Christine Sexton, Florida Phoenix

Florida’s announced push to eliminate all vaccine mandates drew fierce condemnation from Democrats, but it is also exposing a potential rift among Republicans.

Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott distanced himself from Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and their pledge to strip mandates and immunization requirements from both Florida law and rules carried out by state agencies.

Other prominent GOP officials, however, took a less clear stance and suggested they supported parental rights without explicitly endorsing the elimination of mandates.

Republican legislative leaders in the state House and Senate, meanwhile, haven’t indicated whether they will support the proposal, which would require legislative approval.

Scott defends public health

Scott served two terms as Florida governor and during that eight-year span cut back the amount of public health available at county health departments, reduced Medicaid spending, and eliminated from the Florida Kidcare program thousands of children in hurricane battered zones whose parents couldn’t pay their required monthly premiums.

A former healthcare executive, Scott resigned from Columbia/HCA, the company he helped found, in 1997 due to billing fraud allegations. Although Scott personally never was charged, the allegations resulted in the company paying a $1.7 billion in fines and settlements, the largest such recovery to that point.

Yet he was the first Florida Republican to openly criticize the proposal.

“Florida already has a good system that allows families to opt out based on religious and personal beliefs, which balances our children’s health and parents’ rights,” Scott said in a statement.

Meanwhile Scott’s counterpart, Republican U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, supports the move. DeSantis appointed Moody, a former Florida attorney general, to the U.S. Senate.

“They don’t call us the free state of Florida for nothing,” Moody said. “One of the things I think stood out about our state during the last years, especially when we were dealing with [Covid-19], was that we pushed back and made sure that we were giving reasoned analysis throughout that time period and making sure that people knew we as state leaders understood our limits, that we respected individuals’ rights,” Moody told NewsMax.

Senate President Ben Albritton’s office isn’t publicly commenting on the proposal at this time, said Katherine Betta, his spokesperson. House Speaker Daniel Perez’s office, meanwhile, hasn’t replied to requests for comment

Meanwhile, former Senate President Don Gaetz, a Republican from Destin now serving again in the cbamber, took a cautionary approach. Among his committee assignments is membership in Health Policy.

He did not criticize the move by the DeSantis administration but said that science requires a continued evaluation of evidence and conclusions.

“If the surgeon general has valid and reliable evidence challenging the efficacy of certain vaccinations then of course I am open to his proposal,” Gaetz said in a statement to the Florida Phoenix. “As a layman, I also hope to hear from medical authorities.”

While initially silent following the announcement, the Florida Medical Association on Thursday issued a terse statement opposing the proposal.

“On behalf of Florida’s more than 23,000 physicians and medical professionals, the Florida Medical Association unequivocally supports the vaccination and immunization of school-aged children against diseases that decades ago proved life-threatening to our kids. The FMA advocates for physicians and their patients to promote the public health, ensure the highest standards of medical practice, and to enhance the quality and availability of health care in the Sunshine State. This includes the safe and effective administration of vaccines and immunizations based on years of research and efficacy.”

Stuart Republican Sen. Gayle Harrell told the Phoenix she needs to see the proposal in bill form before commenting on it but believes in vaccines.

“I totally support vaccines and vaccinations.We do have opt-out provisions in current statutes, so I’d really have to see what they what exactly they would do before I comment on anything.”

Harrell played a key role earlier this year in quashing legislation that would have required physicians and health care facilities to treat patients regardless of their vaccination status.

Hillsborough County Republican Rep. Michael Owen said the idea of allowing parental choice appeals to conservatives but stopped short of supporting the proposal.

“Informed consent to put the parents in the driver’s seat, but I definitely want to look at and see what we’re talking about when it comes to certain vaccines that may be critical for children. I’m open to the science and listening to the doctors, and us allowing Floridian parents to make those decisions,” he told the Phoenix.

Where the Republican candidates stand

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bryon Donalds released an ambiguous statement on X Thursday, saying, “I believe parents should be empowered to make vaccination decisions for their children.”

