Assemblyman Kevin Kiley has proposed legislation that prohibits the state of CA from making a vaccine passport. In turn, Kiley has faced outward scrutiny from his colleagues.
Opinion Assistant for the Sacramento Bee, Hannah Holzer criticize this bill in a recent Op-Ed stating that AB 327 is “a meaningless stunt”. She explains that Gavin Newsom has never announced potential mandates for a statewide covid vaccination document, nor has the federal government.
Assemblyman Kiley isn’t convinced, however. He told the California Globe that the bill AB 327 was supposed to have been heard by the privacy committee, yet the committee ignored the bill and instead transferred it to the health committee who not only ignored the bill but the Chairman outright refused to hear it and announced the bill would get neither a hearing nor vote. The Democrat-held assembly refused to have a civil debate on a matter of civil rights and instead folded their arms and covered their ears like children.
The UC and the CSU system are now requiring students to get the vaccine in order to continue on-campus learning. Kiley suggests, this alone sounds like a vaccine passport. Given that these are government systems, the question remains as to whether or not other government agencies will begin to require vaccine documentation as well. The American Civil Liberties Union has warned against the possibility of creating a society that enforces checkpoints that “outlast the dangers of Covid”.
Governor Gavin Newsom over the last year has been operating his emergency power under the guise of Covid. Both Assemblyman James Gallagher and Kiley sued Newsom for overstepping his boundaries on abusing his executive power by issuing a stay-at-home order during the pandemic. Judge Ronald B. Robie responded to the lawsuit saying that legislation has had the authority to end the lockdown all along. However, the democratic majority un-reluctantly relinquished their power to the Governor; which was the reason for the lawsuit since the beginning. As the Democratic supermajority still rules, Newsom is still enjoying his “one-man rule”.
Photo via Unsplash
