This is a Sample Letter to Send to the Representatives on the Employment Committee for HB 1001
We are asking for three additions to the bill.
1. We need to include prospective employees as it will be hard to get hired at jobs that mandate the Covid-19 vaccines who refuse to offer exemptions to prospective employees. We already have a state law including prospective employees in the ban on device implantation.
2. We want to include government entities as employers just like current law defines government and state as employers in the ban on device implantation. Excluding all employees of government entities such as public K-12, public universities, and state worker like the state police is leaving thousands of Hoosiers unprotected from mandates. Some of those government entities might start denying employee requested exemptions. We have seen that the so called vaccine passport ban has not stopped IU from requiring an electronic attestation form with their mandate. It also does not stop government entities from verbally asking vaccine status.
3. Many students gave compelling testimony that although their educational programs allowed for medical and religious exemptions, their required internship sites were refusing to allow for any exemptions. Many are students in their last year of their program, and they are being coerced into taking the covid vaccines to complete the requirements of internship sites.
ALL EMPLOYEES, PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, AND STUDENT INTERNS NEED TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS LAW.
The Bold words are the requested additions HB1001.
Add this section to include student interns. Add a section with a definition of student intern.
If an educational program requires a student to complete an internship, clinical, fieldwork, apprenticeship, or other rotation at an employer’s facility, the employer may not impose a requirement that the student intern receive immunization against the COVID-19 immunization unless the employer provides individual exemptions that allow a student intern to opt out of the requirement on the basis of any of the following:
1 Medical reasons. 2 Religious reasons. In addition to the exemption requirements under subsection an employer: must provide the student intern with an option to submit to 6 testing for the presence of COVID-19 not more than once a week at no cost to the student intern in lieu of receiving an immunization against COVID-19; and may not require an student intern who has: (A) tested positive for; and (B) recovered from; COVID-19 to receive an immunization against COVID-19 for the six (6) month period following the student intern’s date of recovery from COVID-19. (c) An employer may require a student intern to submit to testing for the presence of COVID-19, not more than once a week at no cost to the student intern, if the student intern receives an exemption based on: (1) medical reasons under subsection (a)(1); (2) religious reasons under subsection (a)(2); or (3) prior infection and recovery from COVID-19 under 22 subsection
Chapter 4.6. Exemptions from COVID-19 Immunization 24 Requirements 25
Sec. 1.As used in this chapter,”COVID-19″ has the meaning set 26 forth in IC 34-30-32-3. 27
Sec. 2. As used in this chapter, “employee” means an individual 28 who is employed by an employer on a full-time or part-time basis. 29 The term includes an independent contractor. 30
Sec. 3. As used in this chapter, “employer” means the state or any individual, partnership, association, limited liability company, sole proprietor, corporation, business trust, government entity, political subdivision, or other entity with one (1) or more employees. However, the term 33 does not include: delete the line that excludes an Indiana government entity as an employer (1) the United States and its agencies and instrumentalities. 37
Sec. 4. As used in this chapter, “immunization” means the 38 treatment of an individual with a vaccine to produce immunity. 39 Sec. 5. (a) An employer may not impose a requirement that an employee or prospective employee receive an immunization against COVID-19 unless the 41 employer provides individual exemptions that allow an employee or prospective employee 42 to opt out of the requirement on the basis of any of the following:
CONTACT THESE LEGISLATORS WITH THE REQUESTS
Representative Heath VanNatter
317-234-9450
Representative Dave Abbott
317-232-9643
Representative Martin Carbough
317-234-9028
Representative Chuck Goodrich
317-232-9863
Representative Dan Leonard
317-232-9802
Representative Jerry Torr
317-234-3827
Representative Joanna King
317-232-9657
Representative Randy Lyness
317-232-9657
Representative Cindy Ziemke
317-234-9139
While we would love to see vaccination status added as a protected class under discrimination laws, we need a lot more people in this fight to win that uphill battle. King Holcolm is not even supporting the exemption bill, let alone a ban on mandates. People are asking for the FL law. In comparison, IN is using much of the FL law language. The FL law actually expires in 2023! Let’s do better than FL with permanent protections.
Feel free to ask for more than this when you contact the legislators. This is just the basic three asks in order to include all employees, all prospective employees, and all student interns. More manpower and showing up, might get stronger protections.