TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A week before a previously announced special legislative session on COVID-19, Governor Ron DeSantis spoke to Zephyrhills about his anti-vaccine mandate policy goals for the November 15 lawmakers rally.

DeSantis was joined in Zephyrhills by Florida Senate Speaker Wilton Simpson and House Speaker Chris Sprowls at Bahrs Aluminum and Construction on Gall Boulevard, as well as various law enforcement and airline staff. and pilots who have expressed their disapproval of the federal vaccine. mandates.

Yet as the tone of the conversation around vaccination has changed, state leaders and supporters meeting with the governor on Monday morning stressed that they are anti-mandate, not anti-vaccine.

“No cop, no firefighter, no nurse, no one should lose their job because of these beatings – we have to stand up for people and protect their jobs and their livelihoods,” DeSantis said. “What the federal government is doing is wrong. It is wrong to kick people out of work; it is wrong to try to micromanage businesses; and it is wrong to deprive key industries of the people we need. More importantly, what they are doing is unconstitutional and we have a responsibility to defend the Constitution and protect Floridians. “

The governor’s official position has remained that the choice to get vaccinated is a personal one, not a decision governments must make for individuals. The emphasis on choice rather than mandate was echoed by supporters who spoke at the event.

“I’m a single mom and have been a flight attendant for 31 years with a major US airline,” said Lisa Williams, a 31-year flight attendant. “I am here as the Airline Employee Representative for Freedom of Health, a group of over 2,000 of my colleagues who are suing our airlines for unreasonable indefinite leave without pay accommodations instead of getting vaccinated. . We are not anti-vaccine, we are anti-mandate. My employer has done everything possible to prevent people like me from exercising our rights to protect our faith and medical autonomy.

The governor also spoke about the state’s efforts to encourage law enforcement officers and out-of-state first responders to relocate to Florida amid state protections for choices of personal health care instead of vaccine warrants and prescriptions from other state governments.

Previous efforts by the state legislature have been made to protect businesses from liability if COVID-19 affects workers. Now, while some companies are requiring their employees to be vaccinated, DeSantis has said it will remove those protections if they require employees to be vaccinated.

Additionally, the special legislative session would seek to further strengthen the Parents Bill of Rights, a law passed in May, and the state’s current ban on so-called vaccine passports. The Florida Department of Health is currently investigating a list of companies reported by Floridians for requiring proof of vaccination in violation of current state law.

As previously reported on WFLA, the following are proposed protection goals for lawmakers to consider at the next special session of the Florida General Assembly:

• If someone is fired from their job for refusing an employer-required COVID-19 vaccine, then that person should be eligible for re-employment assistance.
• If someone has an adverse medical reaction to an employer-required COVID-19 vaccine, then that person should be eligible for workers’ compensation coverage.
• If an employer fires someone based on an arbitrary COVID-19 vaccination mandate, the employer should not benefit from the current COVID-19 liability protections.
• If an employer fires a person solely on the basis of COVID-19 vaccine status, that company cannot enforce a non-compete agreement against the employee
• Employers must notify employees of religious and health exemptions. Dismissed employees should have the right to sue if employers fail to provide such notice
• WD to establish program to connect employees made redundant on the basis of COVID-19 vaccine status with other employment opportunities
• Reaffirm that government entities, including school districts, cannot fire any employee based on COVID-19 vaccine status. Offending government entities should be held accountable

Shortly after the briefing at Zephyrhills ended, the governor’s office released a list of more defined goals for the next session.

In a section titled “Protecting Employees”, the state listed the policy objectives of the legislation as follows.

COVID-19 vaccine mandates from private employers would be banned. If there is a vaccination policy in the company, it must contain exceptions for:

• Employees with health or religious problems are exempt from any vaccine requirement
• Women who are pregnant or expecting a pregnancy are exempt
• Employees who have recovered from COVID-19 are exempt
• Employers must offer all employees the option of choosing periodic COVID-19 testing or personal protective equipment as alternatives to mandatory vaccines, at no cost to employees. The frequency of testing would be determined by the DOH

For employers who violate these “employee health protections,” the state seeks legislation that:

• Fine for small businesses, businesses with less than 100 employees, offense of $ 10,000 per employee
• Fine “medium and large companies” of $ 50,000 per employee offense

Additionally, government entities would not be able to require COVID-19 vaccination from anyone, including employees, according to the governor’s office document.

In a separate section titled “Protecting Families,” the governor’s office outlined the following goals for the legislative session:

• Educational institutions may not require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19
• School districts may not require students to wear face masks, or require healthy students to be quarantined
• Students and parents can sue school districts that violate these protections and recover attorney fees

During a question-and-answer session at the Zephyrhills event, DeSantis briefly admitted that he had filed his papers to run for re-election as governor of Florida, calling it “more of a formality. “. The documents were filed on November 5.

When asked to make an official campaign announcement, the governor told reporters to “stay tuned” and that an announcement would not be made until after the special legislative session.

Read the full paper on the next special session released by the governor’s office below.