The bill, recently signed by Gov. Greg Abbott and set to take effect Sept. 1, does not restrict pandemic rules by private entities.
Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to local media before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at Ascension Seton Medical Center on Dec. 22, 2020, in Austin.
“Is there a single COVID mandate that SB 29 will end? Probably not,” Harrison said in an interview. He added that private vaccine mandates are “alive and well in Texas” despite Abbott’s orders and that the state “should be leading the fight against the COVID tyranny.” , R-Galveston, authored legislation during the regular session to outlaw all COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The Senate bill passed in that chamber but never got a vote on the House floor, although dozens of House Republicans signed on and it had the support of groups like the Texas GOP and Texans for Vaccine Choice.
The governor has used his COVID-19 disaster declaration, first issued in March 2020 and repeatedly renewed since, as the basis for his executive orders preventing mandates on vaccines, masks and business closures. He has promised to lift the disaster declaration once the Legislature codifies his executive orders, but it remains to be seen if SB 29 is enough for that. Abbott last renewed the disaster declaration on May 15.
Abbott knows firsthand. In 2021, he initially gave private businesses the option to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for workers, with a spokesperson saying that “private businesses don’t need government running their business.” But he reversed himself weeks later amid political pressure,that prohibited any entity in Texas, including private businesses, from requiring vaccines.
SB 29 appears to satisfy the emergency item, which called for legislation restricting local governments, not private entities. But Harrison and other Republicans note that Abbott has previously and repeatedly used more sweeping language, calling for legislation banning any COVID vaccine mandate, public or private.
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