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from: Joshua Fechter, Texas Tribune
Posted: 09/09/2021 / 6:51 PM CDT
Updated: 09.09.2021 / 6:51 p.m. CDT
FILE – In this file photo dated June 8, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference in Austin, Texas. Abbott tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, according to his office, which said he was in good health and had no symptoms. Abbott, who was vaccinated in 2020, isolated at the governor’s mansion in Austin and received monoclonal antibody treatment, spokesman Mark Miner said in a statement. (AP Photo / Eric Gay, File)
TEXAS (Texas Tribune) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott beat up President Joe Biden Thursday after Biden ordered major employers to vaccinate their workers against COVID-19 – or get tested frequently to prove that they don’t have the virus.
Abbott – who has refused to make vaccinations mandatory in Texas in any way, and even prevented local governments and school districts from issuing their own vaccine mandates – called Biden’s move to force companies with more than 100 employees to either force their workforce to do so bring those who were shot or who submit a negative COVID-19 test result to “a power grab” every week. The large contract would cover an estimated 80 million American workers.
“The federal government must stop trying to run private businesses,” Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze said in a statement. “Texans and Americans alike have learned and mastered the safe practices to keep themselves and their loved ones safe from COVID and don’t need a government to tell them how to do it.”
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Abbott has encouraged Texans to get vaccinated, but insists they shouldn’t be forced to. At the governor’s request, state lawmakers will consider laws prohibiting local governments from mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for their residents when they convene for a third special session later this month.
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Meanwhile, the governor’s office and attorney general Ken Paxton are already forging legal action against the Biden administration, Eze said.
There is a legal precedent in Biden’s favor that establishes the federal government’s power to mandate vaccinations, said Larry Stuart, a Houston employment lawyer – referencing a 1905 Supreme Court case where judges ruled that states opposed mandatory vaccinations Smallpox could prevail.
“I think the reality is that this is becoming a lot more normalized and spread,” said Stuart. “People who have spoken out against it for political reasons or on the basis of information that may or may not be scientifically sound will face difficult decisions about whether to get vaccinated or become unemployed.”
Less than half of Texans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Nationwide, that percentage is around 53% – a number that has frustrated the Biden government given the widespread availability of free doses of vaccine.
“We have been patient, but our patience is failing,” Biden said during his remarks at the White House. “And your refusal cost us all.”
This article originally appeared in the Texas Tribune at www.texastribune.org. The Texas Tribune is a non-profit, non-partisan media organization that educates and interacts with Texans on public order, politics, government and statewide issues.
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