SEN. KOLKHORST FILES BILLS TO END COVID-19 MANDATES – KWHI

  

State Senator Lois Kolkhorst has filed a series of bills to end and reform former COVID-19 restrictions.

Senate Bills 1024, 1025 and 1026 seek to codify executive actions taken by Governor Greg Abbott and expand on measures from the 2021 legislative session addressing the outcomes of COVID-19 mandates.

Kolkhorst said these bills are meant to end the “ineffective and crushing restrictions on our personal liberties that we saw during COVID-19.”  She said the legislation “is aimed at preventing future repeats of these controversial public health measures.”

SB 1024 sets in place protections established by Abbott through executive orders in 2021, prohibiting employer COVID-19 mandates and governmental entities from mandating vaccinations or requiring individuals to wear masks.

SB 1025 freezes in place the current vaccination schedule for schools and puts the legislature in charge of all changes to future vaccination schedules.  It also will prevent the COVID-19 vaccine from being included on the Texas Minimum State Vaccine Requirements for students at elementary or secondary schools, and it also would prohibit institutions of higher education from requiring students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of enrollment.

SB 1026 would permanently ban requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination by employers, governments, schools and colleges. The bill also prohibits licensed facilities from prioritizing or discriminating against patients for treatment based on their COVID-19 vaccination status.

In 2021, Kolkhorst passed SB 25 to allow for the right of certain residents to designate an essential caregiver for in-person visitation at long-term care facilities.  Senate Joint Resolution 19 codified the bill as a constitutional amendment, which was passed by 87 percent of voters in an amendment election.  SB 968 prohibited government entities from requiring vaccine passports from its employees or consumers.