DeSantis administration pushes to eliminate all vaccine mandates in Florida

Florida law now places the decision of whether to vaccinate children with parents and, despite certain vaccine requirements, allows exemptions for medical or religious objections that enable unvaccinated children to attend school.

Likewise, eliminating the mandate to vaccinate would not preclude Florida parents from voluntarily vaccinating their children.

Former House speaker and Republican gubernatorial hopeful Paul Renner also issued a vague statement Thursday.

“As speaker, I opposed mandatory covid vaccines and supported strong parental rights legislation. Parents should not be forced to have their children take a vaccine that they think is unsafe. However, we should have safe and effective vaccines that save lives.”

‘It’s going to affect the whole country, and even globally’

Dr. Scott Weaver is director of the University of Texas Medical Branch Institute for Human Infections and Immunity. His research focuses on vaccine development for a variety of diseases. In an interview with the Florida Phoenix Thursday, Weaver called the proposal “just a terrible decision.”

“I’m sure it’s pretty simple to get a waiver from the vaccine requirements in Florida and many other states, but when you don’t even need the waiver, it’s going to be much easier. And I think a lot of people are going to opt out because they’re not familiar with the diseases. They haven’t seen measles in their lifetime. They’ve been misinformed about the risks versus benefits of these vaccines. They don’t understand that their decision not to vaccinate their child could result in other children becoming infected.”

Weaver stresses that if the Legislature does eliminate vaccine mandates, the decision will reverberate beyond Florida.

“If Florida starts seeing big outbreaks of measles, which they certainly will with this policy, they’re going to see outbreaks all over the country. There are many pockets of low immunity throughout the country, and it just takes one traveler to start an outbreak there. And so it’s not even going to be confined to affecting Floridians. It’s going to affect the whole country and even globally.”

Weaver believes the anti-vaccination movement started with misleading information from Andrew Wakefield, a British physician who published a paper claiming to link autism to vaccines. His publisher later withdrew his paper amid accusations of research fraud and British authorities withdrew his license to practice medicine.

Now the best way to beat back anti-vaccination efforts is through education, Weaver said.

“I think a long term solution is, as part of our school curricula, we have to teach children how to find reliable information on the internet and how to distinguish misinformation or poorly formulated information from the best information from the most reliable sources and experts in a given field,” he said.

“I don’t know whether that’s starting to happen, but that’s got to be the cornerstone, to educate everybody how to find reliable information, how to distinguish misinformation — conspiracy theory with no basis behind it — from information that they should be using to make these critical decisions.”

Florida Phoenix reporter Mitch Perry contributed to this story

Gov. Ron DeSantis threw out the V word on Thursday and warned state legislators he is getting ready to use his line-item veto power.

During a lengthy press conference on higher education held on the campus of Florida Atlantic University, the Republican governor took shots at the Legislature for not passing a budget on time. He also noted that the final $115.1 billion budget includes enough local projects for individual lawmakers to leave him “kind of numb.”

He will have to sign the budget and use any line-item vetoes before July 1.

“Well, there obviously will be veto[es],” said DeSantis, who last year vetoed $949.6 million in projects from the budget that runs through next Monday. In 2023, the governor vetoed $510.9 million from the state’s spending plan and in 2022 he vetoed a whopping $3.1 billion.

DeSantis’ remarks on the subject were brief but biting.

“I think those of you who follow state politics, legislative stuff, we’d thought we’d get a budget in early May. Fiscal year ends June 30. They didn’t quite do that and they ended up producing one probably about 45 days after the deadline — which, you know is their prerogative to do. The reality, though, is there’s a lot to go through. So we’ve been going through it. I mean like I’m kind of numb with all the different line items that are in it.”

The GOP-led Legislature failed to pass the budget during the regular 60-day session. Leaders agreed to an extended session and on June 16 approved a $115.1 billion budget and a $1.3 billion tax cut package. The 2025-26 budget is $3.5 billion smaller than this year’s and half a billion less than DeSantis proposed spending.

The House and Senate also agreed as part of the budget to direct for the next two years $1.5 into the Budget Stabilization Fund to weather a potential recession. The emergency fund could help Florida get through the looming federal funding cuts.

