Good morning,

With the New Year having now arrived, employers are continuing to mandate the COVID vaccine. Will Texas fight back?

That is the subject of today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens

Monday, January 3, 2022

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The issue of vaccine mandates has hit a fever pitch, as large employers in Texas have continued rolling out strict requirements for their employees and the Biden Administration rolls out its own mandates.

Last fall, while the Texas Legislature was meeting during its third special session of the year, Gov. Greg Abbott added a ban on vaccine mandates from any entity—including businesses—to the agenda in the final days. Simultaneously, Abbott signed an executive order to that effect.

But the executive order has been largely ignored by employers and state agencies alike, in part because it only imposes a $1,000 fine. The systems of the University of Texas and Texas A&M have said they will abide by the federal vaccine mandates, in spite of Abbott's order.

And legislation banning mandates? So far that has been ignored by both the Texas House and Senate.

Pressure has continued to grow for Gov. Abbott to call a fourth special session of the state legislature. The Republican Party of Texas [[link removed]] has repeatedly asked Abbott to call another special session to address vaccine mandates.

As Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi noted [[link removed]] last week, Abbott's executive order (to the extent it is followed by employers) is only effective so long as the emergency order for COVID continues. That order has been in place since March of 2020. "So are we doing a special session or keeping a declared emergency through Sept 2023?" Rinaldi asked.

Specifically, the party has endorsed legislation by freshman State Rep. Brian Harrison (R–Waxahachie) that would require informed consent of employees who receive the COVID vaccine; if the employee refuses the treatment, no penalties may be enacted against the person. It also would allow the State of Texas to sue any company on behalf of an individual penalized for refusing.

So will lawmakers be called back for a fourth special session to address this issue? Only the governor can call the Legislature back to Austin for special sessions. They can only last up to 30 days at a time and are limited to agenda items he puts on the call. So far, Abbott appears hesitant to bring lawmakers back to Austin to protect Texans from vaccine mandates, saying there is “no need” for a special session at this time.

Last month, Abbott did announce a telephone hotline [[link removed]] for Texans to report employers that require vaccines in defiance of his executive order. That phone line is operated by the Texas Workforce Commission.

As of now, according to the Republican Party of Texas [[link removed]], the following 30 lawmakers have indicated their support for a fourth special session to ban vaccine mandates:State Sen. Bob Hall [[link removed]]State Sen. Drew Springer [[link removed]]State Sen. Angela Paxton [[link removed]]State Sen. Dawn Buckingham [[link removed]]State Rep. "Doc" Anderson [[link removed]] State Rep. Kyle Biedermann [[link removed]]State Rep. Keith Bell [[link removed]]State Rep. Briscoe Cain [[link removed]]State Rep. Jeff Cason [[link removed]]State Rep. Brian Harrison [[link removed]]State Rep. Cole Hefner [[link removed]]State Rep. Phil King [[link removed]]State Rep. Stephanie Klick [[link removed]]State Rep. Matt Krause [[link removed]]State Rep. Jeff Leach [[link removed]]State Rep. Mayes Middleton [[link removed]]State Rep. Candy Noble [[link removed]]State Rep. Tom Oliverson [[link removed]]State Rep. Tan Parker [[link removed]]State Rep. Matt Schaefer [[link removed]]State Rep. Matt Shaheen [[link removed]]State Rep. Bryan Slaton [[link removed]]State Rep. Shelby Slawson [[link removed]]State Rep. David Spiller [[link removed]]State Rep. Phil Stephenson [[link removed]]State Rep. Valoree Swanson [[link removed]]State Rep. Tony Tinderholt [[link removed]]State Rep. Steve Toth [[link removed]]State Rep. Cody Vasut [[link removed]]State Rep. James White [[link removed]]State Rep. Keith Bell [[link removed]] 🔒 Donate to Texas Scorecard 🔒 [[link removed]] Today in History

On January 3, 1947, U.S. Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time. Viewers in Washington, Philadelphia and New York City saw some of the opening ceremonies of the 80th Congress.

Quote-Unquote

"The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous."

– Frederick Douglass​

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Produced by Michael Quinn Sullivan and Brandon Waltens, the Texas Minute is a quick look at the news and info of the day we find interesting, and hope you do as well. It is delivered weekday mornings (though we'll take the occasional break for holidays and whatnot).

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