Harrison refiles bill banning COVID-19 vaccine mandate

AUSTIN – State Representative Brian Harrison (R-10) refiled a bill for the Texas 88th Legislature’s first Special Session, re-introducing the Texas COVID Vaccine Freedom Act.

The bill is an attempt to ban all COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Texas. 

During the regular session, the Texas House failed to bring to the floor a single bill to ban COVID-19 mandates.

“Since, during the regular session, the Texas House chose to allow Texans to be forced to take a COVID vaccine or be fired, I will continue to file the Texas COVID Vaccine Freedom Act every special session, even if the Governor does not add it to the call. Medical freedom is worth fighting for,” Harrison said.

Without a state law banning these mandates, Texans have no protection and will continue to be fired if not vaccinated.

Harrison originally filed the Texas COVID Vaccine Freedom Act in October 2021.

Harrison said the Legislature did not pass or agree on a single serious border security bill or to return even half of the surplus to Texans through property tax cuts.

“My constituents are justifiably furious that the House prioritized impeaching the Attorney General and growing government more than ever in our state’s history instead of putting Texas on a path to eliminate property taxes, banning COVID vaccine mandates, empowering parents with education freedom, reining in executive emergency powers, ending taxpayer funded lobbying, protecting the grid, refocusing our energy market on reliable sources, ending hostile foreign ownership of Texas land, fighting ESG, reducing burdensome regulations, securing our elections, and many other policies to protect individual liberty, constrain government, and resist federal overreach.”

A few wins for Harrison during the 88th session included his coauthoring a bill to protect women’s sports in college. 

“We passed that overwhelmingly,” he said.

There were also bills he introduced relating to a campus of the Texas State Technical College System located in Ellis County, and another regarding the prohibition on funding for gender reassignment.

Overall, some bills that were introduced by not only Harrison, but other Texas lawmakers were overlooked, and Harrison concluded, “Texas has a well-earned reputation over the decades of leading the nation in liberty and freedom, but I think we are coasting on our conservative reputation I think that is what is going right now.”