Florida will remain open and free for the foreseeable future after Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill (S.B.) 2006 on Monday. The bill, which passed through the state legislature last month and will take effect July 1, essentially prohibits government overreach through unjustified lockdowns by local municipalities throughout the Sunshine State.
The new legislation will apply to government-run institutions such as schools, courthouses, city halls, public libraries, and other similar entities, but not local businesses. This means companies such as Disney will be allowed to maintain COVID health restrictions, including mask policies and social distancing, as long as the public chooses to abide by such rules.
“In terms of what a supermarket or some of them choose to do, a Disney theme park, this does not deal with that one way or another,” said DeSantis.
The governor also signed Executive Orders 21-101 and 21-102, suspending all local pandemic-related emergency orders unless “they serve a compelling public health or safety purpose” until July 1, when they will become permanently void pursuant to S.B. 2006. The orders will also bar mask mandates and social-distancing requirements in all public spaces.
Addressing a group of supporters at a waterfront restaurant in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he signed the legislation, DeSantis remarked: “Covid is not over, but we no longer need an emergency order.” In a press release from the governor’s office, he stated, “Over the last year we’ve avoided protracted lockdowns and school closures in Florida because I have refused to take the same approach as other lockdown Governors. This legislation ensures that legal safeguards are in place so that local governments cannot arbitrarily close our schools or businesses.”
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DeSantis further assured Floridians that by signing S.B. 2006, he guaranteed their decision whether to get vaccinated for COVID-19 would remain a personal one, and that no state government entity or local company would be allowed to deny citizens services based on that choice.
Florida now joins Alabama, Arizona, and Georgia as the states that have lifted all COVID-19 mandates, whereas states such as Texas, North Dakota, Alaska, and West Virginia have removed most of their restrictions. Unlike locked-down Michigan, which recorded the nation’s highest level of new COVID cases in the past two weeks, reaching 91,000, Florida is reporting a dramatic drop in coronavirus cases, at 186.8 cases per 100,000, informed the Daily Mail.
DeSantis has strongly voiced his opposition to the idea of vaccine passports. He stated on Monday that the citizens of Florida, and all Americans, “have a right to participate in society, go to a restaurant, movie, a ballgame, all these things without having to divulge this type of information.”
Already, several Democrat-run states have launched so-called vaccine passports. New York, for example, issued its “voluntary” Excelsior Pass in March. So far, Republican-led states, such as Florida and Texas, are fiercely resisting, with the governors of both states recently signing executive orders banning legislation requiring proof of vaccination.
As many likely recall, on the night of November 4, 2020, Florida had its votes tallied in record time after the polls closed. According to Florida state law, under the direction of DeSantis, election officials were required to report early voting and mail-in ballot results within a certain timeframe and to post regular updates throughout the night, with all Election Day votes cast at polling places due by 2:00 a.m. Imagine if all the other states in the Union had followed Florida’s lead; we wouldn’t find ourselves in the predicament we are in now.
A stalwart of liberty and justice, DeSantis has risen to the top spot of red-state freedom fighters, standing steadfast against tyranny and massive government overreach. He has set the bar extremely high for other Republican leaders and remains a shoe-in for reelection as governor and a favored 2024 presidential candidate, assuming Donald Trump doesn’t run, though rumors have circulated that DeSantis could join the Trump ticket.