The Senate unanimously voted for the budget, whereas two Democrats in the House voted against it.

President Donald Trump during his first administration promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, but fell short.

While there’s less chatter about the repeal, during Trump’s second administration the One Big Beautiful Bill Act might deliver on the years-old promise.

Although cuts to the Medicaid and supplemental nutrition assistance programs (SNAP) are grabbing the headlines, Florida health care advocates worry that the changes to the ACA may be even more damaging.

Florida leads the nation in Obamacare enrollment in 2025, with 4.7 million people enrolled in the marketplace, U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data show. A key feature of the ACA is the marketplace through which people can use advanced premium tax credits to purchase subsidized health insurance.

By contrast, there are 4.17 million people enrolled in Medicaid in Florida, the safety net program for the poor, elderly, and disabled.

During COVID, Congress agreed to make the premium tax credits more generous than those in the original law. The enhanced credits allow people who earn more money to qualify for the subsidies. Under the U.S. House version of the budget reconciliation act, these enhanced advance tax credits are slated to expire at the end of the year, although the original credits contained in the ACA will remain intact.

Advocates warn it’s not just the elimination of the enhanced advanced premium tax credits that will hurt people.

The House reconciliation bill also shortens the Obamacare open-enrollment periods, eliminates special enrollment periods for low-income individuals, and requires people to show upfront significant documents such as passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates, and income tax records to qualify for the advanced premiums tax credits.

Florida Health Justice legal director Lynn Hearn said the changes will blunt the progess the ACA has shown in providing people access to affordable health insurance.

“This time, Congress might not be calling it an outright repeal of the ACA, as it did in 2017, but a program that is inaccessible or unaffordable is as good as repeal,” Hearn said during a panel discussion on the ACA, Medicaid, and SNAP cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Send a letter

The Florida Health Justice Project and 76 other entities across the state sent a letter Tuesday to Florida Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody expressing concerns with the ACA changes as well as the proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

“Floridians in every county across the state will experience a devastating loss of essential health care coverage and food assistance if Congress follows through with the current proposal,” the letter reads. “In Florida, over 4 million people are enrolled in Medicaid, most of whom are children, older adults, or people with disabilities.”

The letter was sent as the Kaiser Family Foundation released a poll that showed the budget reconciliation bill is viewed unfavorably by large majorities of Democrats (85%) and independents (71%), but favorably by six in 10 Republicans (61%).

A breakdown of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who self-identify as supporters of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement (72%) view the bill favorably. By contrast, 66% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who don’t identify with the MAGA movement view the bill unfavorably.

The Florida Policy Institute coordinated a press conference with Florida Health Justice and others to highlight the letter and discuss the cuts more in depth. FPI is dedicated to advancing policies and budgets that improve the economic mobility and quality of life for all Floridians.

President of the SEIU Florida State Council Martha Baker has been a registered nurse for more than 45 years and spent the last 35 years working at Jackson Health System in Miami. The system, she said, should be a role model for the nation.

“Jackson’s mission has been since the beginning of time for one single high standard of care to all residents regardless of your ability to pay. Dade County citizens have endorsed that with tax donations for the last 100 years. And again, this is an example of how healthcare should be delivered in the richest country on Earth.”

Limiting access to the marketplace health insurance policies and cutting Medicaid “is only going to be penny wise and dollar foolish, as they say,” she said.

Details on the taxes

Since its inception, the ACA has included advanced premium tax credits to help offset the costs of the policies for people with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level, which in 2025 was $126,800 for a family of four.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, Congress increased the subsidies and included a provision that allowed people who earn more than 400% of the poverty level to qualify for them. Congress the following year extended the enhanced tax credits through 2025.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services March data show that of the 4.7 million Florida residents with an Obamacare plan in 2025, 4.6 million receive advanced premium tax credits.

Because of those credits, 2.3 million enrollees pay less than $10 a month for their health insurance. On average, the CMS data show, the monthly Obamacare premium in Florida is $67.

Only Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas (all of which have lower Obamacare enrollment) have lower average monthly premiums.

