By Rep. Paul Anderson
With debate about mandates being in the news lately, the entire country was waiting for the announcements last Friday from the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the legality of forcing large employers and health care facilities to make vaccination a condition of employment for their workers. In the case of large employers, the mandate was stayed or put "on hold," while for health care workers, that mandate was continued and allowed to remain in effect.
The employer mandate for those companies with over 100 employees was halted by the high court's 6-3 decision to overturn a lower court ruling that had allowed it to proceed.
The vaccine mandate for health care workers can be enforced, the court ruled. First doses must be given by Jan. 27, with the second dose deadline being Feb. 28.
After last week's court ruling, the federal agency charged with enforcing the large employer mandate, OSHA, along with its state affiliate, MN OSHA, announced it is suspending enforcement.
To me, this is more about personal rights than the vaccinations themselves. If one feels vaccines are effective and reduce the severity of COVID, then, by all means, get vaccinated. However, because of a number of reasons, including natural immunity and other health concerns, no one should be forced to get the shot. And with all the gimmicks being offered to entice folks to get vaccinated, ranging from free fishing licenses to Target gift cards or straight-up cash, it can make one wonder about the vaccine's true effectiveness.
Again, disclosure here: I've been vaccinated and had the booster, but that was my choice. I have an underlying condition, and it made sense to get vaccinated to lower the severity of the virus should I become infected. But because anyone, vaccinated or not, can test positive and spread COVID-19, I don't think we can say the rapid spread we are currently seeing is being caused by folks who are not vaccinated.
Although positive test results remain high, it appears that severe cases requiring hospitalization and/or ICU beds, are showing signs of beginning to trend downward. Let's hope and pray that continues.
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The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission was set to act last week on a controversial proposal by the governor's administration that would have reduced prison sentences for some repeat offenders who commit offenses while on probation for another crime. To me, the timing of this proposal isn't appropriate because of the increase in violent crime, including record or near-record homicides last year in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, and a significant increase in the number of carjackings.
Several thousand public comments were received leading up to last week's meeting, with approximately 95 percent being opposed to a reduction in sentences. All those comments apparently had an impact as the commission delayed taking action on the proposal.
Public safety is a basic right in our society. We should be able to walk on our streets and live in our homes safely. We should be able to stop at the grocery store without worrying if our car will be there when we come out. To do these things, we must have common sense laws and strong enforcement, with sentences commensurate with the crime. And we need to get back to showing respect for those who work in law enforcement.
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