87S30278 KKR-D
 
  By: Eckhardt, et al. S.B. No. 53
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the authority of local governmental entities to mandate
  COVID-19 vaccinations for entity employees.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 161.0055 to read as follows:
         Sec. 161.0055.  LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY AUTHORITY TO
  MANDATE COVID-19 VACCINATIONS FOR ENTITY EMPLOYEES. (a) In this
  section:
               (1)  "COVID-19" means the 2019 novel coronavirus
  disease.
               (2)  "Local governmental entity" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 554.001, Government Code.
         (b)  Notwithstanding any other law, a local governmental
  entity may, as a condition of employment, require an entity
  employee to provide to the entity in the form and manner prescribed
  by the entity documentation of the employee's COVID-19 vaccination,
  including any recommended booster dose of the vaccine.
         (c)  A local governmental entity that requires an entity
  employee to be vaccinated against COVID-19 under Subsection (b)
  shall allow the employee to claim an exemption from the required
  vaccination based on a medical condition or a religious belief if
  the employee submits to the entity on the form prescribed under
  Subsection (d):
               (1)  an affidavit signed by a physician who is duly
  registered and licensed to practice medicine in the United States
  stating that, in the physician's opinion, the required vaccination
  poses a significant risk to the employee's health; or
               (2)  an affidavit signed by the employee or, if the
  employee is a minor, by the employee's parent or guardian stating
  that the employee declines immunization for a specified and
  verifiable religious-based reason and that the immunization
  conflicts with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or
  religious denomination of which the employee is an adherent or
  member.
         (d)  The Texas Workforce Commission shall develop and make
  available on the workforce commission's Internet website blank
  affidavit forms to be used by an employee who claims an exemption
  from a required COVID-19 vaccination under Subsection (c).
         (e)  An executive order, proclamation, or regulation issued
  under Chapter 418, Government Code, may not suspend, limit, or
  alter this section or an employment condition established by a
  local governmental entity under this section.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
  legislative session.