Lawmakers in Alabama and Tennessee have taken steps to block or limit some COVID-19 safety measures, including mask and vaccine mandates for workers and students.
In Alabama, the Legislature last week approved a measure to prevent companies from firing workers who claim a religious or medical exemption. Republicans said they were responding to an outcry from unvaccinated constituents afraid of losing their jobs because of the Biden administration’s vaccination mandate on federal contractors.
Democrats argued the bill would put both federal contractors and public health in jeopardy for the sake of scoring political points.
The Republican-sponsored bill states that employers must exempt employees from a federal COVID-19 vaccination requirement if the worker returns a new standardized state form to claim a religious or medical exemption. Alabama lawmakers gave final approval to the bill late Thursday night after votes that broke mostly along party lines. It now goes to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.
Republican Sen. Chris Elliott, the sponsor of the bill, said lawmakers wanted to “stand in the gap and provide some protection for employees” while federal courts hear lawsuits brought by Republican states challenging the mandate on federal contractors.
“There are people in the state of Alabama that are hurting right now, that are trying to decide about taking a vaccine that they are frightened of… They are in danger of losing their jobs due to federal mandates that are really unnecessary,” Elliott said.
Jones said they are trying to find a way to protect employees without hurting federal contractors who face the mandate. But House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, argued the bill would do just that by interfering with a company’s ability to comply with the federal mandate.
The proposal is a carve-out from existing law which allows companies to fire workers at will. The bill specifies that it wouldn’t alter the ability of an employer to terminate an employee for reasons other than the employee’s COVID-19 vaccination status.
The new process and job protections would automatically end on May 1, 2023, unless extended by lawmakers.
Meanwhile, the Tennessee governor has yet to say if he will sign similar bills passed by the state General Assembly, which seek to limit businesses’ ability to comply with the federal vaccine mandate. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is requiring larger businesses, with 100 or more workers, to have workers vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly testing. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans placed a temporary hold on the rule Saturday.
The Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation in late October that aims to restrict businesses from requiring the vaccinations and limits schools’ abilities to mandate face coverings. In a nod to businesses, including Ford Motor Co., that objected to strict legislation, companies would be allowed to require masks. But they would be barred from compelling workers to show proof of vaccination, according to the Associated Press and other news reports.
The law would not apply to health care workers or to companies that have contracts with the federal government. Schools would be allowed to require masks but only in certain circumstances, such as outbreaks of the disease.
One section of the law makes it more difficult to sue a person or business for loss, damage, injury or death arising from COVID-19.
Some legal scholars have said the ultimate effect of the Tennessee and Alabama laws is undecided. Courts have, in most cases, found that federal law, such as the OSHA vaccination mandate, preempts state laws. But if the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals court strikes down the OSHA rule, that mandate may be halted while further appeals are pursued.
Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, late last week extended his three-month-old COVID-19 emergency orders, one that allows parents to opt out of any student mask mandate and another that relaxes some rules in order to facilitate COVID health care.
“I am placing a two-week extension on the current state of emergency as we continue analyzing impacts of recent legislation and how it affects certain provisions,” Lee posted on Twitter.
Lee’s opt-out order on mask mandates has been blocked by three federal courts, at least in three parts of the state.
Several other Republican-held legislatures have called for special sessions to pass similar mandate-banning laws.
And in Florida, an administrative law judge rejected six school boards’ challenge to a state rule that aimed to block mask mandates for students.
ALJ Brian Newman upheld Gov. Ron DeSantis’ emergency rule, which banned school districts from requiring that children wear face coverings at school, according to local news reports. Newman said that the governor’s order had “struck the right balance” and that opting out of mask wearing is the sole discretion of parents.
The school boards had sought to require the masks, despite DeSantis’ order, which was promulgated through the Florida Department of Health. But the education officials “failed to prove that the emergency rule opt-out provisions facilitate the spread of COVID-19 in schools,” the judge said.
The school boards’ legal argument was similar to that of the states and companies in the 5th Circuit appeal. The schools said in a hearing that the health department had not followed normal rulemaking procedures when it issued the Sept. 22 emergency rule.
Topics Legislation
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