By New York Assembly to Introduce Slew of Draconian COVID-19 Bills to the Floor in January
(by Wendi Strauch Mahoney | Uncover DC) – New York kicks off its 2022 legislative session on Jan. 5 with a number of proposed radical bills related to the pandemic. Governor Kathy Hochul will kick off the session with her first State of the State address, pushing her agenda. It will be the first time a speech has been presented on the floor in three years. Her address will allegedly focus on her proposed budget to include Medicaid expansion and health workforce initiatives.
One of the more feared bills is Assembly Bill A416. The bill was first drafted in 2015 during the Ebola outbreak. Allegedly an Evergreen Bill, meaning a bill that is presented “year after year with little regard.” The bill was proposed during the state’s 2021-22 legislative session, but it was also introduced in the 2015-16, 2017-18, and 2019-20 sessions “and has never had a co-sponsor,” according to Politifact. Regardless, if the bill were to be adopted, it would mean that diseased individuals could be removed “by the governor or his or her delegee” and detained because they “may be a danger to public health.”
The bill also stipulates that individuals cannot continue to be detained “after the department determines that such person is no longer contagious.”
The proposed bill stipulates that individuals cannot be detained for longer than three days without a court order but then proceeds to give room for detention lasting much longer than the three days. Given the delays in court proceedings during the past 18 months and draconian treatment of unvaccinated individuals and those who have not followed the many mandates, the bill leaves concerning room for abuses of civil rights.
Assembly Bill A8378 requires immunization against COVID-19 for attendance in school. It was sponsored in October by Democratic Assemblymen Phil Steck and Richard Gottfried—the longest-serving legislator in N.Y. history. The bill adds the COVID-19 vaccine to the scheduled childhood vaccinations. It requires immunization for children between 2 months and 18 years of age.
A279a requires “a health care provider who administers an immunization to a person nineteen years of age or older to report such information to the department of health or to a regional health information organization unless such person objects to such reporting.” Read Full Article >
