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Stephanie Bice on Health Care |
NPR analysis: For the first time in the program's history, states can require people to work a certain number of hours to be eligible for the government health program for low-income Americans. In December 2018, Oklahoma became the 11th state to ask the federal government to sign off on Medicaid work requirements.
Legislative Outcome: Passed House 53-23-24 on May/2/18; Passed Senate 35-8-4 on May/3/18; State Sen. Stephanie Bice voted YES; Signed by Governor Mary Fallin on May/7/18
Stop Federal Vaccine Mandates for Employees Act: No emergency standard may require any drug or vaccine or other biological product to be administered to any employee.
White House Press Release by President Joe Biden on Vaccination Requirements (Nov. 4, 2021; these emergency standards prompted H.R.6304): For our country, the choice is simple: get more people vaccinated, or prolong this pandemic and its impact on our country. The virus will not go away by itself, or because we wish it away: we have to act. Vaccination is the single best pathway out of this pandemic. And while I would have much preferred that requirements not become necessary, too many people remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good. So I instituted requirements--and they are working. They protect our workers and have helped us reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans from approximately 100 million in late July when I began requirements to just about 60 million today. Vaccination requirements are good for the economy. They help send people back to work--as many as 5 million American workers. They make our economy more resilient in the face of COVID and keep our businesses open.
WFMZ-TV 69-News, "Trump's endorsement of vaccines aligns with most Republicans' views," (Dec. 24, 2021): Trump confirmed that he had been vaccinated and had gotten a booster shot, attracting boos from some audience members. Trump stated his opposition to vaccine mandates but again touted the shot's efficacy. "The vaccine worked. But some people aren't taking it. The ones that get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don't take the vaccine." While Trump didn't acknowledge it, most unvaccinated Americans now belong to or lean toward the GOP. In the most recent CNN poll, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents make up a solid majority of the relatively small bloc of US adults still entirely unvaccinated against Covid.