health or religious concerns; pregnancy or anticipated future pregnancy; and past recovery from COVID-19.
‣ Employees can choose to opt for periodic testing or PPE as an exemption.
‣ Employers must cover the costs of testing and PPE exemptions for employees.
Employers who violate these employee health protections will be fined.
‣ Small businesses (99 employees or less) will face $10,000 per employee violation.
‣ Medium and big businesses will face $50,000 per employee violation.
Government entities may not require COVID-19 vaccinations of anyone, including employees.
Educational institutions may not require students to be COVID-19 vaccinated.
School districts may not have school face mask policies.
School districts may not quarantine healthy students.
Students and parents may sue violating school districts and recover costs and attorney’s fees.
“I told Floridians that we would protect their jobs and today we made that the law,” DeSantis said. “Nobody should lose their job due to heavy-handed COVID mandates and we had a responsibility to protect the livelihoods of the people of Florida. I’m thankful to the Florida Legislature for joining me in standing up for freedom.”
The response from the Democratic Party was swift.
“The politicization of the vaccine continues. It’s a disgrace the governor chooses to call a symbol of technological and medical advancement “the jab” to continue scaring people and confusing them about the effectiveness of the vaccine. We need to continue listening to public health and medical experts to get over this pandemic and truly let Floridians prosper,” said Rep. Bobby DuBose (D-Ft. Lauderdale).
“The Special Session to promote the DeSantis presidential campaign has ended and he’s signed the bills into law. Floridians are less safe and we have set public health back generations. This political stunt further divides Florida at a time when we needed to pull together to literally save our neighbors’ lives. Laissez-faire epidemiology and outright disinformation have contributed to Florida’s horrific death toll, and it’s shameful that some choose to politicize an epidemic for their own ambition,” said Rep. Evan Jenne (D-Hollywood).
