Governor Sarah Sanders is calling the Arkansas General Assembly into Special Session. One of the items to be considered is a bill to prohibit the State of Arkansas and political subdivisions of the state from mandating a COVID-19 vaccine or a vaccine for any subvariants of the virus.
This is not new. The draft bill we received is modeled on Act 977 of 2021 (A.S.A 20-7-1430). Why a new bill? Because the 2021 law was only temporary. It said it would expire two years after the United States Food and Drug Administration approves a COVID-19 vaccine.
The new bill is not temporary.
Another difference is the new bill has a much broader exception to allow state or local governments to mandate the vaccine. Under the 2021 law, only a state owned or state controlled medical facility could request approval to mandate a vaccine. Under the new bill, the state, a state agency or entity, a political subdivision of the state, or a state or local official can request permission to mandate the vaccine if the mandate is necessary for federal funding. Under both the 2021 law and the new bill, permission to mandate a vaccine is dependent upon approval by the Legislative Council, which is a committee of the Arkansas General Assembly.
Under the 2021 law, a state owned or state controlled medical facility was specifically authorized to offer a financial incentive to an individual to receive the vaccine. The new bill does not include such a provision.
