SC Senate committee discusses vaccine bill

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – It may soon be against the law for a business or organization to have a vaccine mandate for employees.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, a bill was passed to make it illegal to require public employees to be vaccinated in South Carolina. The law expired in 2023, and now some lawmakers want to bring it back permanently.

“If they voluntarily want to put that in their body, then so be it; government shouldn’t make them do that,” Senator Shane Martin (R – Spartanburg) said.

The bill said the government should not be allowed to mandate the Covid-19 vaccination. It would also put a limit on quarantine time, where one doesn’t currently exist. If the bill is passed as is, it would set the maximum of 21 days.

“I think that’s why the 21 days was put in based upon the testimony in terms of the diseases, the outbreaks that we know about, and what science shows is best in terms of quarantining,” Senator Ronnie Saab (D – Williamsburg) said.

Senator Martin said it’s important to have this mandate to have limits not just a blanket.

“That’s the max that we could come up with and even the current Director of Public Health can’t think of anything, couldn’t find anything that was longer than 21 days,” Martin said.

Senator Saab said he looks forward to debating this bill on the floor because he said it’s important to protect the public in life and death situations.

“There’s no guardrails, as relates to my understanding, is that in instances where there’s a danger posed to the public,” Saab said.

Martin said it’s crucial to protect South Carolinians and not force people to get vaccinated.
He said no one should have to choose between a job and a jab.

“What I’m trying to do is protect our businesses, to be able to make decisions for that business.” said Martin. “But those decisions shouldn’t extend into somebody’s personal and private life and affect their families going forward.”

During a state of emergency, the bill would allow law enforcement to assist the health department and enforce any regulations, not mandate their enforcement.

A similar vaccine mandate bill was proposed last year but never made it to a vote on the senate floor.