Florida GOP limits vaccine mandates, flouting White House
By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Republicans have approved a sweeping bill to hobble coronavirus vaccine mandates in businesses. They rejected claims they were sacrificing public health to hand Gov. Ron DeSantis a win in his fight against White House virus rules. The lawmakers in the GOP-controlled statehouse expedited the measure Wednesday along with a package of virus bills. That action came after hours of debate in which Republicans batted down objections and maintained they were protecting workers from onerous mandates and federal government overreach. DeSantis, a Republican, called the special legislative session on vaccine mandates as he waged a legal and media campaign against vaccine mandates advanced by Democratic President Joe Biden.