Florida’s DeSantis signs bill limiting vaccine mandates [Video]

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Wednesday to ban educational or government institutions from enforcing vaccine mandates.
• The legislation also places exemptions to the mandate, such as religious or health reasons, or allowing regular testing and wearing of personal protective equipment.
• DeSantis said that the bill aims to protect people’s livelihoods.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has signed legislation to limit vaccine mandates in Florida.

The bill bans educational or government institutions from enforcing vaccine mandates. It also prohibits businesses from enforcing a vaccine mandate without certain exemptions, such as religious or health reasons. It allows employees to be exempted if they undergo regular COVID-19 testing or use personal protective equipment.

Small businesses with 99 or fewer employees could face a $10,000 fine for each violation of the bill, while larger businesses could be fined $50,000.

DeSantis declared on Thursday’s press conference, “There’s times you need to stand up and you need to make your voice heard.”

The governor stated, “At the end of the day, nobody in Florida should be losing their job over these jabs. We want people to be able to work, we want people to be able to provide for their families. We want people to be able to have livelihoods, and that’s just the way it’s going to be in this state.”

DeSantis chose to sign the bill in Brandon, Florida as an allusion to the phrase “Let’s go, Brandon.”

The phrase was popularized by conservatives as a coded insult to President Joe Biden. It first caught on after a reporter at an October NASCAR race misheard the crowd’s chants of “F— Joe Biden” as “Let’s go, Brandon.”

Christina Pushaw, press secretary for DeSantis, told The Hill, “Governor DeSantis is proud to take this stand and protect Floridians against unconstitutional, unscientific, job-killing federal overreach.”

The vaccine mandate was announced by the Biden administration in September. It requires businesses with at least 100 employees to make sure that their employees get the COVID-19 vaccine or otherwise undergo weekly testing. The deadline to comply with the mandate was set on Jan. 4.

Last week, the mandate was stayed by a federal appeals court in response to a multi-state lawsuit led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).

On Wednesday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which developed the mandate, complied with the court ruling and suspended the mandate enforcement.

Florida has also filed a lawsuit challenging the vaccine-or-test mandate and other similar vaccine mandates.

Source: The Hill