DeSantis to Unveil New Legislation Banning Employers From Requiring Vaccination 'As Soon as the End of Today'

On Oct. 29, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he would call a special session of the Florida legislature to vote on banning the Biden administration’s effort to have private companies enact vaccine mandates. During a Nov. 8 press teleconference, DeSantis’ Chief of Staff James Uthmeier said drafts of the legislation should be released by tomorrow morning at the latest and “as soon as the end of today.”

“We put in the legislation that women who are pregnant or who anticipate becoming pregnant are most certainly exempt from any vaccine requirement,” Uthmeier said during the teleconference, adding that “anybody who has already had COVID-19 and recovered will be exempt from any vaccine requirement.”

Uthmeier also stated that all employees, whether they have applied for a qualified exemption or not, must be given the option to choose between either periodic testing or use of PPE as an alternative to any vaccine requirements—at no cost to the employees.

“So this is truly a prohibition on vaccine mandates being implemented by businesses,” he said.

Asked if there will be any protections in the law for private companies against the vaccine mandates imposed by the Biden administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), DeSantis’ Press Secretary Christina Pushaw said that, while they “do envision that,” the new legislation will involve a litigation strategy.

“So while they are talking about legislation,” Pushaw explained, “they are also litigating against the federal government to block the OSHA requirements from coming into force.”

Regarding injury to any employee who was forced to get vaccinated to save their job, Uthmeier said they believe Florida’s Employee Compensation laws already cover that.

“If your employer has some sort of policy requirement requiring vaccines, somehow in violation of this law, and it leads to an injury then employees absolutely should be compensated,” he said.

In addition, the legislation will prevent government entities from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for anyone, including employees.

“Enforcement will be through an investigat... (Read more)

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