Alabama lawmakers pass bill to require COVID-19 vaccine exemptions

Alabama lawmakers gave final approval tonight to a bill to prohibit employers from firing an employee who refuses a COVID-19 vaccine and claims a religious or medical exemption.

After a long day of negotiations, the Senate and House agreed to a version of the bill produced by a conference committee.

“There are people in the state of Alabama that are hurting right now, that are trying to decide between taking a vaccine that they are frightened of, that they have objections of, that they are concerned about for any number of reasons,” Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Fairhope, the sponsor of the bill said. “And because of that they are in danger of losing their jobs due to federal mandates that are really unnecessary.

“And this Legislature felt like it needed to stand in the gap and provide some protection for employees while the courts take their time to look at this mandate and hopefully make the determination that this is not something the federal government can do.”

The issue moved to the forefront of a special session called for the purpose of redistricting because of opposition to President Biden’s mandate. Lawmakers finished redistricting on Wednesday.

The special session came to an end shortly after the House gave final approval to the bill.

The bill goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. Lawmakers also sent to Ivey a bill requiring parental consent for minors to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

Gina Maiola, communications director for Ivey, said the governor hopes to sign the bills on Friday.

“Given that the Legislature has been debating proposals all week aimed at sending a strong, powerful message against the overreaching Biden vaccine mandate, the governor will review these bills tomorrow morning with the goal of signing them into law tomorrow afternoon,” Maiola said. “She has directed her legal staff to begin reviewing these bills as soon as they are transmitted from the Legislature.”

One of the final changes to the bill says it will be repealed on May 1, 2023, unless the Legislature passes another bill to extend it.

“I hope that it is no longer necessary at that time,” Elliott said.

Read the bill.

The vaccine exemption issue put the Republican majority in the State House at odds with business interests opposed to the bill. Democrats spoke against the bill on the House floor today, partly because they said it would hurt businesses.

House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said he was “angry as hell” about the bill because he said it would hurt businesses and eliminate jobs.

“This is the most anti-business legislation I’ve ever encountered during my time in office,” Daniels said.

Daniels said he has heard from defense contractors about the bill.

“Forcing them to have more red tape and adding more regulations for them to operate in the state of Alabama is a shame,” Daniels said.

Elliott said there was an effort to balance concerns about personal freedom with support for businesses.

“This is a place where a Republican legislature is understandably uncomfortable, trying to work within employment law and the exceptions for that within the Biden mandate, to try to provide at least some temporary relief for employees,” Elliott said. “So how to do that best was a difficult thing to navigate.”

“Lots of different issues, but the most overarching one was a balance between being pro business and being pro freedom, religious liberty and individual freedom,” Elliott said.

The Republican majority voted to cut off the debate after about an hour of discussion this afternoon, forcing a vote on the bill, which came a short time later. The House passed the bill 67-23, with most Republicans supporting it and most Democrats opposed.

The Senate then sent the bill to a conference committee of representatives and senators that produced the final version.

Business Council of Alabama interim executive director Robin Stone had told lawmakers on Wednesday that the bill would put thousands of jobs at risk because federal contractors are bound to comply with the Biden mandate.

The House changed the bill before passing it today but the BCA remained opposed as of early this evening.

“This version continues to put employers and particularly federal contractors in a no-win situation between existing federal rules and conflicting proposed state laws,” the BCA said in a statement before the final version of the bill was approved. “Non-compliance with the federal mandate could result in the loss of current and future contracts and jobs for their companies and communities.

“Unfortunately, this legislation continues to move rapidly with minimal real analysis of the current and future impact to our state and the economy.”

The BCA said it supports challenging the mandate in court, rather than through state legislation.

Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall have joined a lawsuit with other states to fight the mandate.

Elliott’s bill, SB 9, would create a standard form allowing employees to choose one of these reasons for an exemption:

  • Health care provider recommended refusal of the vaccine because of health conditions or medications. (A licensed health care provider’s signature is required for this reason only.)
  • Previously suffered a severe allergic reaction, such as anaphylaxis, to a vaccination.
  • Previously suffered a severe allergic reaction to receiving polyethylene glycol or products containing that.
  • Previously suffered a severe allergic reaction to polysorbate or products containing polysorbate.
  • Have received monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 in the last 90 days.
  • Have a bleeding disorder or am taking blood thinners.
  • Severely immunocompromised such that the vaccine would cause a health risk.
  • Diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 12 months.
  • Receiving the vaccine conflicts with sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances.

An employee whose claim for an exemption was denied could file an appeal within seven days with an administrative law judge appointed by the state Secretary of Labor. The administrative law judge would issue a decision within 30 days. If the appeal is denied, the employee would have 14 days to appeal to the circuit court.

A company could not fire an employee while an appeal was pending. And the company would have to continue to pay an employee who has appealed until the administrative law judge’s decision.

Rep. Mike Jones, R-Andalusia, who handled the bill in the House, said appeals should be straightforward and not require a hearing because the only question is whether the employee properly submitted the form. Those who do are presumed to be entitled to the exemption.

The Biden mandate, which applies to companies with more than 100 employees and to federal contractors, allows religious and medical exemptions. But advocates for the state exemption bill say some companies are routinely denying religious exemptions.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued rules about the mandate today. Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested for the virus weekly under those rules, the Associated Press reported.

Jones said he has heard from people who stand to lose good jobs they have had for many years because they don’t want to take the vaccine. Jones said he believes some people are genuinely afraid to take the vaccine.

“The reason why we’re here is there was a mandate from President Biden mandating vaccinations that people are afraid of,” Jones said.

Jones said he believes enforcement of the mandate will be settled in court.

“I think this fight is going to happen primarily in a federal court room,” Jones said.

People opposed to the Biden mandate have helped draw attention to the issue during the special session with a State House march and appearances at committee meetings, urging legislators to try to stop the mandate. Two of the organizers told a legislative committee on Wednesday that SB 9 was weak because it lacked a penalty for businesses who fired an employee for refusing a vaccine.

After passing the bill on vaccine mandate exemptions, the House passed a second bill, SB 15, which would prohibit minors from receiving COVID-19 vaccines without parental consent. That would be an exception to existing Alabama law, which allows minors 14 and older to consent to medical treatments.

SB 15, by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, also prohibits schools and colleges from inquiring with minor students about vaccination status without parental consent.

The bill passed by a vote of 65-23. The Senate sent it to a conference committee.

Orr’s bill would also give the attorney general authority to enforce the vaccine passport law legislators passed earlier this year.

That law prohibits businesses from requiring proof of immunization status as a condition of providing goods and services or admission. It prohibits government agencies from requiring documentation of vaccine status as a condition of receiving government services or admission to a government building. And it prohibits schools and colleges from requiring proof of vaccination status except for vaccines already required as of Jan. 1, 2021.

But a conference committee later deleted all the language in the bill concerning the vaccine passport law. The House and Senate then approved the conference committee’s version of the bill, which concerns only the parental requirement for minors to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

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