Hearn said that allowing the enhanced advanced premium tax credits to expire could lead to a 75% increase in health insurance costs for ACA enrollees in families who earn more than 400% of the poverty level. That means a family of four earning more than $126,000 could wind up with a $9,000 a year premium increase, Hearn said.

“So obviously, this is going to make it unaffordable for many people,” Hearn said.

And those rates could increase even more, she said, if paperwork requirements for annual open enrollment aren’t removed.

The paperwork requirement is more than inconvenient, Hearn said, noting that they could have a deleterious effect on premiums. She worries that healthy people, who may not rely on health insurance on a daily basis, will find the requirements burdensome and won’t enroll.

But people with medically complex conditions who routinely tap into their health insurance benefits will take pains to ensure they comply.

If healthy people leave and sick people who have higher-than-average healthcare costs remain, premiums will increase and the market becomes less stable.

“So, it’s a race to the bottom,” Hearn said.

And that, she contends, will hurt small businesses — the same companies the Legislature said it wanted to help by permanently eliminating the business rent tax in the recently passed tax relief plan.

“In Florida, many of the enrollees tend to be small-business owners and employees and their families. Businesses where the employer isn’t obligated to offer health insurance because of its size, or it does offer health insurance but it’s unaffordable for either the employee themselves or their extended family,” Hearn said.

Two recent top agency appointments by Gov. Ron DeSantis, both of whom have been grilled by legislators over a charity linked to First Lady Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida initiative, appear unlikely to win confirmation this session from the Florida Senate.

Sen. Don Gaetz, chair of the committee responsible for screening appointees, told the Florida Phoenix in a phone interview Monday that of the more than 200 gubernatorial appointees for the Senate to consider this session, roughly 150 are still awaiting action.

He said the committee lacks time to consider the appointment of Shevaun Harris as head of the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) or Taylor Hatch as secretary of the Department of Children and Families (DCF).

Under Florida law, if the full Senate fails to take action on a confirmation the governor must reappoint them to that post within 30 days. The Senate would then consider the appointment during its next session. Appointees who fail to win confirmation a second time must leave their positions.

“I know this: That because we won’t be able to get to her, her term of office will end and he’ll [DeSantis] have to reappoint her,” Gaetz said of Harris’ future as AHCA secretary.

When asked whether he would vote to confirm Harris at AHCA, the largest of the state’s health care agencies, Gaetz said: “I’d have a hard time voting for Secretary Harris unless she came clean and had a very different story than what she’s telling the House.”

Gaetz also told the Florida Phoenix that he has “serious questions for both of them. They both know it.”

The process

Gaetz, himself a former Senate president, and committee vice chair Mack Bernard, a Democrat from West Palm Beach, issued a memo outlining how the Senate confirmation process would proceed under Senate President Ben Albritton for the next two years.

The memo explains that every gubernatorial appointee will be considered by their substantive committee as well as the Ethics and Elections Committee.

“A favorable vote of the Ethics and Elections Committee will be required in order for a nominee to be recommended for confirmation by the full Senate,” the memo says. “However, the President always has the prerogative to move any nomination to the full Senate.”

The committee didn’t begin considering gubernatorial appointments until its March 31 meeting, having spent its previously scheduled hearings discussing substantive legislation instead.

“Tuesday comes before Wednesday. Nominees come to us as they come to us,” Gaetz said, noting that he doesn’t get to “pick and choose” the names on the agenda.

Katherine Betta, a spokesperson for the Senate President Ben Albritton, said the governor’s office is aware of the situation.

“The President’s goal is to have a more thorough process for confirmations by broadening the opportunities for Senators to engage in the confirmation process. There is insufficient time remaining this session to move forward with confirmation proceedings for Secretary Harris and Secretary Hatch. The President has great respect for their dedicated and longstanding service to the state, specifically to the vulnerable populations they have both served and continue to serve over their respective careers in state government. The confirmation process provides the opportunity for reappoint and certainly if that occurs, there would be time more time this fall during interim committee weeks and next session for consideration.”

