Recently appointed State Rep. Neal Carter (R-Casa Grande) introduced HB 2452 this week, which would make it illegal to discriminate against any person based on their vaccination status in employment, housing, or public accommodations.
“At this time when our nation is facing a critical hiring and employee shortage, it doesn’t make sense to further restrict the labor market through imposition of mandatory medical procedures as a condition of employment,” he said in a statement. “Moreover, the idea that a mandatory medical procedure should be a requirement of continued employment is offensive to freedom of conscience, economic security, and medical integrity. No person should be forced to choose between putting food on the table and the integrity of his or her body.”
The legislation would expand Arizona’s non-discrimination laws, which generally include categories like race, color, and religion, to include vaccine status. The bill has 13 co-sponsors.
A somewhat similar bill was introduced last year by State Sen. Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix), SB 1648, but it failed to make it out of committees.
Other bills addressing COVID-19 include HB 2020, sponsored by State Rep. Steve Kaiser (R-Phoenix), which exempts people in Arizona from government or private businesses imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates if they have already had COVID-19.
HB 2043, sponsored by State Rep. Quang Nguyen (R-Prescott), makes employers liable for a “significant injury” to an employee resulting from the COVID-19 vaccine if the employer makes the vaccine mandatory and denies them a religious exemption.
State Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Mesa) and State Rep. Walt Blackman (R-Snowflake) introduced SB 1052, which would prohibit a government entity or any person doing business in the state from requiring a state resident to obtain a medical procedure, including vaccination if a potential complication or adverse reaction to the procedure could cause the individual’s death.
Eight legislators introduced HB 2022, which would repeal a provision in A.R.S. 36-787 which states that during a pandemic, the state health authority may “Mandate treatment or vaccination of persons who are diagnosed with an illness resulting from exposure or who are reasonably believed to have been exposed or who may reasonably be expected to be exposed.”
While COVID-19 is spiking in Arizona due to the omicron variant, it is not close to the level of the surge a year ago at this time. According to the reputable COVID-19 tracking site Worldometer, on January 12, 2021, there were 335 deaths in the state. In contrast, the highest spike this past winter was only 223 deaths on December 1, 2021.
Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, said a few days ago that we’re getting close to herd immunity. “We’re coming up towards the end, but it’s a crescendo moment really that we’re having right now and the next few weeks,” he told Fox 10. “Most will recover, they’ll be uncomfortable, a few will need hospitalization, some will die, but at the end, this virus is gonna exhaust all, well not all, but close to all of its susceptible hosts.”
He said there is just a short amount of time remaining. “But it’s not something that’s gonna go on forever and the reason I say that is this variant is compressing many months of infections into a few weeks.”
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Neal Carter” by the Arizona House GOP. Background Photo “Arizona Capitol Building” by Wars CC BY-SA 3.0.
