Commissioner Justin Olson
By Ryan Randazzo |Arizona Republic
Companies with 100 or more workers can allow workers to undergo regular COVID-19 testing rather than receive a vaccine to comply with Biden’s new rules.
Two of Arizona’s utility regulators are proposing to prohibit electric, gas and water companies from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations and fine them $5,000 per violation if they break the rules.
Republican commissioners Justin Olson and Jim O’Connor want a vote on their proposal to rebuke President Joe Biden’s vaccine requirements for employers.
Olson is running for the GOP nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., in next year’s Senate race.
O’Connor previously lobbied utilities privately hoping to encourage them not to vaccinate workers, which he told The Arizona Republic turned people into “potted plants … human vegetables.”
There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccinations have caused the problems O’Connor described.
Olson couched his opposition in legalese rather than direct anti-vaccination sentiment.
