Statements
Florida Democratic Party Chair Lambasts DeSantis as the Governor Calls for a Special Session of the Legislature to Ban COVID-19 Employee Vaccination Requirements
On Thursday October 21, 2021, at a news conference in Clearwater, Florida, Governor DeSantis called for a special session of the Florida Legislature to ban employee vaccination requirements in the state, withdraw liability protections from companies that adopt that policy and toughen enforcement of the law that prohibited school districts from enacting masking protocols.
In reaction to this development, Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz issued the following statement:
“Governor Ron DeSantis has doubled down again on policies to sabotage our nation’s health and slow our economic recovery. When it comes to our families and their health, he believes big government should control and make decisions over every aspect of our lives. After all, he would have us accept and trust the imposition of his arbitrary preferences over the judgment of our doctors, schools, businesses and families.
“DeSantis proves every day that COVID-19 has no better friend in Florida than the Governor of our state. Calling a special session to further hamper efforts to vaccinate our population and to more efficiently deny local governments, schools and businesses the option to adopt prudent health protocols to combat the pandemic goes beyond irresponsibility, it is a full-on assault on our state’s public health and provides more evidence of the Governor’s anti-business and anti-freedom inclinations.
“Just as the summer’s delta wave appears to be receding, DeSantis is redoubling his efforts to ensure that COVID-19 continues to ravage our state for as long as possible. With an ever-present possibility of more deadly or contagious variants developing and causing more illness, deaths and economic damage, there is simply no worse time to insist on his cynical political games designed to thrill the radical anti-vaccine, anti-masking extremists in the GOP base.”