The South Carolina Senate passed a bill on Wednesday prohibiting businesses from refusing to serve unvaccinated people and preventing government employees, first responders, and students from taking the Covid-19 shot.
South Carolina Senate passed the bill with 29-12 votes. Not a single Democrat in the Senate voted for the revised bill, according to the State report.
Last December, SC Republican House leaders voted to ban Covid-19 vaccines for state and local government employees, contractors, and public school students.
AP reported:
The Senate approved the bill 29-12 on Wednesday. Senators made changes to a House bill which that chamber passed in December, meaning the proposal returns to the House to see if it accepts those changes.
Senators initially put in a large unemployment tax penalty for private businesses that fired unvaccinated workers. But instead they compromised to allow fired workers to collect unemployment benefits, retroactive to the last nine months.
Opponents of the Republican-backed bill questioned why a group that typically says government shouldn’t tell businesses what to do is taking up this fight.
Supporters of the bill said they were trying to protect the choice of people who don’t want to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
The proposal bans state and local governments and public schools from requiring vaccines for their employers, contractors or students and also says first responders can’t be fired for refusing a COVID-19 shot.
The House can either agree to the Senate’s changes, sending the bill to Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk, or insist on its version of the bill, meaning a small group of House members and senators will have to work on a compromise between the two versions.
Back in August last year, South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster urged people to get vaccinated against Covid-19. He believed the vaccines are highly effective against the Covid-19. He also said that wearing masks should be a personal choice and will not be state-mandated, State reported.
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