PHOENIX (AP) — Two more bills restricting responses to the coronavirus pandemic are heading to Republican Gov. Doug Ducey's desk, including one that would impact the ability of future state leaders to respond to another airborne-spreading disease and a second blocking the state from ever requiring schoolchildren to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Tuesday's state Senate votes were the latest moves by GOP lawmakers to limit what they have called government overreach.
The Republican-controlled Senate approved a bill that would ban any state or local government agency from requiring facemasks to be worn in their buildings. The measure already passed the House and got no support in either chamber from minority Democrats. They have argued it removes one of the most effective measures to prevent the spread of a respiratory disease like COVID-19.
Senators also approved a bill barring the state Health Services Department from adding a COVID-19 vaccine to the list of inoculations required to attend public schools. It replaces a measure passed last year that only banned mandates for vaccines given federal emergency use authorizations. That measure too is heading to the governor's desk and got no support from minority Democrats.
Democratic Sen. Raquel Teran said committee testimony from former state health director Will Humble laid out an extensive and lengthy public process required to add a new vaccine to the state list, saying it's not just one bureaucrat making the decision.
