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UPDATE: 4/22/2022 - HB 1509 was approved by the governor on 4/21/2022.
UPDATE: 4/5/2022 - HB 1509 was signed in the House and the Senate and sent to the governor on 4/4/2022 action by the governor is due by 4/23/2022. Version sent to governor - http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2022/pdf/HB/1500-1599/HB1509SG.pdf
UPDATE: 3/30/2022 - The conference committee report for HB 1509 was adopted by the Senate on 3/30/2022.
UPDATE: 3/29/2022 - The conference committee report for HB 1509 was filed on 3/28/2022 and adopted by the House on 3/29/2022. See text of the conference committee report - http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2022/pdf/cr/HB1509CR.pdf
The conference committee version establishes it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for a state agency, public official, state institution of higher learning, public community or junior college, county, municipality or other political subdivision of the state to:
Refuse, withhold from, or deny to a person any local or state services, goods, facilities, advantages, privileges, licensing, educational opportunities, health care access, or employment opportunities based on the person's COVID-19 vaccination status or whether the person has an immunity passport.
Refuse employment to a person, to bar a person from employment, or to discriminate against a person in compensation or in a term, condition, or privilege of employment based on the person's COVID-19 vaccination status or whether the person has an immunity passport.
Exclude, limit, segregate, refuse to serve, or otherwise discriminate against a person based on the person's COVID-19 vaccination status or whether the person has an immunity passport.
The bill also prohibits children attending any school, kindergarten or similar type of facility intended for the instruction of children, either public or private, shall not be required to receive a vaccine for COVID-19 as a condition of attendance.
A health care facility does not unlawfully discriminate if they ask an employee to volunteer their COVID vaccination status and can implement reasonable accommodation measures.
An employee of any public or private employer who has a sincerely held religious objection to receiving a vaccine for COVID-19 shall not be required to receive a vaccine for COVID-19. However, there is an exception for health care facilities if compliance would result in a violation of regulations or guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
UPDATE: 3/19/2022 - The Senate named Senators Kirby, Boyd and Michel to the conference committee for HB 1509 on 3/18/2022.
UPDATE: 3/17/2022 - The House named conference committee members for HB 1509 as Representatives Mims, Shanks and White on 3/16/2022.
UPDATE: 3/15/2022 - The House declined to concur with Senate amendments to HB 1509 and have asked for a conference committee to work out to differences on 3/14/2022.
UPDATE: 3/11/2022 - HB 1509 passed the full Senate as a committee substitute with an amendment on 3/9/2022 by a vote of 36 yes, 15 no and 1 not voting. The bill was returned to the House for concurrence on 3/10/2022.
The Senate substitute changed the section that addresses COVID-19 vaccine requirements for schools to read:
(3) Children attending any school, kindergarten or similar type of facility intended for the instruction of children, either public or private, shall not be required to receive a vaccine for COVID-19 as a condition of attendance.
Prior to this Senate substitute, this section read, (3) This section shall not apply to vaccination requirements set forth for schools under Section 41-23-37.
This amendment clarifies that school COVID-19 Vaccines cannot be put on the list of vaccines required by schools. Parents in MS have been expressing concern about their children and this vaccine because vaccine exemptions are very limited for school children in Mississippi.
This amendment improves the bill, so parents don't have to worry about COVID-19 Vaccine mandates for their children.
This bill does a lot of good, however NVIC Advocacy does not support the language that addresses discrimination by health care facilities and Section 2 that addresses regulations and guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the CDC.
While the section on health care facilities that starts on Page 3 line 55 is supposed to prohibit discrimination by health care facilities, it legalizes discrimination by healthcare facilities against their employees. The bill allows these facilities to ask their employees to voluntarily share their vaccine status. If the employees decline to share this information, then they are considered unvaccinated, and these facilities are allowed to implement "reasonable accommodation measures."
It is a problem that "reasonable accommodation measures" are not defined by the bill and will likely be discriminatory in nature.
Section 2 on page 4 states - A health care facility is exempt from compliance with this act during any period of time that compliance with this act would result in a violation of regulations or guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The issue of COVID-19 Vaccine mandates for healthcare workers is still working through the court systems and could eventually be struck down. This language gives health care facilities the ability to discriminate against employees based on their vaccination status simply based on mere guidance by federal agencies. A better way to address this would be to say - A health care facility is exempt from compliance with this act if compliance would result in a violation of legally binding, mandatory regulations or requirements that affect the health care facilities funding issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In addition, the health facilities would still have to comply with federal laws that protect civil rights of employees and rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
We also suggest deleting the rest of the paragraph says in section 2 "or the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" for two reasons: 1) the CDC does not have regulatory power over individuals in the workplace, and 2) After the horrible failures and flipped messages of the CDC during the COVID-19 pandemic, many no longer trust the agency.
If these two changes are made: limiting allowable discrimination against health care workers to ONLY legally binding federal rules and taking out exception for just Guidance and the CDC, we could fully support this bill.
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HB 1509 passed the full House on 1/27/2022 by a vote of 75 yes, 41 no and 6 not voting or absent. This bill is sponsored by the Speaker of the House Rep. Gunn with 19 cosponsors.
HB 1509 as passed by the House enacts the following:
(a) A state agency, public official, state institution of higher learning, public community or junior college, county, municipality or other political subdivision of the state to refuse, withhold from, or deny to a person any local or state services, goods, facilities, advantages, privileges, licensing, educational opportunities, health care access, or employment opportunities based on the person's COVID-19 vaccination status or whether the person has an immunity passport;
(b) A state agency, public official, state institution of higher learning, public community or junior college, county, municipality or other political subdivision of the state to refuse employment to a person, to bar a person from employment, or to discriminate against a person in compensation or in a term, condition, or privilege of employment based on the person's COVID-19 vaccination status or whether the person has an immunity passport; or
(c) A state agency, public official, state institution of higher learning, public community or junior college, county, municipality or other political subdivision of the state to exclude, limit, segregate, refuse to serve, or otherwise discriminate against a person based on the person's COVID-19 vaccination status or whether the person has an immunity passport.
(3) This section shall not apply to vaccination requirements set forth for schools under Section 41-23-37.
(4) (a) A state agency, public official, state institution of higher learning, public community or junior college, county, municipality or other political subdivision of the state does not unlawfully discriminate under this section if they recommend that an employee receive a vaccine for COVID-19.
(b) A health care facility does not unlawfully discriminate under this act if it:
(i) Asks an employee to volunteer the employee's COVID-19 vaccination status for the purpose of determining whether the health care facility should implement reasonable accommodation measures to protect the safety and health of employees, patients, visitors, and other persons from COVID-19. A health care facility may consider an employee to be unvaccinated if the employee declines to provide the employee's COVID-19 vaccination status to the health care facility for purposes of determining whether reasonable accommodation measures should be implemented; or
(ii) Implements reasonable accommodation measures for employees, patients, visitors, and other persons who are not vaccinated for COVID-19 to protect the safety and health of employees, patients, visitors, and other persons from COVID-19.
(5) An employee of any public or private employer who has a sincerely held religious objection to receiving a vaccine for COVID-19 shall not be required to receive a vaccine for COVID-19.
SECTION 2. A health care facility is exempt from compliance with this act during any period of time that compliance with this act would result in a violation of regulations or guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SECTION 3. If a part of this act is invalid, all valid parts that are severable from the invalid part remain in effect. If a part of this act is invalid in one or more of its applications, the part remains in effect in all valid applications that are severable from the invalid applications.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2022/pdf/history/HB/HB1509.xml - text, status and history for HB 1509
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