TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A special session of the Florida Legislature has convened to address issues with vaccine mandates and employment.

Gov. Ron DeSantis says his goal is to provide protections for people who lost, or are at risk of losing their jobs due to vaccine mandates.

The governor called on lawmakers to go to work in a special session on this, back last month, surrounded by a group of workers wanting freedom from any mandatory vax policies on the job.

It comes as President Joe Biden’s proposed a policy for companies with at least 100 workers to require vaccinations, starting in the new year.

But now, DeSantis wants businesses fined for doing this and not allowing for exemptions, to include a previous COVID infection.

“We have a lot of folks that believe that decision should ultimately be theirs and that we believe in basic medical freedom and individual choice and that your right to earn a living should not be contingent upon COVID shots,” said DeSantis.

A big theme is addressing discrimination of current and prospective employees, based on whether or not they received the COVID-19 vaccine. But there are a few other big talking points here, also.

DeSantis is also calling on the legislature to address COVID protocols in schools.

That includes putting a limit on what mandates school districts can put in place for COVID-19 mitigation.

The governors’ goal is also to put the decision on masking and vaccines for kids solely in parents' hands.

All this comes after the Biden administration proposed a vaccine mandate for any entity with more than 100 employees, to take effect Jan. 2, with the goal of safety and reduced spread of the virus.

But the governor, with this special session, is trying to fight back against that.

"From the very beginning we said let's not put people down, let's life people up, and so that's what we're going to be doing,” DeSantis said. “We're going to be saving a lot of jobs in the state of Florida, we're going to be striking a blow for freedom, we're going to be standing up against the Biden mandates, and we're going to be better as a result of it."

The governor wants to address vaccine mandates not only through legislation, but litigation.

Last month, he and Attorney General Ashley Moody announced a lawsuit against the Biden Administration's vaccine mandates.

The session is scheduled to go no later than Friday.