117 HR 5860 IH: Keeping Our COVID–19 Heroes Employed Act U.S. House of Representatives 2021-11-04 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I117th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 5860IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESNovember 4, 2021Mr. Burchett (for himself, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Mr. Mast, Mr. Green of Tennessee, Mr. Duncan, Mrs. Hinson, Mrs. Cammack, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mr. Tiffany, Mr. Guest, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Norman, and Mr. Cline) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concernedA BILLTo exempt essential workers from Federal COVID–19 vaccine mandates.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Keeping Our COVID–19 Heroes Employed Act.

2.

Exemption from vaccine mandates

(a)

In general

Any requirement imposed by an entity described in subsection (b) that individuals be vaccinated against COVID–19 shall provide for an exemption from such requirement for all essential workers.(b)

Entities described

An entity described in this subsection is any of the following:(1)The Federal Government.(2)A public or private Federal contractor.(3)A private entity receiving Federal funds.(4)A public entity receiving funding under the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116–123), the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Public Law 116–127), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116–136), the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (Public Law 116–139), division M or N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260), or the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117–2), as a condition for retaining such funds or receiving future disbursements of such funds.(c)

Essential workers defined

For purposes of this section, the term essential worker means an individual—(1)whom a relevant State, Indian Tribe, or territory deemed essential during the response to the COVID–19 pandemic; or(2)who was exempt from any restrictions in response to the COVID–19 pandemic imposed by a relevant State, Indian Tribe, or territory.