Backstory

DeSantis put Harris in charge of AHCA in February after he tapped Jason Weida, who had been secretary of that agency, as his chief of staff. Before that, Harris had run DCF, the agency that created the nonprofit Hope Florida Foundation to help Ms. DeSantis’ Hope Florida. DeSantis then appointed Hatch, who had been director of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) to serve as head of DCF.

The Hope Florida Foundation, a direct support organization, has been at the center of a growing controversy surrounding a $10 million “one time donation” health care giant Centene made to it. The money was part of a $67 million settlement the managed care plan signed with the state over Medicaid overpayments.

The foundation than gave $5 million grants to Secure Florida’s Future, a nonprofit tied to the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and Save our Society, another political committee. Within days, those groups made contributions to Keep Florida Clean, which opposed last year’s marijuana-legalization initiative. James Uthmeier, the governor’s former chief of staff, now Florida attorney general, controlled Keep Florida Clean.

House Health Care Budget Subcommittee chair Alex Andrade told members of the Hope Florida Foundation during their board meeting last week that the contributions could jeopardize the foundation’s 501(c)(3) status and that the foundation should try to recoup the funds.

The Senate Committee on Children and Families voted up on Hatch on March 25, but she still needs the ethics committee’s nod.

The Senate Health Policy Committee approved Harris’ nomination as AHCA Secretary in April 1. At that same meeting, the committee approved DeSantis’s choices as heads of the boards of Chiropractic Medicine, Medicine, Optometry, and Physical Therapy Practice.

Likewise, the ethics committee will consider a spate of higher education appointees (some of whom are controversial) Tuesday that were considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education on April 15 and April 10, well after Harris and Hatch were initially considered by their substantive Senate committees.

Phoenix reporter Jay Waagmeester contributed to this story.

Florida could join a list of red states that are requiring public schools to teach “human embryologic development” as part of their health education curriculum, likely via a controversial video.

Filed Wednesday by Rep. Dana Trabulsy, HB 1255, would present the embryologic development information in the form of a “high-quality, computer-generated rendering, animation, video, or other multimedia, at least three minutes in duration, showing and describing the process of fertilization and various stages of human development inside the uterus, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development.”

The state Department of Education would adopt rules to implement the requirement in the health education curricula for students in grades 6-12.

The mandate is included in a broad education bill that embraces a number of education initiatives Gov. Ron DeSantis’ has championed, including allowing charter schoolteachers and teachers who work at lab schools to qualify for Teacher of the Year, and to add the learning disorder dyscalculia to the list of specialties in which a teacher can be certified. Dyscalculia is a disorder that hinders people from understanding number-based information and math.

Bill sponsor Rep. Dana Trabulsy didn’t immediately respond to Florida Phoenix’s request for comment Thursday. The bill had not been referred to any House committees and there was no Senate companion.

State Rep. Kelly Skidmore, a Democrat representing part of Palm Beach County. Credit: House of Representatives.

While HB 1255 bill doesn’t mention any video by name, Florida appears to be following the lead of other Republican-led states that have pushed similar legislation backed by the anti-abortion group, Live Action. It has produced a video called “Baby Olivia,” which has racked up more than 9.6 million views on YouTube.

The video measures gestation from fertilization (not two weeks since last menstrual period, the standard for obstetricians) and takes the viewer through 38 weeks, when the narrator says, “She will soon signal to her mother it’s time for delivery and greet the outside world.”

Live Action posts “frequently asked questions” below the video including, “How do we know life begins at fertilization?”

The answer: “Countless scientists and textbooks confirm that human life begins at the moment a male’s sperm penetrates a female’s egg immediately causing a new human with its own unique DNA to exist and grow.”

Propaganda

State Rep. Kelly Skidmore said she was “sick to her stomach” after watching the video, which she called “propaganda” to “brainwash children.”

“This is not science. This is not what we teach in school. We teach science, and the science says we don’t know when life begins; it’s not at conception. More than half of the population believe that it is not at conception. And this is religion education being brought into our public education environment and it has no place there.”

States Newsroom, of which Florida Phoenix is a member, reported earlier this month about a number of states that have required the video to be shown.

