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Republican lawmakers blamed Democrats on Tuesday for blocking a special session to pass a law to ban vaccine mandates, Arizona Capitol Times reported Wednesday.
The complaints came at a rally that coincided with an announcement that the city of Phoenix is pausing its mandate for city employees.
The rally was the Arizona Workers and Heroes March to End Mandate by Christmas. It began on the Capitol lawn and ended with a march to the Phoenix City Hall where people demonstrated during the city’s policy session. More than 250 people gathered with signs like “Job or Jab is No Choice,” and “The ‘Safety Measures’ Do More Harm Than COVID.”
Rep. John Fillmore, R-Apache Junction, called on people to “get the pitchforks.”
“We need to call out Governor Ducey. We need to have a special session and every single legislator, House or Senate, who does not get on board with protecting our rights, we need to make sure that they have no future at all, the Times reported.
Other speakers at the event included Secretary of State candidate Rep. Mark Finchem.
“We are facing the civil rights action of our time,” said Finchem. “I join my colleagues in demanding that the governor call for a special session immediately to stop this civil rights violation,” Finchem said
The Phoenix mandate would apply to thousands of city workers at a time when many departments are already understaffed. The city’s announcement came as a result of U.S. District Judge R. Stan Baker’s decision on December 7 that blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a Covid vaccine mandate on employees of federal contractors.
This pauses mandates across the country but may also be temporary. It is unclear if and when the mandates will resume in Phoenix and throughout the country.
Related:The omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus has been detected in Arizona, state says
