DeSantis Signs Multiple Bills Blocking Private Vaccine Mandates
An increasingly defiant Governor Ron DeSantis has recently signed multiple bills limiting the ability of employers in the state to force vaccines on their workers. Speaking from Brandon (coincidence?), Florida, DeSantis said this is the “strongest pro-freedom, anti-action taken by any state.”
The four bills were passed through the Florida state legislature in a special session on Nov. 17. They made it illegal for a private employer to impose a vaccine mandate without providing medical or religious exemptions and options for weekly testing.
During the signing, DeSantis rallied against local governments who have tried to impose their own COVID restrictions.
“I told Floridians that we would protect their jobs, and today, we made that the law,” DeSantis said.
“Now, some people say, ‘hey, these local governments wanted to lock down businesses, they wanted to force mandates, they wanted to keep the kids locked out of school.’ You’re damn right I overruled them in that because they were wrong,” DeSantis announced.
In the meantime, Florida is part of an ongoing lawsuit against the Biden administration over its OSHA vaccine mandate, which has been put on hold pending the ongoing litigation.
“Florida is leading, this is the strongest piece of legislation that’s been enacted anywhere in the country in this regard,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis laughed when asked by a reporter if the bill signing being held in Brandon was a reference to the chants of “Let’s go Brandon” that have become a coded stand-in for “F—- Joe Biden” among conservatives.
“I think that Brandon, Florida is a great American city,” DeSantis said, as some in the crowd of about 250 supporters chanted, “Let’s go, Brandon.”
DeSantis, a Republican, called the special legislative session on vaccine mandates as he waged a legal and media campaign against vaccine mandates pushed by Biden.
The vote Wednesday night capped a short session in which Republicans were all but certain to pass the bills. One measure prevents private businesses from having vaccine mandates unless they allow workers to opt-out for medical reasons, religious beliefs, immunity based on a previous infection, regular testing, or an agreement to wear protective gear. The state health department, which is led by Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who opposes mandates, will be tasked with defining standards for the exemptions.
DeSantis has said that the bills are necessary to ensure that people are not fired over vaccinations.
“No nurse, no firefighter, no police officer, no trucker, no anybody should lose their job because of these Covid jabs,” DeSantis said.
I don’t get this, CONservatives have spent decades championing “right to work” laws that enabled employers to basically do what ever they wanted, enact any rules, and terminate employees without cause. Now, when there is a public health crisis, they want to roll back an employers ability to protect their bottom line?
This is a dramatic change in thinking. I mean, I welcome Republican’s sudden interest in worker’s rights, ( finally) but I think this is short sighted.
Following DeSantis for covid, or any public health issue, is like asking Bernie Madoff for financial advice. It’s a good story, but he’s gonna profit and you’re gonna get robbed.
Florida’s numbers were pretty good in the early surge until DeSantis went all Trumpian looking for a national election bid and Floridians began to pay the price of his politically weaponized policies in Florida’s second surge where suddenly Florida had giant case, hospitalization, and death reporting combined with one of the least protected senior populations of any US State. Florida’s case count and death count rose to be third in the nation, nothing was going well. Along comes DeSantis and he changes the process of public health reporting and suddenly FL death counts are the best in the nation, or in the top five, even with terrible case counts. The last couple months have been magic. A miracle not seen in any other state in America, or any other country in the world. Whatever DeSantis is doing, we should all do it. The problem is, he isn’t doing much of anything, the numbers are just disappearing. Literally.
Even with some statistical shenanigans to pull his policy problems out of the pyre, DeSantis’ covid handling in FL is clearly not best in class in the nation. Even the the past two months being a statistical miracle, saintly at least, Florida’s covid response, under the leadership of DeSantis, statistically sucks pondwater. Blows tubes. Circles the bowl. In many covid stats, he is third from the bottom and in others, lucky to make middle of the pack. Imagine if he governed a northern state how bad off they would be following his policies and programs.
No, most states would look at anything DeSantis does regarding covid, and better to look elsewhere for better answers. Almost any state will do. Or just better no to do anything DeSantis does regarding covid; it doesn’t work, either does DeSantis.
Florida has the lowest infection rate in the country. The Covid shit is mostly overrated and false.