A bill that would give employees under a COVID-19 vaccine mandate a chance to apply for a religious or medical exemption under state law won approval today in an Alabama House committee with some opposition.
The House Health Committee approved the bill this afternoon after a public hearing. Approval came on a voice vote with some opposition. That puts the bill in position for final passage on Thursday, which is expected to be the last day of a special session of the Legislature.
Employees under the vaccine mandate would receive a form they could fill out and sign to claim a medical or religious exemption. The submission of the completed form would create a presumption that the employee is entitled to the exemption.
Employers could ask an administrative law judge under the state Department of Labor to review whether an employee is entitled to the exemption. The judge’s decision would be subject to appeal in the circuit court. The employee could not be terminated while an appeal is pending.
The bill, SB 9, by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Fairhope, passed the Senate on Tuesday. It came in response to President Biden’s vaccine mandate and the effect of the mandate on jobs in Alabama and concerns that it is an infringement on freedoms.
Biden’s mandate applies to companies with 100 or more employees and to federal contractors. It provides exceptions for religious and medical reasons, but supporters of the Alabama bill say it is important to provide for that under state law. Elliott said some employers are routinely turning down requests for religious exemptions.
The Business Council of Alabama opposes the bill, saying it would interfere with personnel decisions by businesses. In a statement, the BCA said it supports challenging the Biden mandate through the court system.
Robin Stone, interim executive director of the BCA, spoke at the public hearing in opposition to the bill. Stone said he thought the bill was well intentioned but would put businesses, especially federal contractors, in a tough position between the federal mandate and a new state requirement. Stone said federal contractors face the possible loss of their contracts if they don’t follow the mandate, which could affect thousands of jobs. Stone advised challenging the mandate through the court system.
Before voting on the bill, the committee adopted a substitute version that added more specifics to the form for requesting a health care exemption. An employee could check one of five boxes for a medical exemption: doctor advised against the vaccine; severe allergic reaction to vaccinations; COVID-19 diagnosis in the last 12 months; vaccine would pose risk because of compromised immune system; or another health care concern, with relevant information provided.
Elliott said he supported the substitute version of the bill.
Rep. Mike Jones, R-Andalusia, who is handling the bill in the House and explained the substitute, said the main concern the bill seeks to address is the job loss that some Alabamians face, especially those who work for federal contractors. Jones said he believed the Legislature needed to try to help and said the bill was the result of efforts to craft a narrowly focused response.
Rep. Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn, a member of the Health Committee, voted against the bill in committee today. Lovvorn, a retired firefighter who owns a moving company, said he believes the Biden mandate was an example of overreach by the federal government. But he said a new state law might not be the best response to that because it could be just another factor that interferes with decisions by business owners.
Lovvorn said his company is not subject to the mandate and he has no plans to require his employees to get a vaccine.
Two people who helped organize a State House march and other efforts to support legislation challenging the federal mandate spoke at the hearing. Kaycee Cavender and Stephanie Durnin of Health Freedom Alabama both said the bill does not go far enough to protect employees who refuse the vaccine from discrimination. They said the bill needs to include a penalty for businesses that did not follow the law.
Durnin called the bill “a neutered, castrated and purely ceremonial bill that does not provide any protections not already provided by federal law.”
Stephen Morris, director of governmental affairs for the Alabama Department of Labor, asked the committee to amend the bill to remove what would be the department’s responsibility for having an administrative law judge hear challenges to exemption requests. Morris said that would be a departure from what the kind of work the department does.
The committee also approved a bill that would give the attorney general power to enforce a vaccine passport bill passed by lawmakers earlier this year. That bill, SB 15, would also require parental consent for minors to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. State law now allows minors age 14 and older to consent to vaccines.
House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said this afternoon that changes could be made to the bills before votes on Thursday. But he believes the bills have the votes to pass.
“With as much public attention as this vaccine mandate issue has gotten in our state, I think that we’re going to have to continue to work on the bills and we’ll be working on bills on the floor,” McCutcheon said. “But at the end of the day, I think there’s votes in there to pass them.”
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November 04, 2021 at 01:30AM
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Alabama bill to allow exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandate advances - AL.com
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