Biden’s Covid plan stirs controversy

President Joe Biden laid out a six-point plan to deal with the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. However, the vaccine mandates have been the most challenged part of his strategy with conservative states like Texas threatening to sue. His plan comes in a time where there have been increased Covid-19 cases especially in young people and new variants like the Delta and Mu.

In Texas, Governor Abbot has been adamant about eliminating mask dictates and challenging vaccine mandates. While here in Cass County there have been reports of extended wait times in clinics and 554 estimated ongoing Covid-19 cases.

Biden’s six-step plan includes: Vaccinating the Unvaccinated; Further Protecting the Vaccinated; Keeping Schools Safely Open; Increasing Testing & Requiring Masking; Protecting Our Economic Recovery and Improving Care for those with Covid-19. Information exact details of the plan can be found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/covidplan/.

After Biden’s speech, Governor Abbott and several other conservative governors including Wyoming, Georgia, and South Dakota fought back threatening to sue. According to the Washington Post, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called the mandates “an assault on private businesses” and said the state is “already working to halt this power grab.”

The most controversial part of the Presidents plan is his strong commitment to having everyone vaccinated. First, according to whitehouse.gov, the Federal Government will be “Requiring All Employers with 100+ Employees to Ensure their Workers are Vaccinated or Tested Weekly. The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work. OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement. This requirement will impact over 80 million workers in private sector businesses with 100+ employees.”

Second, “Requiring Vaccinations for all Federal Workers and for Millions of Contractors that Do Business with the Federal Government. Building on the President’s announcement in July to strengthen safety requirements for unvaccinated federal workers, the President has signed an Executive Order to take those actions a step further and require all federal executive branch workers to be vaccinated. The President also signed an Executive Order directing that this standard be extended to employees of contractors that do business with the federal government. As part of this effort, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Indian Health Service and the National Institute of Health will complete implementation of their previously announced vaccination requirements that cover 2.5 million people.

Third, “Requiring COVID-19 Vaccinations for Over 17 Million Health Care Workers at Medicare and Medicaid Participating Hospitals and Other Health Care Settings. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking action to require COVID-19 vaccinations for workers in most health care settings that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement, including but not limited to hospitals, dialysis facilities, ambulatory surgical settings, and home health agencies.

Fourth, the admiration will be “calling on Large Entertainment Venues to Require Proof of Vaccination or Testing for Entry. The President’s plan calls on entertainment venues like sports arenas, large concert halls, and other venues where large groups of people gather to require that their patrons be vaccinated or show a negative test for entry.” So far there have been no changes from UIL concerning Biden’s new mandate. However, in light of the pandemic UIL has created 2021-2022 UIL COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Guidelines that can be found here: uiltexas.org/ policy/2021-22-policy-info/2021-2022-uil-risk-mitigation-guidelines.

Lastly, Biden will be “requiring Employers to Provide Paid Time Off to Get Vaccinated. According to the AP wire, “The White House did not immediately say when it would take effect, but said workers would have sufficient time to get vaccinated.” On the flip side, the white house also noted that there would be severe fines for those businesses and entertainment venues who violated the order.

“We’ve been patient,” Biden told the tens of millions of Americans who have declined to get coronavirus shots. “But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us.”

In response, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) called the orders on his Twitter feed “insanity” and said they could lead to “full-on revolt,” adding, “Honestly what the hell is wrong with Democrats? Leave people the hell alone.”

Also, this week, September 10, Paxton filed multiple lawsuits against school districts defying state Law. Paxton announced the filing today of three lawsuits against three school districts defying Governor Abbott’s Executive Order GA-38 regarding mask mandates: Richardson, Round Rock, Galveston, Elgin, Spring, and Sherman Independent School Districts.

In the 2021-2022 school year, several school districts across the state have refused to follow state law — the Texas Disaster Act and Executive Order GA-38 – which place the Governor in charge of the statewide response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Office of the Attorney General anticipates the filing of additional lawsuits if school districts and other governmental entities continue to defy state law.

“Not only are superintendents across Texas openly violating state law, but they are using district resources—that ought to be used for teacher merit raises or other educational benefits—to defend their unlawful political maneuvering,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said.

“If districts choose to spend their money on legal fees, they must do so knowing that my office is ready and willing to litigate these cases. I have full confidence that the courts will side with the law – not acts of political defiance.”