Florida's Republican-controlled House has quietly shelved legislation that would have loosened the state's vaccine mandate requirements, dealing an unexpected setback to Governor Ron DeSantis's push to expand parental choice on immunizations.
The bill never made it to a floor vote after House leadership declined to bring it forward. Speaker Ben Johnson expressed alarm about the potential consequences, pointing to the decades-long safety record of vaccines that protect against measles, mumps, polio, and chickenpox.
Johnson's stated concern centered on the risk of children attending school without protection against these longstanding communicable diseases. The resistance from GOP leadership, despite the party's control of the chamber, underscores divisions within Florida Republicans over vaccine policy.
The move marks a rare moment when DeSantis, who has championed parental rights and skepticism toward public health mandates, has been unable to advance his agenda through allies in the legislature. The Republican House effectively blocked the measure by simply refusing to schedule it for consideration.
The decision reflects concern among some GOP lawmakers that loosening vaccine requirements could create political and public health liabilities, even as the party has generally aligned with the governor on anti-mandate positions in other contexts.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "When a Republican governor can't get his own party to vote on his priority, something tells you the numbers don't add up on the merits."
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