Federal

Health Freedom for All Act

Source: Congress.gov · 351 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to stop the Secretary of Labor from creating emergency temporary standards (urgent workplace safety rules created quickly) that require employees to get COVID-19 vaccines or undergo COVID-19 testing. The bill also cancels any similar rules issued after September 23, 2021.

Who It Affects

The Secretary of Labor, employers and their employees, and workers in industries covered by occupational safety and health rules.

Key Provisions

• The Secretary of Labor cannot issue an emergency temporary standard requiring employers to ensure employees received a COVID-19 vaccine or underwent COVID-19 testing (Sec. 2(a)) • Any emergency temporary standard about COVID-19 vaccination or testing issued after September 23, 2021 has no force or effect, meaning it becomes void (Sec. 2(b)) • Emergency temporary standards issued before September 23, 2021 are not affected by this bill (Sec. 2(b))

What Changes

If this becomes law, the Secretary of Labor loses the power to create emergency temporary standards requiring COVID-19 vaccination or testing. Any standards of this type created after September 23, 2021 would stop working.

Important Definitions

None defined in the bill text.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 526 To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to prohibit the Secretary of Labor from issuing a temporary standard with respect to COVID–19 vaccination or testing, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 25, 2023 Ms. TENNEY (for herself, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. POSEY, Mr. STEUBE, Mrs. LUNA, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to prohibit the Secretary of Labor from issuing a tem- porary standard with respect to COVID–19 vaccination or testing, 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 ‘‘Health Freedom for 4 All Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H526.IH H526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 526 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN EMERGENCY TEMPO- 1 RARY STANDARDS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(c) of the Occupational 3 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 657(c)) is 4 amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may not issue an emergency tem- 6 porary standard that requires an employer to ensure that 7 employees of the employer have received a COVID–19 vac- 8 cine or undergo COVID–19 testing.’’. 9 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment under sub- 10 section (a) shall not apply to any emergency temporary 11 standard under section 8(c) of the Occupational Safety 12 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 657(c)) issued before 13 September 23, 2021. Any emergency temporary standard 14 described in paragraph (4) of such section issued after 15 such date shall have no force or effect. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H526.IH H526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.