Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is slated to sign bills passed by the Republican-led legislature in the special session, doing so in Brandon, Florida — an obvious nod to the famous “Let’s Go, Brandon!” movement seen across the nation.
The Republican governor, a key opponent of President Joe Biden’s agenda, will hold a press conference in Brandon on Thursday and, more specifically, at the Brandon Honda car dealership. There, he is expected to sign a series of bills — House Bills 1, 3, 5 and 7 — addressing vaccine mandates. The measures are designed to protect workers from being forced to get the jab as a condition of employment.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs a bill during a signing ceremony at the William J. Kirlew Junior Academy (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky).
One of the measures requires employers to provide clear exemptions for refusing the shot, including health, religion, pregnancy, or natural immunity. Businesses that fail to comply with the state guidelines would face financial penalties.
According to the legislature’s summary of the bills:
HB 1B/SB 2B: Protects students, parents, workers and employers in our state by creating a framework for employees to make the best decision for their health and affirming the rights of parents to make health care decisions for their children. The bill prohibits COVID-19 vaccination mandates for employees in government and public education and protects parental choice on masks, vaccines and quarantine. Specifically, the legislation prohibits private-sector employers from having a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for employees without providing at least the five following individual exemptions:
1. Medical reasons, as determined by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or
physician assistant. Medical reasons include pregnancy or expectation of pregnancy.
2. Religious reasons, based on a sincerely held belief
3. Immunity based on prior COVID–19 infection, as documented by a lab test
4. Periodic testing, agreeing to comply with regular testing at no cost to the employee
5. Personal protective equipment (PPE), agreeing to comply with use of employer–provided PPE
HB 3B/SB 4B: Creates a public records exemption for information, including personal medical information and religious information, contained in files created during an investigation of an employer who refuses to provide individual exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
HB 5B/SB 6B: Directs the Executive Office of the Governor to review options for the State of Florida to take responsibility over our own workers’ occupational safety and health issues in light of the misuse of OSHA by the Biden Administration.
HB 7B/SB 8B: Repeals the authority of the state Surgeon General to mandate vaccinations.
DeSantis’s decision to sign the bills in Brandon serves as an obvious, unsaid nod to the “Let’s Go, Brandon!” movement, which serves as an essential code of “Fuck Joe Biden” — another chant that has risen in popularity over the past few months, particularly at college football games.
“Let’s Go, Brandon!” was essentially coined in October after an NBC reporter interviewed NASCAR driver Brandon Brown. The crowd shouted, “Fuck Joe Biden” in the background, but she bizarrely asserted that the crowd was shouting “Let’s Go, Brandon!”:
This is not the first time DeSantis issued a nod to the movement. During a press conference in early November, DeSantis blasted the policies of the “Biden or Brandon administration,” prompting the crowd to erupt in the viral chant.