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DeSantis signs executive order prohibiting vaccine passports

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Florida Gov Ron DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Friday issued an executive order banning the use of COVID-19 “vaccine passports,” which allow people to present evidence of their vaccination.

RELATED: Marjorie Taylor Greene floats bills to cut Fauci’s salary, ‘ban’ vaccine passports

“Today I issued an executive order prohibiting the use of so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports,” DeSantis tweeted Friday afternoon. “The Legislature is working on making permanent these protections for Floridians and I look forward to signing them into law soon.”

The order prohibits state government entities from issuing “vaccine passports, vaccine passes, or other standardized documentation for the purpose of certifying an individual’s COVID-19 vaccine status to a third party”.

RELATED: Rep. Murphy rips vaccine passports, accuses Dems of wanting ‘police state’

It also bans businesses in the state from “requiring patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-transmission recovery” to enter or receive services from the place of business. However, businesses are still allowed to institute COVID-19 screening protocols.

The governor’s order, which comes a week after vowing to issue it, argued that mandating vaccination credentials “would create two classes of citizens based on vaccination.”

This move from DeSantis comes as the emerging concept of vaccine passports has irked many Republicans, with many citing privacy and civil liberties concerns in their opposition to it. Advocates for such passports say that it will speed up the reopening of the U.S. economy since more than 100 million Americans—about 30% of the population—have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to CDC data.

Last Friday, New York State launched its Excelsior Pass, which is available on a mobile app in the form a QR code that can be scanned to show evidence of vaccination.

RELATED: NY debuts COVID-19 Passport to prove vaccination

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @DouglasPBraff.

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BREAKING: Disney drops suit challenging special district status in settlement with Florida, DeSantis

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A settlement was reached Wednesday in the two-year lawsuit over who controls the special governing district that encompasses the Walt Disney World Resort, which includes Disney dropping its lawsuitsagainst a newly created tourism board.

“We are glad that Disney has dropped its lawsuits against the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and conceded that their last-minute development agreements are null, void, and unenforceable,” Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’ communications director, said in a statement. “No corporation should be its own government. Moving forward, we stand ready to work with Disney and the District to help promote economic growth, family-friendly tourism, and accountable government in Central Florida.”

Fox News explains the dispute began “after Disney’s criticism of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act – derided by critics as the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill – prompted the DeSantis administration to revoke the special Disney-controlled tax district that gave the entertainment autonomy over its theme parks in the region.”

“No corporation should be its own government,” Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for the governor, said in an emailed statement. “Moving forward, we stand ready to work with Disney and the District to help promote economic growth, family-friendly tourism, and accountable government in Central Florida.”

Misleadingly deemed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, prohibited the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity to young students in the state. National Review reports:

After receiving pressure from employees, Disney’s then-CEO, Bob Chapek, said that the company’s leaders had been opposed to the bill “from the outset,” and Disney declared that the legislation “should never have passed and should never have been signed into law.”

In February 2023, DeSantis signed House Bill 9B, which established the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District to replace Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District. Reedy Creek was a 56-year-old special taxing district that allowed Disney control its own development, regulations, building codes, and other municipal services.

Lawmakers voted to give the governor the power to appoint the district’s board members.

However, before a DeSantis-appointed board took over last March, the Disney-controlled board handed control of the district’s development over to Disney…

As part of the settlement, Disney acknowledges that the development agreement approved by the outgoing Reedy Creek board has “no legal effect or enforceability.”

As for the media reports that DeSantis had been humiliated and out-maneuvered by Disney, Griffin said that “as usual, the media were wrong.”

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