Last week, during the Special Session, the State Senate and the State House failed to pass the Alabama Health Freedom Act (AHFA). This act would have prevented vaccine mandates, whether forced by employers or by the government. The AHFA would have also prevented discrimination by employers amongst employees who did not disclose or have made the personal decision not to be vaccinated.
No, the Special Session did not go the way it should have. Hundreds were seen protesting outside the Capitol on day one of the Special Session. Hundreds, I should say thousands, signed petitions for HB31/HB9/AHFA to be passed into law.
What they did pass was SB15. This bill only stated employers must supply religious and medical exemptions to COVID-19 vaccination requirements. The bill did nothing to stop employers from forcing the “unvaccinated” to wear a mask, be tested daily, weekly, bi-weekly, etc. SB9 does nothing to stop an employer from making you eat in a different location, work in a different area or otherwise make your life miserable enough for you to quit. SB9 has no enforcement and no recourse for employees who will be or have been terminated from their jobs for refusing to accept medical orders from their employers.
In short, the State Senate and the State House did what it usually does — the bare minimum. They did what was politically deemed “okay” by the lobbyist organizations and special interest groups. The State Senate and the State House ignored the will of the people, again.
I am running for State House in District 38 for all of the people in my district, not just a select few who have enough money from corporate or lobby donors to fund my campaign. I am tired of legislators playing politics with the lives and welfare of the people they are supposed to represent. It is time we elect someone who will fight for our rights. What happened to our State Motto, “We dare defend our rights?”
Micah Messer
Lee County