Wednesday, @SenMannyDiazJr told @CBSMiami he believed Centner Academy’s threat to fire teachers who take COVID vaccine was “dangerous” + “ridiculous” and he strongly opposed businesses and schools doing that in the future.
But tonight he walked out on a key vote to make that law.

The amendment by @senpizzo would have accomplished exactly what @SenMannyDiazJr said he supported. But he walked out of the Senate chamber just before the vote and came back a few minutes later when the vote was completed.
Pizzo’s amendment died on a 19-19 tie vote. @CBSMiami

The tie vote meant that if he had stayed and voted for it, it would have passed.
Also worth noting the two other SoFla Republican state Senators - @IleanaGarciaUSA and @SenatorAMR - voted in favor of employers having the right to fire workers who get vaccinated.

In response to a question from @CBSMiami as to why he walked out on the vote, @SenMannyDiazJr wrote: “Unfortunately, I was not on the floor during the amendment Senator Pizzo presented due to the fact that I was working on amendments and items crucial for Miami-Dade County.”

He went on to say: “Although the Senate voting board does not show my vote, I not only oppose creating vaccine passports; I also object to penalizing people who made the decision to get vaccinated.”

Yet given the opportunity to do something about it he walked out. @CBSMiami

The owners of The Centner Academy are major Republican donors who gave $1 million to Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and another million to Republican efforts across the country last year. @CBSMiami