Sunshine Sentinel

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that protects Floridians from losing their jobs due to COVID-19 vaccination mandates and also confirms parents’ rights to make health care decisions for when their children are students.

“I told Floridians that we would protect their jobs and today we made that the law,” DeSantis said in a statement released by his office. “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 legislation sets its own mandates against mandates, saying private employer COVID-19 vaccine mandates are prohibited. Its provisions include that employees can utilize numerous exemptions to avoid vaccination, including health or religious reasons; pregnancy and anticipated future pregnancy; and past recovery from COVID-19. Employees can opt for periodic testing or personal protective equipment, and employers must cover those costs. Employers who violate these employee health protections can be fined.

The legislation doesn’t stop there. It also addresses vaccine mandates targeted at government and educational institutions, stating neither may require COVID-19 vaccinations of employees or students. School districts also may not quarantine healthy students.

The legislation allows students and parents to sue noncompliant school districts and recover costs and attorney’s fees.

“I am honored to be here today as Governor DeSantis signs the ‘Keep Florida Free’ agenda into law,” Senate President Wilton Simpson said in the release regarding his signing of the legislation. “We are sending a clear message that Florida stands for freedom.”

The legislation in Florida comes as the federal government has paused a mandated Jan. 4 deadline for employees in a company of 100 or more be vaccinated, Fox News reported.

The policy has been challenged by multiple states and agencies in court, prompting the administration of President Joe Biden to re-examine its stance. The pause comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld a stay on the mandate, Fox News reported.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered the suspension of enforcement of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 mandate for large private businesses.

“We will not allow the Biden Administration to make political pawns of the very people who put their lives on the line to keep our economy running while everyone else was safe at home,” Simpson said in the release. “We certainly will never cede the responsibility of parenting to the school system or bureaucrats in the federal government. Florida respects the dignity of work, the responsibility to parent, and the right to live in freedom.”