California Democrats drop plan to require COVID vaccines to work, go to most public places

By Hannah Wiley
The Sacramento Bee

California Democrats are postponing a plan to require people to prove they’re fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter indoor businesses and require workers to either get the shots or be regularly tested.

Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, confirmed to The Sacramento Bee on Monday that the idea is dead for 2021. She was among the lawmakers who floated language for the concept last week, but did not formally introduce legislation to carry it out.

Lawmakers had less than two weeks to consider the bill in committee hearings and approve it by a two-thirds majority during floor votes before an end-of-session Sept. 10 deadline.

Wicks acknowledged last week that there would be staunch opposition to the measure, and that she wasn’t sure whether the coalition of lawmakers supporting the process wanted to pursue the idea this year or in January, when the Legislature returns from a break. The proposal would have gone immediately into effect upon the governor’s signature.

Wicks said on Monday she will continue working with all stakeholders to develop the “strongest possible policy” in 2022.

“Every day, thousands of Californians are newly affected by this virus – and we have a collective responsibility to do all we can to protect each and every one of them,” Wicks said in a statement. “It’s on all of us to protect our kids who can’t get vaccinated, to keep our neighbors from being the newest patients in the ICU, to make sure no family has to plan a funeral that never needed to happen. We all want these tragic times to be over, and to see the pandemic behind us — and the fact is that vaccinations are our pathway there.”

The group of Democratic legislators drafting the proposal — Sens. Richard Pan, Scott Wiener and Josh Newman and Assembly members Wicks, Akilah Weber and Evan Low — had been speaking with lawyers, legislative counsel and other experts on language before making a decision.

Representatives for SEIU, the California Labor Federation, the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Retailers Association also said in a press release that they were committed to working on a solution.

Politically risky in Gov. Gavin Newsom recall

Three protests against the plan were already scheduled to take place at the Capitol over the next week and a half. Anti-vaccine groups and Republicans in the Legislature had vowed to fight the measure, which they likened to government overreach and forced vaccination.

“I will fight in every way I can to stop … (the) bill requiring vaccination papers to enter a place of business,” Rocklin Assemblyman and GOP gubernatorial candidate Kevin Kiley wrote in an Aug. 26 tweet, referring to the process by which the language would have been added to the existing bill. “This is not who we are as a state or a country. Enough.”

While other states like Texas and Florida have shunned and outlawed COVID-19 rules, Wicks’ plan would have created the strongest statewide vaccination requirements in the country. It was a politically risk move to consider sending the the proposal to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who faces a recall election on Sept. 14. He would have had until Oct. 10 to sign it.

Newsom has had near unilateral authority over COVID-19 regulations since March 2020, when he ordered Californians to stay at home and businesses to shutter their doors. After more than a year of living under a mask mandate and capacity limits, Newsom lifted most of the rules in June and celebrated the state’s low infection rate and widespread vaccine availability.

Since then, the delta variant has clogged California’s hospitals again and forced some cities to consider and begin implementing vaccine mandates for certain employees.

Some workers required to get vaccines

California already requires health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Other, including state workers, must get vaccines or accept regular COVID-19 tests. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, recently requested staffers in his house get the shots, or face “adverse” consequences like termination.

Wicks had hoped the verification system could help California amp up its battle against the latest spike and keep businesses and schools open.

The proposal would not have applied to children too young to get the shots and those with exempting medical conditions. Employers would have required employees to verify their vaccination status or submit weekly test results.

“We’ve made significant progress over the past couple weeks, and I’m hopeful that this conversation will ultimately lead to an increase in vaccination rates, and a decrease in COVID deaths and ICU stays,” Wicks said. “I’m proud of the framework we’ve created for this bill, and of the collaboration that’s taken place among such a diverse group of stakeholders. I’m committed to working with my colleagues and key stakeholders to make this the strongest bill possible headed into 2022.”

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https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article253867843.html#storylink=cpy