Legislation | Vaccine Choice Wisconsin

Senate Hearings on Vaccine Bills

Tuesday, January 11 at 10:00am

AND

Wednesday, January 12 at 9:30am

at the Wisconsin State Capitol

Plan to Attend!

Next week is shaping up to be a busy week at the capitol! The Senate Committee on Labor and Regulatory Reform has rescheduled their meeting that was originally to be held in December. It will now be held on Tuesday, January 11 at 10:00am in the North Hearing Room on the 2nd floor of the north wing.

Wednesday’s hearing will be with the Senate Committee on Health. This long- awaited and highly anticipated hearing will include several bills related to protecting vaccine choice, including the most comprehensive bill to date (SB336/AB309). This hearing will be held in room 201 SE beginning at 9:30am on Wednesday, January 12.

Please come and make your voice heard!

Summary of Bills to be Heard on Tuesday

Senate Bill 547 allows individuals who do not wish to receive a COVID-19 vaccine to receive unemployment benefits should they choose to quit their job or be terminated due to their employer mandating that they receive a COVID-19 vaccine or provide proof of having received one.Senate Bill 662 allows employees to provide proof of natural immunity to COVID-19 as an alternative to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine or to being regularly tested for COVID-19 as a condition of continued employment. An amendment has been offered to the Assembly companion bill (AB675) that would further strengthen this bill. You may wish to include a request for the senate to adopt this amendment in your testimony. Senate Bill 721 allows individuals injured by a COVID-19 vaccine that was required by their employer as a condition of employment to be eligible for worker’s compensation.

The committee members include:

Senator Nass (chair): sen.nass@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senator Wanggaard (vice-chair): Sen.Wanggaard@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senator Stafsholt: Sen.Stafsholt@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senator Wirch: Sen.Wirch@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senator Johnson: Sen.Johnson@legis.wisconsin.gov

Summary of Bills to be Heard on Wednesday

Senate Bill 383/Assembly Bill 299 prohibits proof of vaccination for COVID-19 as a condition of receiving business and government services. The full assembly has already voted on and passed the assembly version of this bill (AB299).

Senate Bill 336 prohibits discrimination based on vaccination status in all areas of work and society (including for employment, health insurance, visiting businesses, receiving services, etc). This is the most comprehensive bill that has been introduced in our state to date and is the one that Vaccine Choice Wisconsin most strongly supports.

Senate Bill 337 prohibits businesses from discriminating against customers due to vaccination record.

Senate Bill 342 prohibits the state or any government entity from discrimination based on whether the person has received a COVID-19 vaccine.

The committee members include:

Senator Testin (chair): Sen.Testin@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senator Kooyenga (vice-chair): Sen.Kooyenga@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senator Bradley: Sen.Bradley@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senator Erpenbach: Sen.Erpenbach@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senator Carpenter: Sen.Carpenter@legis.wisconsin.gov

Please plan to attend both of these public hearings in person if you are able. You can simply register in favor of these bills, or you can also choose to speak. It is helpful to submit your public comment ahead of time or bring hard copies to submit on the day of the hearing in case your speaking time is limited due to large attendance. This guarantees that your full public comment is submitted into the record.

If you are unable to attend, please submit written public comment to the members of the committee prior to the start of the public hearings.

Your testimony does not need to be long. It can be as short as two to three sentences, or you can make it longer to include facts and background information if you wish. Personal stories always have the most impact on our state legislators, so if you have a personal story, please share this with them.

We are extremely grateful that Senator Nass and Senator Testin are holding hearings on these bills, so please do not waste the opportunity to make your voice heard.

Please help spread the word and bring your friends. Let’s make it a big turnout next week!

Talking Points to Support Legislation to Prevent Discrimination and Segregation Over Vaccination and Immunity Status – AB309/SB336

Updated: 5/27/21

It is vital for AB309/SB336 to become law in Wisconsin. This will ensure that law abiding healthy citizens are not prevented from working or participating in society. AB309/SB336 is a comprehensive bill that would prevent discrimination of any kind against persons who have chosen not to receive one or more vaccines.