Tennessee lawmakers, the story notes, passed the bill last year and it was signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Lee. Similar proposals advanced this year in Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

Anna Eskamani via Florida House

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat from Orlando, denounced the proposal.

“I find it super ironic that the Legislature has banned books and restricted specific content that they don’t like and here they are promoting content that is political in nature developed by an anti-abortion group. They truly are pushing that content onto children. It is offensive. It is disgusting. It’s another example of public dollars being used to push a political agenda,” Eskamani told the Florida Phoenix.

“It’s so gross, when 57% of voters are telling you they don’t support your anti-abortion agenda and yet you continue to pursue it.” She referred to yes votes for Amendment 4 last year, which would have enshrined abortion rights in the Florida Constitution but fell short of the 60% approval requirement.

The DeSantis administration on Tuesday unveiled a pregnancy website that officials said provides “additional wraparound support for life.”

The website, dubbed Strong Florida Moms, launched after the Legislature 2024 passed HB 415 along partisan lines, with Democrats pondering why the site was necessary and whether it would also provide information to women who are seeking abortions, which are mostly illegal in Florida after six weeks. (It does not.)

The bill directed the Department of Health to contract with a third party to develop the website and appropriated $466,200 to support it.

Across the top of the website appear the words “Strong from the Start.” Pictures of pregnant women touching their bellies and cradling and playing with babies rotate on the site. There also is a picture of a woman standing alongside her husband, who is rubbing their baby’s back.

“Every mom and family needs access to trusted medical information and resources no matter where they are in their parenting journey,” the website says.

“Strong Florida Moms is where you can access information about what to expect during pregnancy, resources to obtain health care, and answers to many of the questions Florida moms and dads have about parenting. Families can also access community resources such as local support groups with other moms, initiatives that connect to job opportunities and other resources tailored to their parenting journey.”

The website features a picture of First Lady Casey DeSantis and two of her three children. It features categories on pregnancy, first years, health care, and child care.

But neither the pregnancy nor the health care sections include information about how women can access Medicaid, which covered 42.1% of all births in Florida in 2023, according to the March of Dimes.

A woman can earn 185% of the federal poverty level, $27,861 for a family of one, and qualify for Medicaid. Coverage remains intact for a year following the birth of the child.

While it contains no information on Medicaid, the pregnancy section includes information on prenatal health including a chart of foods to avoid and a link to the U.S. Department of Agriculture featuring food recalls.

The first years section of the website does include information in the children’s health care section about Florida Healthy Kids and MediKids, subsidized health insurance options for lower income children.

Missed deadline

HB 415 directed the Department of Health to launch the website Jan. 1, a deadline it missed. The law also requires the Department of Children and Families and the Agency for Health Care Administration to “include a clear and conspicuous link to the website on their respective websites,” but neither department has.

State surgeon General Joseph Ladapo lauded the launching of the website in a prepared statement.

“Under the Governor and First Lady’s leadership, Florida is ensuring families statewide have the tools they need to ensure the best outcomes for pregnant women and their children, from pregnancy through the early years of life,” said Ladapo, who also serves as secretary of the DOH.

“Through the resources now provided by the Strong Florida Moms and Father First programs, Florida will continue to support the lives and well-being of Florida’s families, advancing our vision that all Floridians have the opportunity to lead long, healthy, and fulfilling lives.”

In addition to the information for mothers, the site mentions the Father’s First Initiative, described as a statewide community-driven effort at “empowering fathers to embrace their unique roles in their children’s lives.”

Dads can sign up for emails from All Pro Dad, a Tampa nonprofit launched in 1997 by Mark Merrill with the help of former NFL head football coach Tony Dungy. According to the website, dads who sign up for the email will receive a “30 Day Dad Challenge” designed to provide 30 ways in 30 days to “be the best dad you can be.”

DCF Secretary Shevaun Harris praised DeSantis and the First Lady for ensuring that “parents, especially expectant parents, have resources and information that are readily available.”

“Through initiatives like Father First and Strong Florida Moms, we are empowering parents to thrive, building strong and resilient Florida families with confidence and support,” Harris said in a statement.