Idaho lawmakers on a committee that considers state sovereignty issues have bumped up their planned meeting next week to Wednesday to consider President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate. The meeting announced Monday is a potential avenue to reconvening the Legislature.
The joint Committee on Federalism plans to take only testimony on the mandate.
Many Idaho Republican lawmakers are angry with the vaccine mandate announced earlier this month, and some want the Idaho House and Senate to reconvene to outlaw such mandates.
But so far, lawmakers haven’t been able to coalesce around a specific piece of legislation that House and Senate leaders say is needed to call lawmakers back to Boise.
The sweeping new vaccine mandates affect 100 million Americans, requiring that employers with more than 100 workers require the workers to be vaccinated or be tested for the virus weekly.
The requirement for large companies to mandate vaccinations or weekly testing for employees will be enacted through a forthcoming rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that carries penalties of $14,000 per violation.
However, that rule has not yet been announced.
As far as potential legislation outlawing vaccine mandates by the federal government, Winder said it could take the form of legislation passed earlier this year in reaction to Biden administration actions involving firearms. That new Idaho law “prohibits local officials from being ordered to enforce federal actions contrary to the Idaho Constitution.” (AP)