The talk of vaccine passports for individuals to be permitted to participate in society are in development. Some states such as New York have already introduced a vaccine pass which would give COVID-19 vaccinated individuals special privileges. States like Oregon are demanding that businesses and places of worship check proof of vaccination status before permitting entry to people who are not wearing masks. Signs are appearing at Wisconsin businesses stating that unvaccinated people must wear masks to enter the premises. Once vaccine passports are permitted for one vaccine, it will be easy to add requirements for additional vaccines, including passports for current vaccines and even for future vaccines currently under development. While COVID-19 vaccine mandates have been the focus in recent months, it is important that protections are in place to ensure that individuals will not be discriminated against for declining any vaccine product. There are currently 20 different vaccines targeting viral and bacterial illnesses (not including the vaccine for SARS-CoV-2) on the CDC’s recommended adult vaccine schedule. These are all candidates for employers, businesses, and even insurance companies to require given the lack of current protection from such mandates.

There is no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines will have any effect in terms of protecting people from getting the virus and spreading it. Vaccinated people are still being told to wear a mask and stay 6-feet apart from people because there is no evidence that the vaccine is capable of stopping the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Like COVID-19 vaccines, vaccines targeting pertussis, meningococcal, and other bacteria and viruses do not stop transmission, but rather, may offer only personal protection for a period of time. This means that while both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals could potentially be contagious, only unvaccinated individuals will be discriminated against, and prevented from equal access to education, services, employment and more.

Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable, and yet discrimination, bullying and shaming of persons who have chosen to forgo one of more vaccinations is becoming acceptable by many in the media, public health, and academia. There have been media stories calling for the addresses of unvaccinated families to be made public in order to target and shame them. Articles have included language encouraging people to “Shame and Shun “anti-vaccine” parents or asking that they be jailed if they choose not to fully vaccinate their children. Medical professionals are refusing to treat the children of parents who decide to decline, delay, or selectively vaccinate. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that it is an “acceptable option for pediatric care clinicians to dismiss families who refuse vaccines.” Anyone who questions the safety or effectiveness of a vaccine is labeled “anti-vaccine” and quickly becomes a target of bullying, shaming and discrimination.

While vaccine exemptions for medical, religious, or personal reasons are available to daycare, and K to 12 students (Chapter 252.04), and during a declared State of Emergency (Chapter 252.041), protections to prevent discrimination on the basis of a person’s vaccine status are lacking in Wisconsin. There are no employment protections, or protections to ensure access to housing, medical care, higher education, life or health insurance for persons who have chosen not to receive one or more vaccines in Wisconsin law.

There are currently no state or federal exceptions to protect employees from vaccine mandates for any of the existing vaccines recommended by the CDC for reasons of conscience objections or otherwise. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission affirms the legal right of an employer to exclude the employee from the workplace even if an employee cannot get vaccinated for COVID-19 or another vaccine because of a disability or sincerely held religious belief and there is no reasonable accommodation possible. The state will have to step in and protect employees’ right to delay or refuse vaccines. While the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) allows employees to decline Hepatitis B Vaccines, and OSHA and many labor unions have expressed opposition to annual influenza vaccination policies that do not include religious and/or personal objection exemptions, there are far too many gaps in protection for employees to refuse vaccines for work. AB309/SB336 would ensure protection for all workers.

Individuals and parents may choose to exempt themselves or their children from vaccination for a number of reasons, which may include a previous serious reaction, vaccine injury of a loved one, or because they believe that the risk of harm outweighs any perceived benefit. They should not be banned from employment or participating in society for choosing not to receive a liability free pharmaceutical product.

All vaccines carry the risk of injury or death so there has to be informed consent and the right to refuse any vaccine without penalty. The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has already paid out over $4.5 billion in damages. AB309/SB336 will ensure that individuals and families who have already been victims of vaccine injury are not unjustly discriminated against for declining to risk their life or health by receiving another vaccine product. People injured by a COVID-19 vaccine have little recourse. Vaccine manufacturers and providers are shielded from liability through the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, or PREP Act. This federal law establishes that the only option for compensation for COVID-19 vaccine victims is the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). Only eight percent of all petitioners since 2010 have been awarded compensation through the CICP. No legal or medical expert fees are covered, no pain and suffering is awarded, lost wages are capped at $50,000, and there is no judicial appeal. The fact that vaccine injuries and deaths related to vaccines are real, and persons who take them can potentially be harmed, vaccination must always be voluntary.