What This Bill Does
This bill prohibits the federal government and state governments from enforcing COVID-19 vaccine requirements (called mandates) in ways that burden people's religious beliefs. The bill aims to protect people who refuse vaccines based on sincere religious beliefs and requires that religious objections receive the same consideration as medical objections.
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Who It Affects
- People who refuse COVID-19 vaccines for religious reasons
- Employees of state governments, local governments and private companies with government contracts
- Private companies that receive federal money
- Health care workers in states with vaccine requirements
- Any religious organization or assembly subject to vaccine mandates
- Government agencies responsible for enforcing vaccine policies
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Key Provisions
- No government can enforce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in a way that substantially burdens (heavily restricts) a person's religious exercise unless the government proves the mandate serves a compelling governmental interest (an urgent, important government goal) and is the least restrictive means possible (Sec. 4(a))
- No government can treat religious objections to vaccines worse than non-religious objections, and no government can exclude religious exemptions entirely or unreasonably limit them (Sec. 4(b))
- A person can sue in federal court for money damages, court orders stopping the mandate (called injunctive relief), and other relief without first exhausting administrative remedies (processes required before filing a lawsuit) (Sec. 5(a) and 5(c))
- If a person shows basic evidence of a violation, the government must prove its case rather than the person having to prove the violation (Sec. 5(b))
- The federal government can sue to enforce this law (Sec. 5(f))
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What Changes
If this bill becomes law, state and local governments would be prohibited from enforcing vaccine mandates that do not include religious exemptions. Private companies with government contracts could not enforce vaccine mandates without allowing religious exemptions. People could file federal lawsuits against these governments and potentially receive money damages. Government agencies would need to approve religious exemption requests unless they can show an urgent government reason not to do so and prove there is no less restrictive way to accomplish that reason.
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Important Definitions
- **COVID-19 vaccine mandate**: A requirement that a person receive a COVID-19 vaccine
- **Religious exercise**: Any exercise of religion, whether or not required by or central to a system of religious belief, including refusing a vaccine based on sincere religious belief
- **Substantial burden**: A significant hardship such as loss of employment, pay, job status, or other loss caused by refusing to accommodate religious beliefs
- **Covered person**: A person raising a claim under this bill
- **Government**: Includes states, counties, municipalities, any state agencies, and any person acting under authority of state law; for certain sections also includes the federal government and federal agencies
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Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 492
To prohibit the imposition of certain substantial burdens, relating to COVID–
19 vaccine mandates, on religious exercise, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. LEE) introduced the following bill; which was
read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To prohibit the imposition of certain substantial burdens,
relating to COVID–19 vaccine mandates, on religious
exercise, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conscience Objections
4
to Negligent State COVID–19 Inoculation Edicts Need
5
Constitutional Enforcement Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘CON-
6
SCIENCE Act of 2023’’.
7
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
8
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
9
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(1) In response to the COVID–19 pandemic,
1
State and local governments and private sector enti-
2
ties have implemented unprecedented public health
3
requirements, including requirements that their em-
4
ployees, customers, and other persons receive a
5
COVID–19 vaccine (referred to in this section as
6
‘‘COVID–19 vaccine mandates’’), resulting in mil-
7
lions of Americans being subject to such require-
8
ments.
9
(2) Many COVID–19 vaccine mandates, due to
10
their unprecedented magnitude and scope of applica-
11
tion, and the unprecedented haste of and inattention
12
to the religious exercise of persons subject to the
13
mandates by the organizations implementing them,
14
do not adequately protect the religious freedom of
15
the persons subject to them.
16
(3) As a result, millions of Americans have ob-
17
jected to COVID–19 vaccine mandates—more than
18
for any other medical requirement for employment
19
or for use of a public accommodation in recent his-
20
tory—often at great personal cost, on the basis that
21
receiving a COVID–19 vaccine would violate their
22
sincerely held religious beliefs.
23
(4) COVID–19 vaccine mandates commonly
24
threaten the rights of employees and other persons
25
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•S 492 IS
to religious exercise by requiring persons subject to
1
the mandates to—
2
(A) receive a COVID–19 vaccine (with re-
3
spect to private entities, often under the color
4
of law), in violation of their sincerely held reli-
5
gious beliefs; or
6
(B) otherwise face substantial burdens
7
such as the loss of employment, pay, or status
8
within employment, the subjection to punitive
9
personal public health measures, or any other
10
loss caused by a failure to accommodate reli-
11
gious exercise.
12
(5) With respect to COVID–19 vaccine man-
13
dates implemented by the States and the District of
14
Columbia, the rights of persons under the First
15
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
16
who are subject to such requirements have been vio-
17
lated in the following ways:
18
(A) COVID–19 vaccine mandates for State
19
employees in the States of New York, Maine,
20
and Rhode Island have allowed for medical ex-
21
emptions from the COVID–19 vaccine, but have
22
not allowed for religious exemptions.
