AIM Policy Summary: April 1, 2022

• WA SB 5616 – In addition to other things, this bill reenacted the State Financial COVID19 Public Health Response Account in the State of Washington.

• KS SB 541 passed the Senate and moved to the House on 3/ 28/ 22. In addition to other things, this bill would empower businesses to file suit and collect compensation for government public health restrictions on business activity, such as gathering limits and mask mandates. It limits public health emergency orders to 30 days. It prohibits the use of a vaccine passport system for post-secondary schools and prohibits childcare facilities from preventing a child access unless they are actually infected or suspected of being infectious or contagious of a disease. Amends school vaccination requirements to clarify that religious exemptions are for “sincerely held religious belief,” not requiring parent or guardian to name religious denomination, and provides alternative certification if vaccination does not have final FDA approval.

• GA SB 345 passed the House on 3/ 29/ 22. This bill prohibits any governmental entity from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination to access services.
• ID S 1381 passed the House on 3/ 23/ 22. This bill prohibits private businesses from requiring staff, customers, or patrons to be vaccinated against COVID-19. It also prohibits governmental employers from paying different compensation based on whether a person has the vaccine but creates an exception for incentives to be vaccinated.
• LA HB 232 passed the House and moved to Senate on 3/ 24/ 22. This bill prohibits requiring vaccination verification or immunity status for certain transactions or for inclusion on a driver’s license or special identification card.

• Judge Bars D.C. From Vaccinating Children Without Parental Consent: On 3/ 18/ 22, Judge Trevor N. McFadden, a federal district judge, put a hold on D.C.’s law allowing minors to consent to a vaccine.
• The Bayou Mama Bears have posted a call to action to their followers to contact Representative Larry Bagley and Senator Fred Mills to support LA HCR 3. This bill would remove the COVID-19 vaccine requirements from schools and remove schools’ ability to prohibit unvaccinated children’s in-person attendance.
• On March 29, California Representative Buffy Wicks announced that she had decided to hold CA AB 1993, a bill that would have required all businesses in the state to require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Representative Wicks cited receding case numbers as the reason for putting the bill on hold, along with opposition from public safety unions. The bill was scheduled for a hearing in the Labor and Employment Committee on March 30.
• Missouri Republican Representative Jeff Coleman introduced MO HB 2615 in the state’s House on 2/ 1/ 22, but advocacy around the bill has recently increased. The bill aims to prohibit mask and COVID-19 vaccine mandates in public schools. The bill has so far had
  one public hearing.
• On March 24, Mayor Eric Adams announced that he would exempt athletes and performers from the city’s private-sector vaccine mandate, which required employees working in person and interacting with the public to get vaccinated.
• People’s Convoy protest is returning to California to protest vaccine laws after circulating the D.C. area for the past three weeks. The convoy of truckers that has been protesting the Biden administration’s COVID-19 emergency plans is going to return to California to
  protest the pro-vaccine bills proposed in the state.

NH SB 288 – This bill would prohibit any COVID-19 vaccine requirement for school or childcare enrollment.

• MN HF 4349 – A bill for an act prohibiting the establishment of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
• KS HB 2745 – This bill characterizes the separation from Kansas national guard service due to non-compliance with a COVID-19 vaccine requirement as a general discharge under honorable conditions.