Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he wants to give police officers a $5,000 bonus to move to Florida, where they can escape vaccine mandates

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been a vocal opponent of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
• DeSantis on Sunday reiterated to Fox News that he wants to pay police officers who move to Florida a $5,000 bonus.
• “If you’re not being treated well, we’ll treat you better here,” DeSantis said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he wants to pass legislation that would give police officers who relocate to his state $5,000.

In an interview with Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo, DeSantis said that he wants to recruit police officers who are not “being treated well” over vaccine mandates in other states.

He said he’ll hopefully sign a bill in the next legislative session. The bill would offer a $5,000 bonus to out-of-state law enforcement.

“If you’re not being treated well, we’ll treat you better here. You can fill important needs for us, and we’ll compensate you as a result,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis first made the pitch to give out bonuses to recruit law enforcement in August.

“As so many cities and states choose to disrespect, degrade and defund the honorable work of law enforcement, we want Florida to continue valuing our men and women of law enforcement today, tomorrow, and for generations to come,” DeSantis said in a news release.

DeSantis told Bartiromo he was pursuing out-of-state officers because “we do have needs in our police and our sheriffs’ departments.”

However, there does not appear to be a shortage of police officers in the state.

In May, The Orlando Sentinel reported that Central Florida police agencies were at “steady levels.” WJXT also reported that month that several counties in North East Florida weren’t facing any difficulties recruiting people or already had adequate staff. Some counties told the outlet they were having difficulty recruiting due to salaries. Starting salaries in several counties are under $40,000 a year.

The governor again reiterated his opposition to vaccine mandates and President Joe Biden’s push for them.

“In addition to taking away people’s personal choices, it will wreak havoc in the economy because even if a small percentage of these folks end up losing their jobs or voluntarily walking away, you’re going to have huge disruptions in medical, in logistics, in law enforcement,” DeSantis said.

He added that Florida will have a special legislative session to ensure no one “should lose their job based off these injections.”

Earlier this month, DeSantis said he planned to wage a lawsuit against the federal government over vaccine mandates.

In September, Biden announced a mandate that would require employers with over 100 workers to require COVID-19 vaccines or conduct weekly testing.

DeSantis said Biden’s mandate was a violation of Florida law.

Earlier this month, DeSantis and the Florida Department of Health fined one county $3,570,000 for violating the state’s ban on vaccine passports.