Business groups remained upbeat as Florida lawmakers passed a series of bills to counter COVID-19 mandates in the state during a special session this week called by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The legislature passed the session’s marquee measure, House Bill 1B, which bars employers from enforcing vaccine mandates unless they provide several exemptions. These include employee opt-out provisions for medical reasons, including pregnancy; religious reasons; immunity resulting from a prior coronavirus infection; and options for periodic testing – paid for by employers – in lieu of getting the vaccine.
Under the provisions of HB 1B, the Attorney General’s Office would enforce the new rules, with small businesses subject to fines of $10,000 per violation and larger businesses subject to fines of $50,000 per violation.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce, which has sought to balance protecting health and maintaining economic growth during the pandemic, expressed relief that private employers would not be subject to civil lawsuits by workers claiming a business violated their right of choice on getting the vaccine.
“Florida already has the fifth worst legal climate in America, and we are encouraged the legislature is not adding additional private causes of actions, which would only serve to hurt jobs and make Florida less competitive,” the chamber said in a statement emailed to the Florida Record.
Issues arising from the coronavirus pandemic won’t be solved by a one-size-fits-all edict from the federal government, according to the chamber.
“Many Florida Chamber members remain frustrated by the federal government’s insistence to dictate decisions best left to the private sector,” Mark Wilson, the chamber’s president and CEO, said. “In the free market, consumers, employees and employers are in the best position to make these choices for themselves without any government intervention.”
Private lawsuits, however, will be allowed in situations when parents contend school districts violated provisions of the bill. HB 1B bars districts from mandating that students get the COVID-19 vaccine or put in place masking policies. Parents are entitled to file lawsuits in such cases and to recover legal costs and attorney’s fees under the terms of the bill.
“In regard to House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 2, we are asking the Florida legislature to provide businesses with a clear-cut definition of what constitutes a business vaccine mandate,” the National Federation of Independent Business state executive director, Bill Herrle, said in a statement prior to the session. “We greatly appreciate the legislature avoiding litigation as a means of enforcement.”
The legislature also passed a bill designed to put Florida on a path to withdrawing from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the agency overseeing the federal COVID-19 mandate for private employers, and creating a state agency to review workplace health and safety issues.