Arkansas Passes Opt-out for Biden, State's COVID Vaccine Mandate

Arkansas lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to legislation requiring employers to let their workers opt out of getting the COVID-19 vaccine, a move opposed by the state's Republican governor, business groups, and hospitals.

But the bill approved by the majority-Republican Senate faces uncertainty on whether it will take effect immediately or early next year if it is enacted.

The proposal is among several attempts to limit or prohibit vaccine requirements that have dominated the legislature's attention during a session that was supposed to focus on congressional redistricting. The proposals came primarily in response to President Joe Biden's order that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly.

The bill's sponsor portrayed it as a way to protect people on the verge of losing their jobs because they refuse to get vaccinated.

"You want to take people that are willing to show up to work, you want to take people that have stuck with you through this entire mess called COVID, and now you want to put them out on the streets?" Republican state Sen. Kim Hammer said. "I just don't think that's a mindset I'd want to support."

The bill approved by the Senate on a 22-12 vote would require a process for employees to opt out of vaccine requirements if they are tested weekly for the virus or can prove they have COVID-19 antibodies. Health officials say antibody testing should not be used to assess immunity against the coronavirus and people who have recovered from COVID-19 should still get vaccinated.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the state Chamber of Commerce opposed the bill, calling the proposal a mandate itself that would prevent businesses from setting their own vaccination policies.

Some of the state's largest employers, including Bentonville-based Walmart, have mandated vaccinations for some or all employees. Hutchinson earlier this year signed legislation banning vaccine mandates by state and local government entities.

Opponents said the legislation could jeopardize some contracts with firms that will not do business with companies that do not require employee vaccinations.

"Like it or not, this is a mandate on not just these big companies we talk about and say this is the only folks it'll impact," Republican state Sen. Jonathan Dismang, who voted against the bill, said. "No, it impacts small business too that are trying weigh all this information out there to make the best decision they can for their customers, their employees, themselves."

Hutchinson has not said whether he would veto the bill. It takes a simple majority of the House and Senate to override a governor's veto. He has five days, not counting Sundays, after the bill reaches his desk before it becomes law without his signature.

The state's hospital association has said the move could also threaten Medicaid and Medicare funding for healthcare facilities the Biden administration requires to mandate vaccines.

The proposal fell short of the two-thirds support needed in the 35-member Senate to approve its emergency clause, which would have allowed it to take effect immediately if enacted. But lawmakers later approved a procedural move that will allow another vote on the bill's effective date. Without the emergency clause, the legislation will not take effect until 90 days after the legislature adjourns.