Where Things Stand: DeSantis Again Threatens Fines For Those Who Dare Defy His Deadly COVID Rules

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is re-upping his main and, seemingly, only defense against those in his state who dare to buck his rules against COVID-19 mitigation measures: He's threatening more of the little guys with fines again.

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DeSantis announced Monday that Floridan municipalities would be fined up to $5,000 per individual infraction for instituting vaccine mandates for employees. That means Florida city and county governments could face millions in fines for passing local rules that require vaccination — the $5,000 fine would apply to each employee impacted individually by any inoculation mandate.

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In his announcement, DeSantis claimed that vaccination requirements for employees goes against a law passed this summer, SB 2006, which prevents private businesses from requiring proof-of-vaccination from customers. As the Associated Press and other local news outlets point out, the bill doesn't actually include any language against businesses requiring employees to be vaccinated. Per News Channel 8 out of Tampa: "It is unclear what part of SB 2006 the governor intends to use to enforce the potential penalties for municipal governments."

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DeSantis' announcement today was splattered with conservative red meat, painting the move as a job-saving endeavor.

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"We're gonna protect these jobs," DeSantis said. "We're gonna protect these people's families. We're gonna protect their livelihoods."

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Locally, municipal governments like Orange County and the city of Gainesville could face hefty fines for implementing vaccine requirements for employees, the AP reported.

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It's just one of many retaliatory moves we've seen from Republican governors in recent days as many cry wolf about the federal government encroaching on individual freedom in response to mitigation measures enacted to pull the U.S. out of the lingering days of the deadly pandemic.

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Several GOP governors, as well as the Republican National Committee, have vowed legal action against the Biden administration for the President's executive order last week requiring federal employees be vaccinated. (It's all made more hypocritical when looked at through the small-government lens that's propelled DeSantis' claim to conservative fame, stripping small local governments of their ability to pass common sense laws for their communities.)

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But as we saw last month — as individual school districts stood up against DeSantis' anti-mask mandate orders in the state — the Florida governor's bark back then was worse than his actual bite. The actual cost of these recent threatened fines is much higher than what Florida officials threatened against school districts last month (withholding the monthly salary from school board members who voted in favor of universal masking requirements in their districts).

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This is an escalation. But it's unclear how far he will take the fight or what legal repercussions he actually has in his toolbox. We'll keep an eye on it.

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