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Florida Republicans Refuse to Take Up DeSantis Bill Loosening Vaccine Mandates
The House speaker cited concerns about “children being in school without measles and mumps and polio and chickenpox vaccines that have been working for decades.”
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Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida wanted lawmakers to consider a bill that would allow more children to opt out of certain vaccines.
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images
By
Patricia Mazzei
Reporting from the State Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla.
April 28, 2026,
3:00 p.m. ET
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Republican state lawmakers in Florida rejected Gov. Ron DeSantis’s latest push to loosen vaccine mandates for schoolchildren on Tuesday, once again rebuking the Republican governor on one of his legislative priorities.
Mr. DeSantis
had called lawmakers
into a four-day special session this week, in part to consider a bill that would allow more children to opt out of certain vaccines. But as soon as Daniel Perez, the Republican speaker of the State House and Mr. DeSantis’s
chief legislative foe
, opened the session on Tuesday morning, he made a surprise announcement that his chamber would not take up the proposal at all, effectively ending its chances.
Mr. Perez, who is from Miami and who has three young children, said he was concerned about “children being in school without measles and mumps and polio and chickenpox vaccines that have been working for decades.”
“That was something that I was uncomfortable with,” Mr. Perez told reporters shortly after his announcement.
When the State Senate convened two hours later, Republican leaders in that chamber said that they would table the vaccines legislation backed by the governor.
The proposal would have allowed families to seek exemptions from certain vaccination requirements based on their personal beliefs, or “conscience.” The state already allows exemptions for medical or religious reasons. The bill had come up during the regular legislative session earlier this year, but passed only in the Senate.
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