BRANDON, Florida -- Governor Ron DeSantis signed four bills aimed at public and private vaccine mandates, to a cheering crowd at a local car dealership in this Tampa suburb.
Speaking at Brandon Honda, the governor said he wanted to protect jobs, especially those of first responders and health care workers. "Many of them have already have COVID... and now they're being told that they may (get) their walking papers... that's just fundamentally wrong," DeSantis said.
The bills basically ban mandates for employees in government and public education settings, and prevents private sector employees from imposing a vaccine requirement without allowing for exemptions.
At that same event, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced a lawsuit challenging a federal requirement that workers at hospitals, nursing homes and other health-care providers be vaccinated against COVID-19. Moody is asking a judge in Pensacola federal court to block the requirement before December 6th, which is the date by which workers must have at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Moody says the vaccination requirement would exacerbate staffing problems in the health-care industry.
The governor also signed a bill that begins Florida's process of separating from OSHA and setting up a state-run agency to deal with workplace safety. Federal approval is still required for that.
The wordplay involved in the location selected for the signing wasn't lost on cheering onlookers, some of whom chanted "Let's Go Brandon!" as Moody praised the community as "a shining city on a hill," borrowing from a famous line used by former President Ronald Reagan.
"Let's Go Brandon" is, of course, a cleaned-up reference to a vulgarity directed at current president Biden.
Brandon, Florida is unincorporated.
Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.
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