Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a new legislative proposal that - if passed - would make the bans he imposed in 2021 against mandatory facemask and covid-19 vaccination mandates permanent measures.
The proposal would override any impositions or recommendations made by federal health authorities, and would include a permanent ban on the requirement of masks and vaccination passports in schools and workplaces The proposal will be presented in the next legislative period and must be consulted in the state's Republican-majority Congress before being implemented.
"An action in favor of freedom"
The governor's office said in a statement that the "common sense" proposal is "a pro-freedom action" that will "permanently protect Floridians from losing their jobs due to covid-19 vaccination mandates."
"We're going to have the ability to live your life without wearing a mask," DeSantis noted. In addition, it will protect "parental rights and gives additional protections that prevent discrimination based on covid-19 vaccine status." Furthermore, it will ensure that medical professionals have freedom of expression and are not discriminated against, nor could they lose their jobs because of "their personal religious views."
In Florida, we support medical professionals and their right to free speech and we reject policies that seek to manufacture "consensus" through coercion. pic.twitter.com/ftpgfgJ1uH
- Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 18, 2023
2021 ban
DeSantis signed a package of measures in 2021 that were approved in a special session of Congress. Among them, the law prohibiting the use of masks and vaccination passports against covid-19 in schools, educational institutions and companies, under penalty of fines that could reach up to US$50,000 per employee if they are not respected.
The governor has come out against the Biden Administration's health policies on many occasions. In December 2022, he petitioned the Florida Supreme Court to initiate an investigation of "any and all irregularities in Florida with respect to covid-19 vaccines."
In response to the petition, the court authorized a state grand jury to investigate "manufacturers, pharmacists, their executive officers and other medical associations or organizations" linked to "vaccines that allegedly prevent infection, symptoms and transmission" of covid-19.