23
(B) The Governor of New York has stated
24
that—
25
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•S 492 IS
(i) New York intentionally excluded
1
religious exemptions from the COVID–19
2
vaccination mandate; and
3
(ii) the Governor was unaware of any
4
‘‘organized religion’’ that seeks religious
5
exemptions for the COVID–19 vaccine and
6
those individuals who seek such an exemp-
7
tion are not ‘‘listening to God and what
8
God wants;’’.
9
(C) New York has allowed COVID–19 vac-
10
cinated
workers
with
symptomatic,
active
11
COVID–19 infections to continue working in
12
hospitals, but has not allowed religious objec-
13
tors who do not have COVID–19 to work in
14
hospitals.
15
(D) Maine removed the allowance for reli-
16
gious exemptions for health care workers, effec-
17
tive September 1, 2021, in a law requiring all
18
health care workers to receive the COVID–19
19
vaccine and influenza vaccine.
20
(E) Rhode Island omitted religious exemp-
21
tions to COVID–19 vaccines.
22
(F) In Rhode Island, health care workers
23
have been required to receive the COVID–19
24
vaccine, and health care facilities are required
25
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•S 492 IS
to deny entry to health care workers or pro-
1
viders who are not fully vaccinated.
2
(6) With respect to COVID–19 vaccine man-
3
dates implemented by private sector entities, United
4
Airlines instituted an ‘‘absolute’’ policy requiring all
5
employees to receive the COVID–19 vaccine, and
6
those who submitted requests for religious exemp-
7
tions were either automatically denied or placed on
8
unpaid leave with no benefits.
9
(7) COVID–19 vaccine mandates that do not
10
accommodate religious exercise have resulted in
11
labor shortages that affect interstate and foreign
12
commerce.
13
(8) According to a report by the Committee on
14
Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate,
15
the Federal COVID–19 vaccine requirement put an
16
estimated 44,900,000 Americans at risk of losing
17
their jobs owing to their refusal to receive a
18
COVID–19 vaccine. A substantial number of those
19
refusals may be attributed to religious objections, as
20
according to a survey by the Public Religion Re-
21
search Institute, 10 percent of Americans believe
22
that receiving a COVID–19 vaccine would conflict
23
with their religious beliefs.
24
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•S 492 IS
(9) In Doe v. Mills, 142 S. Ct. 17 (2021) and
1
Dr. A. v. Hochul, 142 S. Ct. 552 (2021), the Su-
2
preme Court denied the requests of employees re-
3
questing religious exemptions to COVID–19 vaccine
4
mandates, causing those employees to face irrep-
5
arable harm.
6
(10) The Free Exercise Clause of the First
7
Amendment to the Constitution protects rights of in-
8
dividuals to live out their religious beliefs publicly
9
through religious exercise.
10
(11) Congress has the power to enforce the
11
right to free exercise of religion, through remedial
12
measures under section 5 of the 14th Amendment to
13
the Constitution.
14
(12) Laws that protect the free exercise of reli-
15
gious beliefs are consistent with the founding prin-
16
ciples of the United States and protections under the
17
First Amendment to the Constitution.
18
(13) Congress has the power to regulate inter-
19
state and foreign commerce under the Commerce
20
Clause of section 8 of article I of the Constitution.
21
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to preempt
22
laws and disallow practices that discriminate against per-
23
sons due to their religious exercise.
24
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•S 492 IS
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
1
In this Act:
2
(1) COVERED
PERSON.—The term ‘‘covered
3
person’’ means a person raising a claim or defense
4
under this Act.
5
(2) COVID–19 VACCINE MANDATE.—The term
6
‘‘COVID–19 vaccine mandate’’ means a mandate
7
that an individual receive a COVID–19 vaccine.
8
(3)
DEMONSTRATES.—The
term
‘‘dem-
9
onstrates’’ means meets the burdens of going for-
10
ward with the evidence and of persuasion.
11
(4) FREE EXERCISE CLAUSE.—The term ‘‘Free
12
Exercise Clause’’ means that portion of the First
13
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
14
that proscribes laws prohibiting the free exercise of
15
religion.
16
(5) GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘government’’—
17
(A) means—
18
(i) a State, county, municipality, or
19
other governmental entity created under
20
the authority of a State;
21
(ii) any branch, department, agency,
22
instrumentality, or official of an entity list-
23
ed in clause (i); and
24
(iii) any other person acting under
25
color of State law; and
26
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•S 492 IS
(B) for the purpose of sections 5(b) and 6,
1
includes—
2
(i) the United States;
3
(ii) any branch, department, agency,
4
instrumentality, or official of the United
5
States; and
6
(iii) any other person acting under
7
color of Federal law.
8
(6) PROGRAM OR ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘pro-
9
gram or activity’’ means all of the operations of any
10
entity as described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section
11
606 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.
