Florida Considers Confronting OSHA
Local News Staff 
On Monday the Florida legislature presented proposals to fight COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates.
The legislation comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis restated the dire necessity for the session, which begins on November 15. DeSantis, with House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, and Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, toured Bahrs Aluminum and Construction in Zephyrhills.
“We have got to stop trying to browbeat people,” DeSantis said. “From the very beginning, we’ve said, let’s not put people down, let’s lift people up. That’s what we are going to be doing, and we are going to be saving a lot of jobs in the state of Florida.”
Summaries of the proposals issued by the House and Senate state that the bills aim to provide workers exemptions from employer-required vaccinations; preventing government employers from requiring workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19; reinforcing the state’s so-called “Parents Bill of Rights” law to shield schoolchildren from mask and vaccination mandates; moving toward withdrawing from federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration oversight; and prohibiting the state surgeon general from forcing people to be vaccinated.
DeSantis, a potential 2024 candidate, sees the effort as a needed response to what has been characterized by some as an overstep by the Biden Administration.
The main proposal (HB 1B and SB 2B) for the special session restricts employers from requiring workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 without also providing exemptions.
