State Senate Majority Ldr Scofield: Bill protecting religious, medical vaccine mandate exemptions not trading a mandate for a mandate

Earlier this week, the Alabama State Senate passed two critical pieces of legislation seen as a way to protect some Alabamians against a so-called vaccine mandate imposed by the federal government.

The first of those two bills was SB9, sponsored by State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Daphne), and passed by the Senate by a 26-5 margin.

During an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” State Senate Majority Leader Clay Scofield (R-Guntersville) dismissed the notion the measure replaced a mandate with a mandate.

Instead, he argued the legislation reinforces the provision of the federal rule creating the vaccination mandate that allows for medical and religious exemptions.

“SB9 by Senator Elliott is essentially reinforcing — we’ve gotten clever on how we’re going to push back — obviously not to create a conflict,” he said. “Let me say this: We don’t want to trade a mandate for a mandate. One of the things that drives me nuts in government is hypocrisy. When you see hypocrisy, that means you have a lack of principles, and that’s not what the Senate Republican Caucus has an issue with. We definitely have principles are we are standing on those. So, we have really tried to thread that needle to try not to create a conflict among the business community. In other words, the federal government tells them to do one thing, and then the state government tells them to do another. That really, really impacts them. And so, we’ve really tried to thread that needle.”

“The good thing is the feds in that rule, they essentially said that medical and religious exemptions should be honored,” Scofield continued. “The problem we’re seeing is businesses — some businesses in the state of Alabama are not honoring that. So, we — SB9 reinforces that. It reinforces if an employee wants a medical or religious exemption for the vaccine, it must be honored. That is very important.”

Scofield also touted SB15, sponsored by State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), which adds enforcement mechanisms to an already in place vaccine passport ban.

The House will consider the two measures on Thursday.

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.