12
2000d–4a), any part of which is extended Federal fi-
13
nancial assistance.
14
(7) RELIGIOUS EXERCISE.—
15
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘religious ex-
16
ercise’’ includes any exercise of religion, wheth-
17
er or not compelled by, or central to, a system
18
of religious belief.
19
(B) RULE.—
20
(i) PERSON.—In the case of a person,
21
refusing to receive a COVID–19 vaccine on
22
the basis of a sincerely held religious belief
23
shall be considered to be religious exercise
24
of the person.
25
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•S 492 IS
(ii) ENTITY.—In the case of an entity,
1
refusing on the basis of a sincerely held re-
2
ligious belief to require that any employee,
3
customer, or other person affiliated with
4
the entity receive a COVID–19 vaccine
5
mandate shall be considered to be religious
6
exercise of the entity.
7
SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND EXER-
8
CISE BY EXEMPTIONS FOR THE COVID–19
9
VACCINE.
10
(a) SUBSTANTIAL BURDENS.—
11
(1) GENERAL RULE.—No government shall im-
12
pose or implement a COVID–19 vaccine mandate in
13
a manner that imposes a substantial burden on the
14
religious exercise of a person, including a religious
15
assembly or institution, unless the government dem-
16
onstrates that imposition of the burden on that per-
17
son’s, assembly’s, or institution’s religious exercise—
18
(A) is in furtherance of a compelling gov-
19
ernmental interest; and
20
(B) is the least restrictive means of fur-
21
thering that compelling governmental interest.
22
(2) SCOPE OF APPLICATION.—This subsection
23
and subsection (b) apply in any case in which—
24
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•S 492 IS
(A) the substantial burden is imposed by
1
State law, even if the burden results from a
2
rule of general applicability;
3
(B) the substantial burden is imposed in a
4
program or activity that receives Federal finan-
5
cial assistance, even if the burden results from
6
a rule of general applicability;
7
(C) the substantial burden is imposed by
8
an entity that operates a workplace and that is
9
party to or conducts work in connection with a
10
contract or contract-like instrument with any
11
government, even if the burden results from a
12
rule of general applicability;
13
(D) the substantial burden affects, or re-
14
moval of that substantial burden would affect,
15
commerce with foreign nations, among the sev-
16
eral States, or with Indian Tribes, even if the
17
burden results from a rule of general applica-
18
bility; or
19
(E) the substantial burden is imposed in
20
the implementation of a COVID–19 vaccine
21
mandate, under which the government makes,
22
or has in place formal or informal procedures or
23
practices that permit the government to make,
24
individualized assessments of COVID–19 vac-
25
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•S 492 IS
cine exemptions, even if the burden results from
1
a rule of general applicability.
2
(b) DISCRIMINATION AND EXCLUSION.—
3
(1) EQUAL TERMS.—No government shall im-
4
pose or implement a COVID–19 vaccine mandate in
5
a manner that treats a religious exercise (including
6
a condition) on less than equal terms with a nonreli-
7
gious exercise (including a condition).
8
(2)
NONDISCRIMINATION.—No
government
9
shall impose or implement a COVID–19 vaccine
10
mandate that imposes a substantial burden on any
11
person for an exercise on the basis of religion, in-
12
cluding a religious denomination.
13
(3) EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITS.—No government
14
shall impose or implement a COVID–19 vaccine
15
mandate that—
16
(A) totally excludes religious exemptions;
17
or
18
(B) unreasonably limits religious exemp-
19
tions.
20
SEC. 5. JUDICIAL RELIEF.
21
(a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—A covered person may assert
22
an actual or threatened violation of this Act by a govern-
23
ment as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative
24
proceeding and obtain compensatory damages, injunctive
25
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•S 492 IS
relief, declaratory relief, or any other appropriate relief
1
against the government involved. Standing to assert a
2
claim or defense under this section shall be governed by
3
the general rules of standing under article III of the Con-
4
stitution.
5
(b) BURDEN OF PERSUASION.—If a covered person
6
produces prima facie evidence to support a claim alleging
7
a violation of the Free Exercise Clause or a violation of
8
section 4, the government shall bear the burden of persua-
9
sion on any element of the claim, except that the covered
10
person shall bear the burden of persuasion on whether the
11
law (including a regulation) or government practice that
12
is challenged by the claim substantially burdens the cov-
13
ered person’s exercise of religion.
14
(c) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES NOT REQUIRED.—
15
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action
16
under this section may be commenced, and relief may be
17
granted, in a district court of the United States without
18
regard to whether the covered person commencing the ac-
19
tion has sought or exhausted available administrative rem-
20
edies.
21
(d) FULL FAITH AND CREDIT.—Adjudication of a
22
claim of a violation of section 4 in a non-Federal forum
2
[Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]